Victor EzejaChief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) Dr Muda Yusuf, has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for discontinuing its Forex Price Verification System Portal, saying it was counterproductive.
The CBN had last Thursday, announced that the price verification system portal will be discontinued with effect from 1st July 2024.
The platform was used to verify FX prices as a precondition for an importer to obtain Form ‘M’ application for importation.
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With the new directive, the CBN said all applications for Form ‘M’, will now be validated without the need for a Price Verification Report generated from the PVS Portal.
Reacting to the CBN announcement, Dr Yusuf said the PVD was in the first place, “a needless duplication of the functions of the Nigeria Customs Service, and a product of a dysfunctional foreign exchange regime.”
The CPPE CEO urged the CBN to sustain its engagement with “the private sector for quality, evidence-based feedback on monetary policy outcomes.”
The economic expert also identified other overlapping regulatory functions that had continued to constitute impediments to domestic and foreign investments. “The impact varies across sectors,” the CBN stated.
Yusuf listed agencies whose regulatory overlaps exist.
According to him, they are: “Federal Ministry of Environment, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency [NESREA], State environmental protection agencies, local government environmental units, and state waste management agencies.
“There are also the overlapping functions in respect of SON, NAFDAC, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Weights and Measures Department, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [FCCPC]. These are some of the numerous regulatory institutions with overlapping mandates. They are sources of avoidable distractions and significant financial burden to investors.
In the logistics sector he also observed that there are numerous regulatory and institutional irritations from multitude of agencies of state and non-state actors creating logistics nightmare for investors.
“We have state VIO, FRSC, State traffic agencies, Police traffic units, local government traffic units, there are state and local revenue generating agencies on highways as well as non-state actors.”
Other measures to boost local manufacturing
He further stated that in line with the federal government’s quest for economic transformation, “it is imperative to ensure effective implementation of Executive order 003 which prescribes that preferences must be given to local manufacturers of goods and service providers in the public procurement of goods and services by the MDAs.
“There is also Executive order 005 which focuses on improvement in local content in public procurement with science, engineering and technology components.”
He noted that it is not enough to have a policy but ensuring its implementation. “These executive orders have been flagrantly violated overtime without consequences,” he noted.
“The CPPE appeals to the presidency to ensure compliance by the MDAs with these executive orders in the spirit of current efforts to boost domestic production, grow domestic talents and reform the economy.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
