Legal | Policy Insight
The World Bank Doing Business 2020 Index ranked Nigeria 131 out of 190 countries, moving her 15 places higher from her 146th position in 2019. In a bid to modernize business practices and expedite the ease of doing business in Nigeria, there were amendments to some key business legislation in Nigeria in 2020.
The report concluded that the country is one of the most improved economies in the world for running a business. While there seems to be an improvement, Nigeria is still far off in respect of removing hurdles that limit business growth.
In order to continue this steady improvement, the following business legislations were amended in 2020:
- The Companies and Allied Matters Act, which is Nigeria’s leading business legislation, was amended on 7th August 2020 since its enactment in 1990. It is a legislation that governs the incorporation and operation of companies and other corporate organizations in Nigeria. It was amended to make business registration seamless and improve corporate governance within the Nigerian company regulation regime amongst other things.
- The Finance Act - a consolidation of several tax statues, was amended in a bid to increase the revenue of the Federal Government and to curb avenues by which tax has been evaded and or avoided over the years. The Act was further amended in 2020 to introduce more sweeping reforms to the tax statues contained in the Act. The 2020 Act was signed into law on 31st December 2020 which commenced in January 2021.
- The Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act is an Act that regulates banking and other financial institutions in Nigeria. It provides for the establishment and duties of banks, operation of other financial institutions, books of account and other miscellaneous matters.
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Authors
Bolaji Ogalu | Lead Research Analyst, Governance & Political Institutions | b.o@borg.re
Emaediong Lawrence | Research Assistant, Business | Start-Ups | Jobs | e.l@borg.re
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