Case for Review of Laws on Foreign Business Participation in Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, the question is whether laws on foreign business participation are simple, clear and coherent in relation to implementation and the ability of a foreign company to navigate the process? This article advocates the review of laws on foreign business participation in Nigeria. Foreign businesses, unless exempted, are required to be registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020 in addition to registrations and obtaining of permits, licences and approvals under several laws and agencies of government. The paper argues that the laws pose large and unclear compliance requirements and peculiarities and thus produce administrative and bureaucratic bottlenecks. The lack of cohesion among the agencies in implementation creates a cumbersome, lengthy process and an inadequate environment resulting in navigation challenges for foreign companies. There is a need for the development of a simple and clear digitized process automation for registrations, applications and approvals. The recent development of a digital process at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) must be clear, seamless and in existence in all agencies, especially in the era of the Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Also, coherence among the agencies and collaboration between the agencies and the foreign companies is required. advocacy, review, laws, foreign, company, business, participation, implementation, digitization, Nigeria