Gombe, Sokoto and Jigawa states have emerged top position on Nigeria’s sub-national ease of doing business survey.
The survey conducted by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council chaired by Vice President, Prof- Yemi Osinbajo, also saw Zamfara, Taraba and Delta emerging tops from behind.
According to the report, the subnational survey methodology framework was developed by the PEBEC-NEC (National Economic Council) Technical Working Group.
The group comprised representation from the nation’s six geopolitical zones as well as the NEC secretariat, the Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and other private sector representatives.
The homegrown indicators on which the states were measured were in four thematic areas – Infrastructure and Security, Transparency and Access to Information, Regulatory Environment and Skills Workforce Readiness.
Each state was rated on a 10-point scale across indicators, which provided the basis for calculating the overall performance of the state, the group explained.
It added that the empirical field survey was constructed by KPMG Professional Services between November 2020 and January 2021.
According to the report, among the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Gombe came tops with a score of 7.69; Sokoto came second with a score of 6.88 while Jigawa came third with 6.79.
On the other hand, Zamfara occupied the 37th position with a score of 3.54; Taraba came 36th with a score of 3.91 while Delta occupied the 35th position with a score of 4.32.
Other high performers included Bauchi and Akwa Ibom which tied at the fourth position with a score of 6.54; Kebbi which came 6th with a score of 6.49 and Anambra, 7th, with a score of 6.35.
Other states close to the bottom of the list included Edo, 34th with a score of 4.38; Abia, 33rd with a score of 4.48 and Kano, 32nd with a score 4.51.
The Infrastructure and Security theme included four indices, namely, electricity, transportation, primary healthcare, and security. Transparency and Accessibility to Information had two indices – investment promotion and state information structures.
The Regulatory Environment had four indices – paying taxes, starting a business, enforcing contracts and land, property, acquisition and development.
The Skills Workforce Readiness theme is standalone indicator that measured technical and professional skills of the states.
In electricity as an indicator, Akwa Ibom had the highest score of 7.85; Bauchi had 6.80; Kebbi had 7.02, Kano had 6.35 while Sokoto had 6.32.
In transportation, Akwa Ibom had 7.85; Buachi had 6.80; Kebbi had 7.02; Kano had 6.35; and Sokoto had 6.32.
Lagos came 20th on the list, scoring an overall average of 5.28. In infrastructure and security, the nation’s commercial nerve centre scored 3.71; in transparency and accessibility to information, it scored 6.49; in regulatory environment, it scored 3.62 while in skills and labour, it scored 3.62.
The summary section of the report said improving the business regulatory environment across Nigeria would be key for the country’s economic growth.
