Aso Villa Newsletter: The 'Based on Logistics' Edition (Contd.)

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Updates: Ease of Doing Business
On February 21, 2017, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, approved a National Action Plan to be implemented across its three priority areas -- Entry and Exit of goods; Entry and Exit of people and Government Transparency and Procurement -- over the next 60 days to deliver tangible changes for SMEs in Nigeria.

The National Action Plan is an inter-ministerial, inter-governmental plan being implemented by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the Lagos and Kano state governments, the National Assembly and other stakeholders, with support from the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES).

The 60 days ended on April 21, 2017, with 70 percent of the Targets achieved, including the following:
Intending Business Owners can now search for Company names on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)

Intending Business Owners can now upload their registration documents directly to the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)

Eliminated the need for SMEs to hire lawyers to prepare registration documents

Introduced a single form for Company Incorporation to save time and reduce cost

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) e-payment solution has been integrated with the CAC portal to facilitate e-stamping.

Interested parties can conduct online searches of secured interests on movable assets on the National Collateral Registry

New Arrival and Departure forms for use at our International airports. The new forms are shorter, and have also consolidated a number of previously separate forms into single documents.

Simplified our Visa on Arrival (VoA) Process. Submission of VoA applications and receipt of approval letter can now be done electronically via a dedicated NIS email address: oa@nigeriaimmigration.gov.ng

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has now been mandated to schedule and coordinate joint physical examination of cargo to ensure there's only one point of contact between importers and official

Imports into Nigeria now required to be placed in pallets to facilitate quicker physical examination.

Central Bank, Customs and banks now required to process Net Export Proceeds forms within 72 hours; and Pre-Shipment Inspection Agencies (PIAs) now required to issue Certificate of Clean Inspection (CCI) within 3 days

Approval obtained to reduce number of documents required for imports from 14 to 8, and number of documents needed for exports from 10 to 7

Minimum container placement notice time needed by Terminal Operators for examination reduced from 24 hours to 12 hours.

Minister of Interior has approved and launched a new Immigration Policy for Nigeria

National Assembly
On May 8, 2017, Senate President Bukola Saraki inaugurated a Committee to amend the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and the Investment and Securities Act (ISA), to support the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

On May 9, the Senate passed two bills critical to the success of our Ease of Doing Business Reform Agenda: The Credit Services Bureau Bill (to provide legal backing to the operation of Credit Bureaus in Nigeria), and the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill (which will help entrepreneurs and businesses unlock credit by being able to use movable assets as collateral).

Niger Delta: A New Vision
Acting President Osinbajo is leading the engagement, on behalf of President Buhari and the Federal Government. The Vice President has been visiting oil-producing communities across the Niger Delta, listening to them and outlining the Federal Government's commitment to the peace, security and development of the region -- encapsulated in the Buhari administration's 'New Vision for the Niger Delta'.

The New Vision brings together a robust set of promises, solutions, targets and initiatives aimed at ensuring that the people of the Niger Delta benefit maximally from the region's oil wealth. The New Vision offers a detailed response to the 16-point Demand Agenda submitted to President Buhari by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) in November 2016.

To coordinate and oversee implementation of all the goals and objectives of the New Vision, The Presidency has established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Niger Delta, which is Chaired by the Vice President. A Technical sub-group of this Committee, hosted by the Ministry of the Niger Delta, is charged with the day-to-day implementation of the New Vision.

Tangible results of the New Vision so far include:
Approval of a 2017 commencement date for the stalled Nigerian Maritime University in Delta State
Approval by President Buhari of an additional 35 billion naira for the 2016 budget of the Presidential Amnesty Programme
Approval for the establishment of Modular Refineries across the nine States of the Niger Delta
Resumption of construction work on abandoned projects across the Niger Delta, including the all-important East-West Road.

The 'Incremental Power' Journey
March 1, 2017: Power Sector Payment Assurance Program (PSPAP) approved by Federal Executive Council. Under the PSPAP, the Federal Government is committing up to N702 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Company to guarantee the payment of its obligations for electricity delivered to homes, businesses, industries and government establishments.

This N702 billion payment guarantee support to NBET, effective from January 2017, will enable NBET to pay its obligations to GenCos who can in turn pay their gas suppliers, equipment suppliers, banks and other partners. Under the PSPAP, NBET will also work with the DisCos, Government and NERC, the regulator, to improve the DisCos’ payment performance from the current 24.9% level, with 100% payment as the target.

March 22, 2017: Following the unveiling of the PSPAP, a Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), on March 22. The PSRP (which encompasses the PSPAP), covers a wide range of targets, including but not limited to
eliminating the payment deficits accumulated by the DisCos, and funding future deficits (which is where the PAP comes in);
ensuring improved DisCo performance;
establishing data-driven processes for decision making across the sector;
ensuring payment of debts by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs);
improving regulation and governance in the sector;
increasing electricity access through off-grid renewable solutions; and
implementing an end-user tariff trajectory that ensures cost-reflective tariffs are achieved over the next five years.

April 11, 2017: Katampe 60MVA substation in Abuja restored to operation

April 22, 2017: Federal Government of Nigeria delegation met with the World Bank Group in Washington DC to discuss World Bank support for the Power Sector Recovery Program. The World Bank pledged its support for the PSRP. Press Release here (pdf)

May 2, 2017: New Management Board inaugurated for the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). The New Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer is Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi (concurrently Senior Special Assistant to the President on Power, Office of the Vice President), while Dr. Sanusi Mohammed Ohiare is Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund, and Engr. Muhammed Wasaram is Executive Director, Technical Services.

May 7, 2017: 40MVA mobile substation commissioned by Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Damboa, Borno State.

Other ongoing TCN projects include the installation of a new circuit breaker in Egbin Power Station (scheduled for commissioning on May 19, 2017) and the Makeri to Pankshin 132kV line in Plateau and Okpella line in Edo State (both expected to be switched on in August 2017).

May 8, 2017: Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) announces completion of Electricity connection projects being undertaken in Magboro, Ogun State. The projects are currently undergoing testing by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution company (IEDC), NDPHC also announced that progress is ongoing with other communities across the country, including Egbema, Okija, Oronta, Ihiala and Nnewi in the South-East.

Life in the Northeast
When President Buhari took office, the Northeast, especially Borno State, the epicenter of Boko Haram's Terrorism was in bad shape.
The Airport in Maiduguri had been closed since December 2013, public schools since sometime in 2014. El-Kanemi Warriors, Borno's football club, had since relocated, playing its home games away from the State since 2013, because of the insecurity. The terrorist group had displaced millions of persons, and exercised some form of territorial authority over as many as fourteen of the State's twenty-seven Local Government Areas. In many communities, farming had not taken place for at least one or two seasons.

Today, the situation is different. Since October 2015, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 800,000 Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram have returned to their homes. See other milestones, as follows:
*El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club returned to their home base in Maiduguri on Sunday April 10 2016, 2 years after relocating to Kakanda
Stadium, Katsina State.
*Two Emirs of Askira and Uba in Borno returned home on Tuesday May 24 2016, 2 years after fleeing from Boko Haram terrorists.
*Displaced locals in Gongolon farm settlement returned to their farms in April 2017, 3 years after they were forced to flee Boko Haram terrorists.
*Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno Chapter declares 2017 Easter celebrations as the best since 2009.
*Public Secondary Schools reopened in Borno on Monday, September 26 2016, after 2 years of closure.
*First set of 21 Chibok girls regained their freedom on Thursday, October 13, 2016.
*Nigerian military captured the Boko Haram Head Quarters in Sambisa Forest on Friday December 23, 2016.
*Two strategic roads reopened on December 26, 2016 after being closed for 3 years (Maiduguri-Gubio & Maiduguri Mungono roads).
*Second set of 82 Chibok girls regained their freedom on Sunday May 7, 2017.
*Arik Air resumed flights to Maiduguri on May 9, 2017, 3 years after suspending the flights.

Nigeria Goes To Venice
History is being made at the moment, as Nigeria participates in the Venice Biennale -- one of the world's most important and prestigious contemporary arts events -- for the first time ever. Curated by Adenrele Sonariwo and Emmanuel Iduma, and commissioned by the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, Nigeria's Pavilion, themed: 'How About NOW?' features three artists: Victor Ehikhamenor, Qudus Onikeku and Peju Alatise.

Things To Note
Nigeria's April Inflation Data is due out on Tuesday May 16, 2017 (Source: NBS)

Local rice production in Nigeria has almost tripled, since 2015. Imports have also reduced dramatically -- Nigeria imported over 580,000 metric tonnes in 2015; in 2016 that figure dropped to 58,000 tons. (Source: Office of the Vice President)

The Federal Government-led response to the meningitis outbreak is yielding fruit—the outbreak continues to decline in the most affected States. Reactive vaccination campaigns led by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency have been successfully conducted in Zamfara and Sokoto, the two worst-hit States. (Source: Nigeria Center for Disease Control)

Central Bank has added US$7 billion to Nigeria's External Reserves since the end of October 2016, reversing the depletion the reserves suffered through much of 2016. (Source: Central Bank)
Nigeria's current account moved from a deficit of $15.3 billion in 2015 to a small surplus in 2016. (Source: Moody's Investors Service)

The Federal Government has so far spent about 1.2 trillion Naira on capital projects in the 2016 budget (Source: Finance Ministry)
One of the priorities of the Buhari Administration is to raise Nigeria's Tax-to-GDP ratio, which, at about 6 percent, is one of the lowest in the world. To do this we are widening the tax net:
The Federal Inland Revenue Service has now added about 800,000 companies to its database,
The Ministry of Finance is getting ready to launch a Tax Amnesty that will allow beneficiaries to voluntarily disclose earnings on which they have failed to pay Tax, and make those payments over an agreed period without the risk of prosecution. Details soon.

AFC Live kicks off today in Abuja. Described as "Africa’s Premier Infrastructure Summit", it will bring together leading names and players from Government and the Private Sector to discuss Africa's infrastructure investment potential and opportunities. The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), organizer and host of the Summit, is 42.5 percent owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which played a pivotal role in its establishment in 2007.