The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in Nigeria has recommended a merger of regulatory agencies with duplicate functions.
While presenting a report on the various sectors of the economy in Lagos on Monday, the President of the Chamber, Mr. Muhammad Abubakar, detailed the concerns of the private sector operators under the umbrella of the chamber.
Also calling for the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture and incentives for farmers in order to develop agribusiness, Mr. Abubakar pointed out that the various concerns stated in the report required equal attention of the government.
The association expressed worries that charges by some of the agencies were becoming too high and overlapping, thus constituting a major burden on business especially manufacturing industries.
“National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and Standards Organisation of Nigeria, for instance, are responsible for standards and these two have no business being separate organisations,” he said, citing a example of the agencies that should be merged.
NACCIMA also called for government’s intervention in the area of land availability for farming.
“Most of the land in Nigeria is family owned lands and you can hardly get three to four kilometres of land for farming. This is a challenge to farmers,” he stated.
