By Michael Eboh
The Federal Government of Nigeria and fourteen states governments have entered into a strategic partnership with the World Bank Group/the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)and and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to boost investment in the Nigeria through the improvement of the quality and availability of information to foreign and local investors.

The programme which is the brainchild of the World Bank Group/DFID Investment Climate Program (ICP), will see four pilot states —  Kano, Lagos, Kaduna and Cross River States working together to improve the quality and availability of information to investors which will help boost their economies.

The other states in the programme include: Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Enugu, Imo, Niger, Ogun, Sokoto and Plateau states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to a statement by Victoria Ndoh,of the World Bank, Investment Climate Programme (ICP) and German Technical Cooperation project, the programme will bring about a number of significant reforms in the areas of investor information, land administration, and tax administration in the states, thereby, boosting the business environment and investment climate in the states.

She noted that the peer learning process focuses on state to state sharing of lessons, experiences and good reform practices undertaken in their systems, thus improving the investment climate in the states.

She further stated that the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) through the Private Sector Development Program is also increasing its activities within the partner states in the North_Central Zone.

According to her, GTZ will be supporting networking and the implementation of reforms with the aim of improving the investment climate and business enabling environment for sustainable economic growth.

She said, “The Investment Climate Program (ICP) is a joint program of the Government of Nigeria, State Governments, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank Group.
“Under the ICP, a significant number of reforms have been achieved in the areas of Investor information, Land administration, and Tax administration in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Cross River states, thus boosting the business environment and investment climate in these states.

“For example, with land administration, Kaduna state has reduced substantially the time taken to obtain a certificate of occupancy from 365 to just 100 days and it is now possible to get consent for a mortgage in a day.

“Tax assessments and payment methods have also been greatly simplified in the four states ensuring convenience for the taxpayer and increased revenue for the state.

“Additionally, dedicated investor information websites have been developed for Kano, Kaduna, Cross River and Lagos states as part of investor information reforms.”

“The ICP, which is winding down in December 2010 will be succeeded by the Growth and Employment in States (GEMS) program. GEMS  is a joint program of the World Bank Group and DFID which is aimed at reducing poverty in Nigeria though a series of targeted activities which could increase growth, incomes and jobs in selected states.

Initially, GEMS will be working in partnership with the State Governments of Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Cross River with the aim of disseminating reform activities to other Nigerian states. This should help improve the business environment in the states and create conditions for greater levels of private investment.

The Investment Promotion Practitioners’ Learning Network will be an important step towards ensuring uniform good practice and reform across Nigeria, resulting in accelerated boosting of the investment climate and attracting investment to sectors of the economy with high growth and employment potential.  This could be a great avenue for Nigeria to showcase its investment opportunities and attract investors from different parts of the world.