FG to reduce agencies operating in ports to six...

The Federal Government is currently working towards streamlining the number of agencies operating in the nation’s ports to only six from about eight.
This is part of the decisions reached at an expanded meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council presided over by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the council’s secretariat, the meeting approved a national action plan to be implemented across its three priority areas of 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 Small and Medium-scale Enterprises in Nigeria.
The reforms would also help improve Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank Doing Business Index 2018.
On the entry and exit of people, the statement said the PEBEC observed that the visa on arrival and 48-hour visa processing procedures of the Nigeria Immigration Service were already operational with various levels of compliance.
It said the council was also collaborating with state governments like Lagos and Kano to make the processes for obtaining construction permits and registering properties faster, cheaper and easier.