The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly has began moves to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), to foster ease of doing business and boost the national economy.
Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to President of the Senate disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, that the bill is being sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC – Kebbi North).
It said the bill seeks to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act (Chapter C20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (CAMA).
“The law, which has not been significantly amended in the last 28 years, was enacted in Nigeria as a decree of the military government in 1990,” Tabiowo stated.
It is expected that when finally passed into law by the Ninth Assembly, “the business landscape in Nigerian will be reorganized and liberated hitherto from the heavy constraints of several provisions in the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990, responsible for obstructing modern business practices in the light of national and global business reforms.”
Also, it said the Bill “seeks to provide an efficient means of regulating businesses, minimize the compliance burden of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enhance transparency and shareholder engagement, and promote a friendly business climate in Nigeria.”
It will further address the seeming stagnancy and primitive methods of doing business in Nigeria, essentially to meet up with the present international best practice as well as promote ease of doing business.
“The introduction of model netting provisions in the Bill as a means of mitigating credit risks, according to Abdullahi, would promote financial stability and investor confidence in the Nigerian Financial Sector, and increase investor confidence in the Nigerian Financial Sector as well as all sectors of the economy.
“Similarly, economic impact of the provisions of the Bill would ensure more business-friendly regulation for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“The amendment to CAMA is also expected to have the potential to increase activities of MSMEs, with the overall effect of growing the Nigerian economy in the process, providing more jobs and guaranteeing economic stability,” it stated.
Meanwhile, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has insisted that the passage of the bill will be expeditious and that its assent will rank Nigeria in the first 100 countries in ease of doing business.
“Presently, were are one hundred and thirty-one in the ranking of doing business in the world.
“If we pass the CAMA bill, and the President signs, we will move to be within the first one hundred, that means we will jump over thirty positions to be a better country with the ease of doing business. So, it is a very important bill for all of us.
“Of course, in the last Senate, all the processes were conducted on this bill, so there will be no need for us to waste too much time on it,” Lawan stated in the statement.