Speakers at the maiden edition of the Platforms Africa Continental Forum, on Monday in Lagos, urged African governments to create and implement legislations that would aid the survival of businesses.
The speakers said the harsh operating environment in many African countries posed grave danger to the survival of businesses, particularly in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
Mr Jide Ologun, constitutional lawyer and former Chairman, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Ikeja Branch, bemoaned poor implementation of policies, which had impoverished the citizens of many African countries despite huge natural resources.
He said Africa was so blessed with a population of 1.4 billion people, while Nigeria with a population of over 200 million had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP)of over 441 billion dollars as at 2021.
Ologun said: “Nigeria is so blessed with abundant resources, but it is unfortunate that no fewer than 133 million, about 63 per cent of the population are currently living in poverty.”
He challenged Nigerian legislators to ensure that the country’s common wealth was utilised for the common good of its people.
He said Nigeria had bitumen in aboundance, and should not have bad roads, and that the country had flared enough gas that could provide electricity for about eight million citizens.
“It is unfortunate that our assets are fast becoming a liability. For example, real cocoa is from Nigeria but the finest of chocolate cannot be traced to Nigeria.
“More than 3.3 billion dollars has been lost to oil theft since last year and at a time when other oil producers are having petrodollars splurge, Nigeria can’t even meet its production quota,” he said.
He described oil theft as large-scale economic sabotage, adding that Africa did not lack resources, but needed resourcefulness.
Ologun said although Nigeria had laws to facilitate prosperity, but the implementation of the laws was very poor.
“We need conscientious leadership. Legislation has a critical role to play in business survival in Africa, and committed implementation is the vehicle for creating a prosperous continent,” he said.
Ologun urged all arms of government to work to ensure an improved standard of living for the citizenry.
Mr Ayodele Oni, Partner, Bloomfield Law Practice, said business owners usually adopted different survival strategies during harsh times, but lamented that in Nigeria, a large percentage of start-ups died within a short period.
He said failure of start-ups was linked to inconsistency of government policies, the applicable regulations, multiple taxation, among others.
Oni said the ninth National Assembly had tried to encourage businesses with the passing of start up law recently.
He added that the legislators had been prolific in passing bills into law; such as the Civil Aviation Act, Petroleum Indutry Act, Terrorism Act, Electoral Act and the Start-Up Act, among others.
But according to him, it is not enough to have laws without implementation.
He, therefore, urged the 10th National Assembly to do more around the ease of doing business and insecurity, which had affected businesses, and build infrastructure.
“They should also encourage the private sector, privatise some critical infrastructure, and rejig the educational system,” he said.
A Ghanian government and public affairs analyst, Mr Francis Kokute, said: “Our politicians don’t seem to understand what benefits democracy offers us.
“Unfortunately, our legislators think about their political party first before thinking about the larger society, but this is killing our democracy.
“I think that we were not prepared for democracy. It was like something imposed on Africans and it is hanging on our necks.
“Africa should be looking at a redefined democracy to suit us,” he said.
A public Affairs analyst and journalist from Kenya, Mr Bosire Japheth Ontiri, said the same scenario played out in Kenya where businesses struggled to survive due to lack of enabling environment.
Ontiri said political intrigues in Kenya had gone so deep that it was eroding investors’ confidence.
He, however, said there was hope for Africa because its resources were enough to feed the world.
He urged the legislators and everyone in public office to be transparent and dedicated to improving the standard of living of the citizenry.