Data harmonisation, crucial for ease of doing business

*Why NIN, BVN should be in one pot – Barr Adisa-Obafemi

By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor

Lawyer and business coach, Barr Titilope Adisa-Obafemi has enjoined the federal government to harmonise different data platforms, including National Identification Number, NIN, Bank Verification Number, BVN and all others sitting in silos, in order to improve the ease of doing business policy.

Adisa-Obafemi who is also the founder of ASCEND360 platform that curates ideas and train young business enterpreneurs, also charged the government to reduce drastically the bottlenecks association with business registration in the country.

She added that the way business registration is structured in Nigeria and the cumbersome loan assessment procedures, ease of doing business in the country may still remain a mirage.

She spoke on the side of an event themed: “Build, Protect, Grow” meant to help both old and budding enterpreneurs gain real strategies, legal insights and financial clarity in their businesses.

The even which had an array of notable facilitators from business, technology and entertainment sectors held at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, at the weekend.

Fielding questions from the journalists, Adisa -Obafemi said: “ If I am to advise the government on how to achieve ease of doing business, I will begin with the critical area, which is making registration of businesses a bit more seamless. You know, a lot of people want to register their businesses, but because the registration is not very smooth, they end up not doing so. For instance, tell me why to just do name reservation will take like two weeks?.

“Another area is to help restructure Bank Of Industries, BOI in such a way that SMEs can have easier access to low percentage loans that they can easily pay off over time.

“And, I’m not oblivious of the popular situation in Nigeria, where we have BVN, we have Nin, yet somebody’s address is not what they say it is, and all of that. But, if the government can scrutinise these data and consolidate all the platforms into one, we will surely have a genuine credit regime. When we have proper social security numbers, it will be easier for lenders to track who they are giving loans and ensure they don’t just vanish after taking the loans”.

Speaking on the theme of the event, she said what informed it was the zeal to see that whatever enterpreneurs are doing, they understand how to navigate the complexities and attain growth.

“So like I said, everybody alive is building something, you know, and whatever it is that you are building, you’ll need to build it properly, and understand how make growth with it. So we thought that it will be nice to teach people how to build properly, to protect what it is that they are building so that they can grow exponentially, for the next generation to inherit”

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