Nigeria has slashed registration costs by 50 per cent for new businesses with an equity investment of US$3.11mn to encourage small companies and foreign investments to the country
For investors registering businesses with equity higher than US$3.11mn, the registration fee has been reduced by 25 per cent, local newspaper The Guardian reported.
The announced was made by the minister during a recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Brazil to promote trade and investment in both countries, the newspaper reported.
Investors with an equity investment of US$6,238 or below would have to pay US$62.38 to register their business.
Nigerian minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga said, “The initiative is in line with our investment climate reform programme, aimed at positioning Nigeria as the preferred destination for both local and foreign investors.
“Nigerian companies can now save more than US$12.5mn each year, which can be used to hire more staff and expand operations. The new regulation has been deliberately set up to ensure that the bulk of these savings go to smaller businesses.”
According to the minister, the MoU would result in collaborations between the west African nation’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) promotion agency SMEDAN and Brazil’s Servico Brasileiro de Apoio Micro e Pequenas Empresas (SEBRAE), Servico Nacional de Apredizagem Industrial (SENAI) and the Industrial Training Fund of Nigeria (ITF), for developing skills, industries and finance capabilities.
