The World Bank and stakeholders have expressed the need for Nigeria to adopt a single regulatory body that will oversee the operations of Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in the country.Both the global bank and the stakeholders made their position known at the Public Hearing organised by House of Representatives’ Committee on Commerce.

While the World Bank spoke through its Senior Operations Officer, Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, Mr. Craig Raymond Giesze; the stakeholders canvassed the same position via a legal practitioner from Snake Island Integrated Zone (SIIFZ), Adewale Dosumu.

Giesze said the World Bank’s position remained that countries seeking to standardise their FTZs to international best practices needed to “adopt the single regulatory authority regime for a number of reasons based on knowledge garnered over the years of what foreign investors look out for in an economy.”

“But beyond the fact that a single regulatory authority is the global best practice, the benefits include the reduction in administrative costs, long-term stability, streamlining of operations and the safety of investment which, together or cumulatively lead to investor-confidence in the economy,” he added.

On his part, Dosumu advised the committee to also look at the three Presidential Review Committees, which recommended the merging of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) with the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) so as to make for a unified regulatory framework in Nigeria.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga (PDP Ebonyi State), said the aim of the public hearing was for stakeholders to make input that would assist the committee in amending the proposed OGFZA Act.

The Managing Director of NEPZA, Hon. Emmanuel Jime, and his OGFZA counterpart, Chief Umana O. Umana said that since the supervisory Ministry of Trade and Investment had waded in with a view to presenting a harmonised position on the matter to the House Committee, they would not make any submissions, but wait for the Ministry’s decision.