The Federal Government’s drive to improve the ease of doing business has received a boost as investors and would-be-business owners now have a handbook on how to obtain licenses and permits when doing business in selected sectors in the country. The handbook is entitled Guide to Doing Business in Nigeria: Licensing requirements and permits in selected sectors.

Publishers of the handbook, A&E Law Partnership, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said it was part of their contribution to improving the environment for doing business in Nigeria.

The foreword to the handbook written by Peter Ntephe said the Guide is “a one-stop-shop handbook on the rules for entry into various sectors of the Nigerian economy. Key processes and procedures are outlined in as much a succinct way as possible, along with the fees for obtaining licences and registrations.”

This handbook, which is a product of the knowledge gained by the law firm over the years in “its core competences”, has been described as “a praiseworthy compendium and guide to the rules and regulations for doing business in the ‘commanding heights’ of the Nigerian economy.”

According to the managing Partner of A&E Law Partnership, “The Doing Business handbook adopts a sectoral approach, respectively explicating the requirements for operating in insurance, aviation, cabotage, banking, energy and power, solid minerals, telecommunications, entertainment, food and beverages, private security, oil and gas, among others. There is also coverage of matters that are applicable across sectors, such as immigration, environmental standards, intellectual property and capital markets,” etc.

Beside these, there is a section devoted to foreign investors, providing an advisory on organisational forms available as well as other subjects of potential interests, such as repatriation of profits and tax exemptions.