By Dada Ahmed
Abuja
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones(NEPZA) says that effect from January 1, 2021, it will commence operation on a new template for Free Zone registration, line with the Federal Government’s focus on improving the ease of doing business.
The Managing director of the Authority, Prof.Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, made the disclosure in a statement signed by Mr Martins Odeh,Head, Corporate Communications, NEPZA on Thursday in Abuja, a copy of which was made available to The Reporters, an online media platform.
The managing director said: “The new registration process, which I am proposing to take off from 1st January 2021, will make the process of registering a Free Zone company more efficient and attractive for potential investors without compromising the integrity of the system.
“There are two plans outlined, one is to be adopted immediately and the other to be implemented in the next 6-12 months.’’
“The steps leading to successful registration listed for adherence in the short term includes:
“i.NEPZA will allow the official submission of registration documents by clear scanned signed copy to emails of the Zone Administrators.
“ii.This email should then be forwarded to the team at NEPZA HQ instantaneously for processing.
iii.Once received by Email, the documents should be processed, and a virtual screening meeting scheduled within 24hours.
“iv.Once the application is approved, Certified True Copies (CTC) of the scanned signed documents and the NEPZA registration certificate should be sent to the Zone Administrator on behalf of the newly registered Enterprise.
“v.The Zone Manager will then submit the original documents to the Zone Administrator and collect the CTC documents and NEPZA Registration certificate on behalf of the new Enterprise.”
The NEPZA boss, however, said the Authority would, in long term, have a system driven process.
Adesugba also explained that there was a company registration, a portal where all Free Zones could download the NEPZA forms (with serial numbers) and submit documents for company registration.
According to him, the portal will allow uploads of proof of registration fee payments made by remittal to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and scheduling of virtual screening meetings.
“It is imperative that we continue to make timely process improvements such as this, in order to generate goodwill for the Authority and position our Free Zones as an attractive investment location to a wide range of investors,’’the NEPZA Chief Executive Officer added
