Follow Us on Google Discover
The Ernest Shonekan Centre for Legislative Reforms and Economic Development (ESC), an initiative of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has launched the Business Bill Intelligence Portal, a digital platform designed to improve access to information on bills before the National Assembly that have implications for Nigeria’s business environment.
The portal was launched at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#32), held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, under the theme “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity.”
The initiative aims to help businesses and other stakeholders identify relevant proposed legislation, follow its progress through the legislative process and understand its potential implications for the business environment.
Legislation can influence investment decisions, business operations, market access, regulatory requirements and the overall cost of doing business. Yet, following the progress of proposed laws and identifying those relevant to specific sectors can be challenging for stakeholders who need this information to make informed decisions and engage constructively in the legislative process.
Also Read
The Business Bill Intelligence Portal addresses this need by providing a central digital resource for accessing and tracking bills relevant to Nigeria’s business environment. Users can browse bills, search for specific legislation and apply available filters to identify bills that interest them.
The platform also features an analytics dashboard that provides an overview of bills and their distribution across legislative stages. Individual bill pages provide information on each bill’s status, latest recorded action and legislative history, enabling users to follow developments and better understand the progress of proposed legislation.
Speaking on the significance of the business bill portal, ESC Chairman Mr Kyari Bukar said:
“Laws and proposed legislation can have significant implications for businesses, investment and economic growth. We want to strengthen informed participation in legislative reform and connect lawmaking with Nigeria’s economic development priorities. Our goal is to support clearer, more practical laws that improve the business environment, encourage investment and create opportunities while protecting the public interest.”
The portal builds on the NESG’s longstanding engagement with the legislature to advance reforms that improve Nigeria’s business environment. In 2016, the NESG established the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), a platform for engagement between the legislature and the private sector on legislative reforms. The Group subsequently supported the establishment of the State Assemblies Business Environment Roundtable (SABER), extending the reform dialogue to the subnational level.
Ernest Shonekan Centre was established in 2023 to deepen research, advocacy and engagement on legislative reforms and economic development. The Business Bill Intelligence Portal advances this work by providing a practical tool for tracking proposed legislation relevant to the business environment and supporting more informed engagement among the legislature, private sector, civil society, the media and other stakeholders.
“The portal is designed for citizens, businesses, civil society organisations, journalists, policy analysts, academics and researchers, government agencies, and legislators and National Assembly staff,” said ESC Executive Director, Dr Uchenna Ogbonna.
He added: “These groups need legislative information for different purposes. Businesses want to understand proposals affecting their industries, citizens want to know how proposed laws could affect them, and legislators and researchers need information to support their work. Our particular focus is on strengthening informed participation in legislation affecting Nigeria’s business environment and economy.”
The launch at NES#32 reinforces the importance of accessible legislative information to Nigeria’s economic reform agenda. By helping stakeholders follow bills that could affect the business environment, the portal seeks to support greater awareness, informed participation and constructive dialogue around the legislative decisions that shape economic activity.
Stakeholders can access the Business Bill Intelligence Portal at https://billtracker.shonekancentre.org.
