From Ease of Doing Business to Ease in Accessing Credit

The drive of the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the ease of doing business and guarantee easy access to credit for businesses (especially small-to-medium enterprises) recently recorded another milestone with the signing into law of the Credit Reporting Act 2017 (the “CRA”) and the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act 2017 (the “Collateral Registry Act”). These Acts, which are to replace the hitherto existing Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) guidelines on their respective subject matters, are products of extensive stakeholder engagements and will provide the statutory framework for the regulation of credit bureaux and collateral registries in Nigeria.