COVID-19: A Catalyst for Digitization of Corporate Regulatory Processes in Nigeria

The Covid-19 (“the pandemic”) has accelerated the migration to digital platforms for most private sector business operations in Nigeria but has crippled the efficacy of corporate regulatory processes by at least 95% of the MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies), thus escalating the requirement for the digitization of regulatory processes.

Although prior to the pandemic, businesses in Nigeria had begun to embrace digitization at varying levels: From the execution of documents to adopting data storage systems which rely on blockchain technology, internal processes for many companies in Nigeria were increasingly done via digital/online platforms.

On the contrary, very few government organizations were able to pivot to provide online support via digital platforms for simple regulatory processes thus rendering a significant number of business transactions inchoate and corporate regulatory processes, comatose. Most regulators in Nigeria have till date maintained analog and manually operated repositories, mandated in-person liaison and failed to migrate key regulatory processes and applications online despite the global trends.

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