Abuja: Some trade experts have called for harmonised simplified, low-cost, and time-limited incentives to encourage micro businesses to formalise or register their ventures. The experts shared their insights in the MoniePoint Informal Economy Report, 2025, which was unveiled in the city.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Foyinsolami Akinjayeju, the Chief Executive Officer of Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Advancement (EFInA), emphasized that time-limited incentives for formalisation, such as fee waivers, would assist small businesses in their registration process. Akinjayeju highlighted that access to grants or training for newly registered micro-businesses would further motivate informal businesses to formalise their operations. She noted that businesses tend to formalise and thrive when compliance is made easy and rewarding, and financial structures support rather than strain already thin margins.
Akinjayeju proposed a tiered registration framework to simplify compliance and incentivise formalisation, allowing micro-businesses to start with minimal requirements and scale their obligations as they grow. She also suggested embedding compliance into mobile and agent-based platforms to reduce friction and ensuring that registration immediately unlocks tangible value, such as access to finance, skills programmes, or temporary tax holidays.
In the report, Dr. Chinyere Almona, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that executing targeted fiscal incentives required pragmatism, precision, and phased implementation. Almona suggested a tiered system where micro businesses, like street vendors or family-run shops, could enjoy simplified registration processes requiring minimal documentation, thus encouraging them to formalise. She recommended that the government accept mobile-based registrations linked to NIN/BVN instead of demanding board resolutions from micro-traders, significantly reducing friction. Almona also advocated for fiscal support, tax credits, subsidised digital tools, and small-scale infrastructure grants to be front-loaded, ensuring that operators see the tangible benefits of engaging with the government.
Dr. Oluyemi Adeosun, the Chief Economist at BusinessDay Media, noted that financial incentives linked to digital and tax compliance could facilitate the transition of 20 to 30 per cent of micro-businesses to semi-formal operations by 2030. Adeosun explained that this move would help increase the sector's Gross Domestic Product contribution from 58 per cent to 65 per cent.
Babatunde Olofin, the Managing Director of MoniePoint Microfinance Bank, remarked that the bank's purpose was to create a society where everyone experiences financial happiness and their dreams are realised, regardless of size or status. Olofin mentioned that the report would provide policymakers and ecosystem stakeholders with data and insights to drive inclusive and evidence-based decisions. He added that the company's goal was to unleash Nigeria's full economic potential and ensure that the most vulnerable households were not left behind. Olofin described this year's report as a deep exploration of employment, taxation, savings behaviour, and business operations within the informal economy, portraying it as a reflection of Nigeria's economic reality, especially for the millions who earn a living outside the formal system.