By Stephanie Odiase
Lagos state has emerged Nigeria’s best preforming state in the Ease of Doing Business Ranking for 2025, released on Friday by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
The report showed that Kaduna, Oyo, FCT, Ogun, Enugu, Plateau, Ekiti, Kano, and Nasarawa made the top 10 states in the 2025 Ease of Doing Business ranking.
The criteria for the rankings include the implementation of reforms in key sectors of the economy, which resulted in about 40% reduction in business registration timelines; over 30% improvement in land administration efficiency, and significant gains in digital service delivery and dispute resolution.
The report was presented in Abuja, at the Reform and Diplomatic Roundtable, organised by PEBEC in collaboration with the UK International Development and Nigeria Economic Stability and Transformation (NEST), with the theme “Connecting Global Capital to Nigeria’s Top 10 Ease of Doing Business States.”
Speaking at the event, the Director General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, explained that the Council arrived at the selection based on the ranking of the 36 states and the FCT.
According to the report, Lagos came tops with a score of 62.7/73, Kaduna 47.5/73, Oyo 45.8/73, FCT 44.5/73, Ogun 43.8/73, Enugu and Plateau tied in 6th place with 41/73, Ekiti 40.8/73; while Kano and Nasarawa scored 40/73 and 39/73, respectively.
“These are not abstract metrics, they are signals to investors that Nigeria is becoming more predictable, more transparent, and more competitive,” Audu said, adding, “Yet, as important as progress is, progress alone is not enough.”
She emphasized that the roundtable, which was well attended by members of the diplomatic community, marked a critical transition, from diagnostics to deployment, from reform to results, and from potential to performance.
“The real question before us is; can reforms translate into results? Can they deliver faster permitting processes, clearer regulatory pathways, and efficient capital deployment? Because ultimately, capital flows where certainty grows,” Audu stressed.
According to her, PEBEC is focusing on three major areas, namely improving the quality and coordination of regulations to ensure policies were practical and transparent; enhancing service delivery through platforms such as ReportGov (which allows real-time feedback on business challenges), and deepening reforms at the state level where most business activities take place.
In assessing the States, PEBEC adopted a framework comprising 16 Indicators, reflecting key dimensions of business functionality, such as access to electricity, infrastructure, digital connectivity, land administration, justice delivery, taxation, trade logistics, investor support, crisis resilience, skilled labour, and related regulatory factors. Each indicator was broken down into 36 operational sub-indicators tied to specific administrative dataset.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, encouraged states to embrace a healthy competition among themselves, supported by reforms and development programmes to promote improved economic performance across the country.
The Minister who expressed confidence that Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy was possible, however, noted that it is largely depended on the performance of states and the private sector.
Explaining the role of the subnational, the Minister stated that Nigeria’s structure allows states to attract investments and drive economic growth through the ability to enter into contracts and operate their own legal systems necessary to promoting business investments.
He added further that the nation’s entrepreneurial population in addition to competition among states, was a strong advantage to promoting economic growth. “We feel confident that with that mindset we can create a $1 trillion economy,” Bagudu maintained.
Also speaking at the roundtable, the UK’s Head of Macroeconomic stability and growth in Nigeria, Alice Clarke, said business don’t experience reform in theory, “They feel it in permits, power connections and how institutions respond when things go wrong,” she stated.
She noted that the latest ease of doing business assessment has provided them with a clear picture of where progress is happening and where consistency must improve.
Clarke stated that the UK is committed to working side-by-side with Nigeria to strengthen implementation, reduce bottlenecks and create a more predictable business environment that unlocks investment opportunities, create jobs and support long term growth.
Presenting a report on Nigeria’s investment outlook 2026, NEST Expert, Afolabi Imoukhuede, pointed out that while Nigeria appears ready for business considering the macroeconomic reforms, stabilizing economic outlook, as well as fiscal and policy adjustments, there is need to remain cautiously positive and leverage on the potentials of the top reform-performing states for growth.
Explaining the significance of the top 10 states, the NEST Expert said the PEBEC ease of doing business indicators have shown they are faster in approval of business permits; have more predictable regulation; better land & permit systems; improved justice system; stronger investor engagement; digital governance improvements; investor aftercare; lower execution risk and higher investment probability.
While advising the need to consider working in clusters for enhanced growth, the NEST Expert noted that each of the top 10 State possess their investment identity based on areas of comparable advantage.
For example, while Lagos is identified as the hub for finance, technology, and logistics, he said the state would optimize their economic capacity if it partners with Ogun state in the industrial & logistics corridor of South western region.
Similarly, he said Oyo, which is reputed as an agro-processing hub could work to promote the Southwest inland production Hub; while Enugu, which is associated with energy and regional services can work better within the Plateau regional processing and trade axis.
Furthermore, the NEST expert said Kaduna, which is the Northern region’s industrial base could work with Kano, FCT and Nasarawa to promote the Northern agro-industrial belt and minerals hub.