Finance expert and entrepreneur Tunde Magbadelo has sounded the alarm over what he describes as a fragmented and burdensome regulatory landscape in Nigeria, cautioning that the lack of synergy among government agencies is accelerating the exodus of small businesses into the informal economy.
Magbadelo, who manages cross-border finance operations between Nigeria and the United States through his firm, MyAnchor Consulting, emphasized on Monday that Nigeria’s current compliance architecture is impeding enterprise growth in Africa’s largest economy.
“A single microbusiness in Nigeria may be required to engage with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, state tax authorities, the Corporate Affairs Commission, NAFDAC, SON, and other regulatory agencies — all in silos and with no harmonized processes. This complexity discourages formalization,” he said in a recent interview.
A Chartered Accountant and Certified Information Systems Auditor, Magbadelo has held senior finance roles at 11 Plc (formerly ExxonMobil Nigeria) and Plug Global LLC. He currently directs financial analytics at The Electric Motor Repair Company in the U.S.
He called for the urgent development of a unified, digital compliance portal that integrates company registration, tax filings, and regulatory obligations. According to him, such a solution would provide a single-window interface for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often operate with minimal administrative capacity.
“Business reforms shouldn’t stop at fast-tracking company registration,” Magbadelo stated. “True ease of doing business lies in enabling long-term compliance without requiring SMEs to build out full finance or legal departments.”
He also recommended a scaled approach to financial reporting, proposing simplified, cash-based accounting standards for microenterprises. With over 80 percent of Nigeria’s labour force active in the informal economy, Magbadelo noted that streamlining compliance is now critical to national economic development.
“To grow the tax base and support job creation, government must rationalize the current maze of regulations. What SMEs need are simplified, predictable rules — not more red tape,” he asserted.
On the macroeconomic front, Magbadelo urged SMEs to actively manage risks related to currency volatility and inflation. He advised small businesses to prioritize operational hedging strategies such as local procurement, revenue diversification, and agile cost structures before considering complex financial instruments.
He further encouraged the adoption of digital tools for real-time risk management, automated hedging, and predictive analytics, noting that technology can transform economic volatility into an opportunity for agile, well-positioned enterprises.
