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Nigeria’s finance ministry unveils system to monitor tax exemptions

Published

2 weeks ago

April 16, 2024

Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance has unveiled the Incentive Monitoring and Evaluation Platform (IMEP), a cutting-edge computer system meant to make it easier to keep an eye on the tax costs connected to import duty exemption certificates.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said it was part of a larger plan to cut down on tax spending and make sure that fiscal policies were helping the country’s economy grow.

Edun said the IMEP was meant to change how the Federal Ministry of Finance figures out how much the tax breaks for businesses, non-governmental organizations, and foreign groups affect the economy.

Since President Bola Tinubu took office, Nigeria’s government has been trying to change the country’s fiscal and monetary policies. This has led to bold moves by both the central bank and the tax advisory committee run by Taiwo Oyedele.

Edun said the ministry wanted to improve the monitoring and review of these exemptions by putting in place a strong automated tool. He talked about how the IMEP has many useful features, such as a mechanism for clawing back duties, electronic report generation, a central database for tracking, factory geo-location tagging, industry qualification status validation, integration with many government agencies, and sending demand notices to people who don’t pay their taxes.

“One of the critical objectives of the IMEP is to provide a framework that will prevent ineligible applicants from receiving tax benefits, enforce compliance with fiscal policy measures, and offer a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of tax incentives.

“By doing so, the ministry hopes to curb the misuse of tax expenditures, support the realisation of economic outcomes from fiscal incentives, and enhance the direct measurement of tax incentives’ effects on the economy,” he noted.

Edun says the system is meant to give a framework to checkmate and limit applicants who aren’t qualified, make sure that strict fiscal policy measures are followed, and give a strong analysis of how tax incentives affect the economy.

“Overall, the introduction of the IMEP represents a significant step towards reducing the cost of tax expenditure and ensuring that tax incentives have a positive impact on the Nigerian economy. This initiative is part of the government’s commitment to fostering transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the management of the nation’s resources,” he explained.

In December, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) said it granted three years of tax exemption to 34 companies in 2023.

Related Topics:Featured Nigeria Wale Edun

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Nigeria gets $600 million investment from Danish firm Moller-Maersk

Published

13 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s presidency said on Sunday that President Bola Tinubu had secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Nigerian ports will get more space for container shipping services as part of the deal by improving their facilities.

A presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a statement that the decision was made by Mr Robert Maersk Uggla, Chairman of A.P. Moller-Maersk, during a meeting with President Tinubu on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development.

”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify,” Ngelale quoted Uggla as saying.

”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.”

Tinubu, for his part, thanked the company for what it did for the Nigerian economy.

“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,” Tinubu said.

“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.”

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Nigeria: Bureaux De Change operators to harmonise retail FX market

Published

1 day ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Amidst the volatility around the Nigerian currency and its foreign exchange market, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators in the country has revealed plans for a unified retail end of the foreign currency market.

In a statement released on Saturday, the association said that the move would reduce volatility and improve regulatory compliance in that market sector.

The lack of dollars has had a huge effect on Nigeria. In the past few weeks, the naira has hit all-time lows, and the central bank has had to weaken the currency twice in less than a year and launched campaigns against currency racketeers as well as other policies like banning Binance and other crypto companies’ online sites through the Nigerian Communications Commission to stop what the government saw as ongoing manipulation of the foreign exchange market and the illegal flow of money.

Aminu Gwadabe, President of ABCON, said that the organization was putting plans in place to bring together market operators from different backgrounds. These plans included starting state groups to coordinate, integrate, and run a single market structure.

Gwadebe said that all BDC owners in Nigerian markets would be taken care of when it was done. He also talked about plans to improve its Business Process Platform, which used to be known as SAAZ Master.

He said, “Part of our vision for a united retail-end forex market includes activating geo-mapping and automated BDCs physical office verification exercise using the Remote Gravity Physical verification apps. This will enable forex buyers to locate BDCs offices for effective and seamless transactions easily.”

He said again that a strong retail end forex market would help the Central Bank of Nigeria reach its goal of real price discovery for the naira, as well as meet international obligations and national goals, make it easier for security agencies to monitor and supervise, and give BDC players a better view of the market.

Gwadabe says that the goal of a unified retail end forex market will help with the creation of market intelligence reports, improve the image of BDCs, other players, and market operators both locally and internationally, and create more jobs.

Gwadabe said that if this plan is carried out well, it will help the government make money through a digitalized retail end market and create a well-structured, open, and competitive platform to stop the threat of illegal platforms.

“With the world going digital, BDC operators under the ABCON leadership are committed to staying ahead of the competition by deploying time-tested technology to deliver effective services to foreign exchange end-users.

“Finally, we also condemned in its entity, the seeming reappearance of illegal economic behaviours in forex conversion and peer-to-peer trading that pose another recent surprise in naira volatility and I therefore want to warn that while surprises are the new normal, resilience is also the new skills,” Gwadebe explained.