Business

Tax reform will boost workers’ welfare – Fed Govt

Published

2 years ago

January 3, 2025

584 Views

The proposed Tax Reform Bills will significantly improve the quality of life for workers, the Federal Government has reaffirmed.

In response to misgivings expressed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele outlined key measures embedded in the bills.

He said lowly-paid workers earning around N1 million annually (approximately N83,000 monthly), would enjoy full exemption from the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax. This policy would cover nearly one-third of workers in both the public and private sectors.

For middle-income earners, the bills propose reduced PAYE tax rates for those earning up to N20 million annually (about N1.7 million per month), benefiting an additional 60 percent of Nigerian workers.

Members of the armed forces actively engaged in combating insecurity will also receive PAYE tax exemptions alongside other ranks.

To mitigate the rising cost of living, the bills propose eliminating Value Added Tax (VAT) on essential goods and services, including food, healthcare, and education, which account for approximately 60 percent of all household consumption.

Other items such as transportation, renewable energy, compressed natural gas (CNG), baby products, sanitary towels, and fuel products, representing over 20 percent of household consumption, are also exempted.

Oyedele explained that these measures would address nearly 82 percent of household expenses and up to 100 percent for low-income earners.

The tax reform bills include provisions to incentivize better compensation for workers. These include tax breaks for wage awards and transport subsidies targeting low-income earners.

Furthermore, the bills aim to simplify processes by removing bureaucratic restrictions on wage awards and introducing caps on taxable benefits granted to workers.

Oyedele explained that the reforms propose VAT exemptions on rent and property acquisition to promote affordable housing. Stamp duties on rents below N10 million would also be waived to alleviate housing-related financial burdens.

The tax reforms also prioritize employment creation through various incentives. These include tax benefits for employers hiring more workers, tax-friendly rules to attract remote work opportunities for Nigerians, and tax exemptions for 97 percent of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The harmonization and reduction of tax rates for large businesses are expected to stimulate growth, creating more job opportunities.

Acknowledging that the tax bills could be refined further, Oyedele noted the importance of robust debates and stakeholder engagements during the legislative process.

“The bills in their current form are the most pro-workers tax reforms in Nigerian history,” he stated, urging the NLC to collaborate in identifying areas for improvement.

“We believe the NLC will not intentionally work against the interest of its members. We look forward to discussing specific areas to better serve the interest of all Nigerians, including workers,” Oyedele added.

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Business

Airtel Money Targets October Listing On London Stock Exchange

Airtel Money’s parent company is Airtel Africa, a telecoms provider that is part of the Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, which is ultimately controlled by the billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Published

17 hours ago

September 23, 2026

OCHEFA

11 Views

Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, has concluded plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in October.

Airtel Money’s chief executive, Ian Ferrao, made the disclosure Wednesday emphasising that the company would announce more details about the float in early October, including the indicative price range and number of shares to be offered, with final pricing to follow later in the month.

Airtel Africa had originally targeted a listing in the first six months of 2026 but delayed it to the second half of the year, blaming unfavourable market conditions as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Several other companies also pushed back planned IPOs amid the market volatility caused by the conflict.

The company is hoping to raise about $800m (£601m) from the initial public offering (IPO) and is targeting a valuation of $8bn to $9bn, which would make it one of London’s largest listings in recent years.

Airtel Money has 53 million monthly active users across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It operates through a network of branches and kiosks, which enable customers to load money on to their phones, withdraw cash and access other money services, and the company generated revenues of just under $1.4bn in the last financial year.

Business

Cardoso Says Multiple FX Windows Cost Nigeria 3% of GDP, Higher Than Fuel Subsidy

Before the CBN introduced FX reforms in 2023 to unify exchange rates, Nigeria had different channels through which dollars could be bought and sold. Different rates applied to different users and transactions.

Published

22 hours ago

September 23, 2026

OCHEFA

16 Views

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso has estimated that Nigeria lost about three per cent of its gross domestic product to multiple foreign exchange windows.

Mr Cardoso spoke in Abuja on Tuesday while answering questions after the 307th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

He put the losses from the fuel subsidy regime at about 2.2 per cent of GDP, meaning the two distortions together cost the country roughly 5.2 per cent of GDP.

The committee cut the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent, a decision the governor described as an important operational realignment aimed at strengthening monetary policy transmission.

Mr Cardoso compared the cost of the old exchange rate system to the fuel subsidy, which he said was already a staggering amount of money.

The losses that we were making as a result of these multiple exchange rate windows was more. It was 3 per cent of GDP. So between those, you had 5.2 per cent of GDP lost,” he said.