Economy
Multiple Taxation Hinders Business Growth—Elumelu
By Dipo Olowookere
Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu, has appealed to government to urgently address the issue of multiple taxation in the country, pointing out that the problem has continued to hinder the growth of businesses in Nigeria.
Speaking on Thursday at the Lagos Business School Alumni Association 2017 Conference, the former Group Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc also noted that the restructuring of government regulations and taxation will go a long way in providing friendly environment to the business community as well as increase the revenue of government.
Mr Elumelu, who was guest speaker at the occasion, spoke on the conference theme ‘The Effects of Multiple Government Regulations and Taxation on Business Growth in Nigeria.’
During his address, the Chairman of UBA Plc emphasized the need for government to embark on radical approach that would shape behaviours of entrepreneurs and business owners towards payment of taxes in a more obligatory manner.
According to Mr Elumelu, who also is the Chairman of Transcorp Plc, submitted that, “Multiple regulations hinder business growth; and we need to regulate our tax laws and practices in a manner that would create enabling environments for businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs to thrive in the economy.
“If taxes are well regulated for businesses, there would be increase in government revenue, more businesses would grow, thereby helping to curb unemployment and improving the economy significantly.”
The business mogul stressed the need for a comprehensive reorientation exercise across all tax agencies that would ensure that officers have the right values required for the job and that due process is followed at all times in government regulations for businesses.
“We should use tax as a dynamic fiscal tool to shape corporate behaviour and ensure that our business climate is conducive for investors to thrive for a more robust economy that will in turn increase the tax base,” he said.
Mr Elumelu thanked the LBS for addressing real challenges that business communities face exemplified by choosing the topic of discourse, which is very vital to Nigeria’s economic growth.
He also applauded the institution’s faculty for helping to sharpen the competitiveness of professionals by bridging the gap in knowledge acquisition.
In his presentation of the Economic Outlook for 2018, Dr Biodun Adedipe, Founder/Chief Consultant of B. Adedipe Associates, advised Nigeria to deviate from operating a mono-cultural economy which has proved detrimental to its growth.
“While thinking of ways to grow our economy to a sustainable level, we must realise that mono-cultural economy has not helped our cause. Over dependence on hydro-carbon and imports have done more harm than good.
“Therefore, I strongly advocate import substitution because no country grows sustainably by importation alone. We must produce and grow locally to be self-sufficient, and we must create environments for small businesses to grow to attain that level,” he said.
On his part, Chairman of Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr Hamzat Ayodele Subair, who was represented by Tokunbo Akande, revealed that before now, the lack of viable data on financial record had hampered the process of effective tax systems in the state, and the rest of Nigeria.
He however assured that the Lagos State government, through the LIRS, is working hard to harmonise its tax practices by creating a single billing system where each tax payer would have a complete list of his or her tax schedule to avoid multiplicity of tax systems and agents.
Head of Tax and Corporate Advisory Services at PwC Nigeria, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, examined tax administration and taxation of businesses during the panel discussion, and revealed that the multiple arms of government had led to multiplicity of agencies which had replicated themselves in the nation’s tax systems.
“The solution we need is to have sound institutions, put our best foot forward and coordination among all levels of government operations,” he said.
LBS Faculty and Professor of Legal, Social and Political Environment of Business, Prof. Olawale Ajai, who was the Conference Chairman, stated that business growth should generate economic growth for the nation, which is why citizens should encourage the growth of small scale businesses.
According to him, “it is on policy makers to facilitate regulatory frameworks that would enable economic growth in Nigeria.”
“A reorientation of policy makers and tax administrators is critical to the nation’s economic success and we must collaborate and partner to bring about an enabling environment for local businesses,” he added.
On her part, President of Lagos Business School Alumni Association and MD/CEO Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Mrs Bola Adesola, expressed that the objectives of the association was to promote continuous education for members, support LBS in its aims and objectives, render service to society especially in the area of public and private management.
She also welcomed the latest additions to the Alumni Association and urged them to continue taking the opportunities afforded to them and be ambassadors of the great institutions.
Dean of Lagos Business School, Dr Enase Okonedo, thanked Mr Elumelu and the other speakers for the insight and knowledge shared.
She also expressed gratitude to the Alumni for their contributions to the school and society. She disclosed that Alumni had continuously contributed to education; renovated and built schools, and have been commended by government at all levels for their efforts.
She applauded their efforts at adding value to the society and encouraged them to be the change they want to see in society.
The 2017 Lagos Business School Alumni Association was hosted by Chief Executive Programme (CEP 24) and International Management Programme (IMP02) Classes.
Nonso Ezeh, CEP 24 Class President, and Oba Segun Aderemi, IMP02 Class President, thanked all the alumni present and extended their greetings to the institution for impacting positively on the society.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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