Nigerian Govt Cries Out that Ghana, Other African Countries are Wooing Companies to Leave Nigeria
- The Nigerian government is worried that more foreign firms are pitching their tenth in neighbouring African countries
- According to National Bureau of Statistics data, foreign investment in Nigeria fell to $6.7 billion in 2021, the lowest level in five years
- In its defence, the federal government claims that foreign investors continue to entice companies to relocate
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The federal government of Nigeria has revealed that many African countries were lobbying companies operating in Nigeria to leave and come to them.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo during his conversation with the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts.
According to the Minister, countries like Ghana are using various attractive incentives to woo investors.
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Adebayo also noted that foreign companies left in Nigeria are only attracted by Nigeria’s huge population, the Vanguard reports.
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He said:
"Those countries had raised the capital allowances of the companies Our duty is to support investment growth in Nigeria.
"It is public knowledge that getting these investments is increasingly becoming difficult today."
Legislators respond
Speaking on the Minister's comment, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Account, Wole Oke, said the country is bleeding economically, decrying that several companies are evading taxes.
In his words:
“Nigeria is bleeding. We are borrowing daily to finance our budget and the Minister of Finance has said the reason we are borrowing is the fact that we are not collecting the revenue we are supposed to collect.
“The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has issued some instruments which earned companies tax breaks and tax holiday. But this scheme has been abused by the companies.
“When some of these companies appeared before this committee, we noticed from their presentation elements of tax invasion. For example, China Habour got a waiver of N5 billion to import nails and wire nets."
Oko also expressed worries about the cost of imported goods to the locally made, high taxation and lack of safety net for multinationals, the punch report added.
Dangote, Rabiu companies dominate the list of most valuable manufacturing companies
Legit.ng had earlier reported that Dangote cement and BUA cement are the two most valuable listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria.
BUA foods another company owned by Abdulsamad sat in the third position while Nestle Nigeria completed the list of top four valuable manufacturing companies.
The ranking of the banks is according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and compiled by Nairametrics.
Source: Legit.ng
