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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Despite being one of the stakeholders consulted, the Nigeria Employment Consultative Association (NECA) has insisted that Nigeria risks becoming a dumping ground with the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is even as it said the private sector is already being burdened with a total of 105 taxes and levies, warning that any attempt to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT), as being proposed, will not only overburden the economy and businesses but some businesses might actually close shops like what happened in the textile industry.
Its Director General, Timothy Olawale, who led the delegation to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, told State House Correspondents that without the challenges of infrastructure and power being addressed, Nigerian businesses would not be able to compete with their counterparts and the country would become a dumping ground.
Nigeria became the 53rd country to join the African Continental Free Trade Area on July 8, 2019 after President Buhari signed the AfCFTA Agreement in Niamey, Niger Republic.
According to the NECA boss, “AfCFTA agreement is laudable. There are lots of benefits inherent in it. We also know that it is capable of endangering capital inflow into the country.
“However, before we start talking about benefits, we must also talk of the likely damage it can do to an economy that is fragile like ours, which behoves on us, as stakeholders and government, to put all hands on the deck to address those issues.
“The issues bother on those variables that will ensure the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses and industries. We don’t want a situation where our businesses are not competitive due to the disadvantage environment they operate. Of course, we are all familiar with the disadvantaged environment with regards to issue of agriculture among which is power and the issue of road network, that is, transportation for goods and services and accessibility to the different business environment.
“What we are saying is that if all these issues are not addressed properly to make our businesses competitive, definitely we are going to be at the receiving end, to the extent that our nation will become a dumping ground. And even some of the factories that are even struggling presently may end up folding up.
“Of course, we know the history of the textile sector and that can be repeated in any sector and we don’t want us to get to that extent. That is why we are saying government should put mechanism in place to address these issues so that we can be competitive and so that we can take our rightful place and maximise the benefits of AfCFTA agreement.”
On plan to increase taxes in the country, Olawale said: “Basically, what we told the president is what we have repeated over and over again in the public domain, that rather than any increase in taxation because as it is, organised businesses are already being overburdened with all sorts of taxes and levies.
“As a matter of fact, we have calculated 105 different taxes and levies we are paying as we speak, which is cumbersome and burdensome. So, we had advised that rather than resort to any form of increase in taxation, what government should be looking at is putting mechanism in place to widen the tax net in such a way that almost 65 per cent of non-compliant tax payers are captured in the tax net. That way, more revenue will accrue into the coffers of the government.
“We specifically also voiced are concerned with the suggestion and proposal out there that VAT should be increased. We have advised government that if it comes to be, it will reduce the purchasing power of Nigerian workers as well as the poor that the president, as we know, is working hard to improve their lot. We are saying that if government must as a matter of unavoidable necessity increase VAT, it should target luxury goods as well as the extra affluence in the society, not the poor or on consumption goods and services that are for the benefit of the masses.”
The NECA President, Taiwo Adeniyi , in his remarks said they were at the villa with representatives of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) to discussed with President Buhari on challenges facing the body.
