Tax Revenue

This symposium addresses issues such as the low tax to GDP ratio in developing states, the broken social contract in these countries and the reforms needed to repair the social contract. The convener, in accepting the invitation of Afronomicslaw to host the tax symposium, called upon tax practitioners, academics, policy experts, philosophers, administrators, to offer insights on the relationship between taxation and the social contract

It is trite to mention that the benefits and costs from trade expansion may never be evenly distributed across ACs. However, the estimated revenue loss should not be considered as an absolute loss for ACs as the long-term benefits, facilitated by adjustment support remain significant. It will allow comparative advantage to thrive, thereby granting customers and firms access to cheaper products/raw materials in the continent.

This blog post examined how legal and institutional barriers have affected FDI in Nigeria’s RE sector and proffered strategies to resolve the identified issues. It was established that though Nigeria has considerable potential for generating solar, small and large hydro, biomass, biogas and wind energy to bridge her huge energy gap, the current RE production from these sources is abysmally low. Meanwhile, the FDI inflow in the sector is declining despite the government’s renewed favourable disposition. The situation is further exacerbated by some legal and institutional impediments that include policy inconsistency, inadequate legal framework, corruption, ineffective administrative processes, poor adherence to the rule of law, lack of awareness and insecurity.

The AfCFTA, as presently negotiated, fails to address the potential tax avoidance likely to arise from the proposed single market. The tax-related non-tariff barriers mentioned in the AfCFTA are limited to subsidies and tax benefits granted by governments to countries. In the absence of any express provision on the allocation of taxable income among countries in the AfCFTA, it may be argued that the AfCFTA has adopted the global tax system, which treats companies in a group as separate from each other.