From Uche Usim and Esther Akwete, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked offshore and local investors to look beyond the current challenges plaguing the country to invest massively in it as the gains of doing so far dwarf the pains.
The President gave the advice in Abuja on Monday, at the 42nd Technical Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA).
The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, described Nigeria as an investors’ haven as it holds a litany of opportunities with high returns on investment.
He explained that his administration has marshalled out potent strategies, systems and procedures to drive investments and guarantee investors fertile grounds to plough in their resources.
He said: “The implementation of our ease of doing business programmes monitors all indices of doing businesses in Nigeria with a view of removing frauds that are potentially employed in the way of economic progress.
“Come and do business in Nigeria and I am sure you that those who have already acquainted themselves with identified challenges will testify that the benefits outweigh the challenges.
“It is no longer news that rapid advancement in science and technology have led to the evolution of communication channels that have reduced distinct barriers in trade to the bare minimum”.
President Buhari noted that the digitalisation of businesses has increased purchasing power and ensured that remote access to goods and services has grown.
“The challenge is for tax administrators now he said is to seize the moment and ensure that the opportunities presented by technology will not serve as a basis for loss of revenue due to our inability to keep up with the gaps”, he added.
In her remarks at the event, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said Nigeria has always championed global efforts at finding equitable and lasting solutions to international tax issues, like the long-standing issue of imbalance in the allocation of taxing rights between source and resident jurisdictions.
“Other tax issues that Nigeria is championing include information asymmetry between multinational enterprises and tax authorities in developing countries; the issue of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS); and tax challenges of the digitalised economy.
“The Nigerian government has over the past few years, committed huge monetary and human resources to champion the cause of developing countries. In some tax administrations, ICT function is limited to the provision of hardware and basic software in a support capacity. Whereas, automation, large data, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities are central to effective tax administration. Such capabilities will enable tax authorities to do e-invoicing, pre-populate tax returns, carry out automated tax risk profiling, etc”.
The Minister said the digital era has thrown up some exciting possibilities like exotic products, efficiency, remote working, etc.
In his submission, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Mr Muhammad Nami, said there has been an upsurge of disruptive technological innovations in the business environment.
“These disruptive technologies he said have triggered peculiar issues that tax authorities are grappling with. The business world is in a state of flux; while the character of data and its management keeps changing.
“Consequently, tax administrators are under compulsion to align their mandates with the changes arising from technological advancements.
“Tax administrators must remain bound by the laws, regulations and codes that safeguard the sourcing, storage, processing and management of data,” he said.