We want to be preferred location for technology, creative economy, retirement’ – Oyedele

Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms Committee, has said Nigeria is working towards being the most preferred country in Africa for retirement, creative economy, technology research and development.

This was revealed at BusinessDay’s Africa Trade Summit and Investment Summit themed “Reimagining Economic Growth in Africa” on Thursday.

The Summit which stands as a platform for industry leaders and policymakers to share insights and form strategic collaborations that drive economic growth and development across the African continent sought to proffer solutions to trade bottlenecks between countries in Africa.

“We want to be the preferred location in Africa and a competitive one globally. We want companies to start putting their headquarters here so that the C-suite will be here spending their money and booming our economy.

“And also, the preferred lone for technology, research and development, energy transition, retirement, business outsourcing, and creative economy,” he said.

He added that the Philippines made $35 billion in 2022 from business outsourcing and that Nigeria could make more.

He said that the committee intends to do this through fiscal governance, revenue transformation and facilitating inclusive economic growth and competitiveness.

The tax leader highlighted that the committee would increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 10 to 18 percent in the next two to three years without introducing new taxes.

“We are harmonising the number of taxes officially 60, unofficially over 200 across all levels of government combined.”

Oyedele said the committee is looking at modernising some laws, of which some are from the colonial masters and mending the ones that needs to be amended.

He added that the committee is looking towards building a spending framework, “we need to reprioritise.”

“If we have 130 million people in poverty that do not have access to education, health, and clean water then we shouldn’t build international worship centres when we have no schools, or build airports in states where we have no roads from the farms to the market,” he said.