Business

FG Rakes In N127.03bn Tax From Calls, SMS

Published

3 years ago

September 7, 2022

Editor

The Federal Government made N127.03bn from Value Added Tax on calls, SMS, data, and other information and communication services in the first six month of the year.

This is 10.69 per cent of the total N1.19tn that was collected as VAT within the period under review according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The government charges 7.5 per cent for the consumption of telecommunication services.

Speaking on the contribution of the sector in the second quarter of 2022, the NBS said, “In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q2 2022 were Manufacturing with 33.08 per cent; Information and communication with 18.98 per cent; and Mining & quarrying with 10.60 per cent.”

The information and communication sector comprises of the activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording and music production; and broadcasting according to the NBS’s grouping for Gross Domestic Report.

Telecoms is the largest subsector in the sector contributing about 80 per cent of the total sector’s contribution to GDP. The subsector contributed 76.29 per cent, and 79.49 per cent to the sector’s nominal and real GDP in the first half of 2022.

It contributed N4.84tn to the nation’s real GDP and N7.94tn to its nominal GDP. To calculate the sector’s contribution to the economy, the NBS considers, “Telecommunication and Information Services: Gross Output: revenue from telephone, telex, Facsimile, telegraph, and other income from satellite and internet services.

“Intermediate consumption: transit fees, operational expenditure, minor repairs and maintenance and other expenses. Publishing: Gross Output: revenue from publishing services.

“Intermediate consumption: This includes details of the cost structure including transportation fees, operational expenditure, minor repairs etc. Motion Picture and Sound Recording: Gross Output: revenue generated/total sales from the number of movies and sound recordings produced including revenue generated from TV rights, royalties and fees.

“Intermediate consumption: Detail on the cost structure of operating firms including transportation fees, operational expenditure, minor repairs and maintenance, and other administrative expenses. Broadcasting: Gross Output: public corporation data derived from Accountants General’s reports, while the private component relies on revenue generated from services rendered e.g. advertisement.

“Intermediate consumption: details of the cost structure of market participants which include transportation fees, operational expenditure, minor repairs and maintenance.”

According to the government it aims to improve efforts aimed at improving VAT coverage and collection. Considering dwindling oil revenue, the government has increased efforts at increasing tax revenues. Despite contributing a chunk of VAT revenues, the government recently made moves to add a five per cent excise duty on telecom’s services which would have increased telecoms consumption tax to 12.5 per cent.

Although, the plan has been suspended, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, revealed that the sector pays a total of 41 taxes.

He said, “Excessive taxation has been a central challenge of the Information and Communications Technology sector.”

Business

Naira Appreciates Massively Against US Dollar In The Black Market, Highest In 15 Months

Published

1 day ago

September 25, 2025

Editor

The naira appreciated massively against the United States dollar at the parallel foreign exchange market.

Abubakar Alhasan, a Bureau De Change operator in Wuse Zone, Abuja, told DAILY POST that the Naira strengthened significantly to N1,490 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,520 on Tuesday.

“We buy at N1480 and sell at N1490 on Wednesday due to lower FX demand,” Alhasan confirmed to newsmen.

This means that the Naira gained N30 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

The last time they were exchanged at this level in the black market was in June 2024.

Meanwhile, at the official market, it dropped marginally by N1.19 to N1,488.56 per dollar on Wednesday, down from N1,487.37, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Analysing the trend at both markets, the difference between official and parallel markets has shrunk to 1.44.

Recall that on Tuesday, the Naira appreciated across official and parallel foreign exchange markets upon an interest rate cut by the apex bank by 50 basis points to 27 per cent.

Business

Why We Rejected Govt’s Plan To Sell Assets – PENGASSAN President

Published

1 day ago

September 25, 2025

Editor

The President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, has revealed the reasons oil unions rejected the government’s plan to sell assets.

Osifo said that the plan will be injurious to the Nigerian economy in the long run.

He made this statement on Wednesday, while responding to questions in an interview on ‘Prime Time’, a programme on Arise Television.

“What informed our position in this is that as PENGASSAN and NUPENG, we represent the workforce of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

“So it’s our responsibility first to our members to ensure that their jobs are protected and to ensure that their welfare is enhanced.

“Secondly, our members live in a country called Nigeria. Nigeria must survive and strive before our members will be able to survive.

“So we feel the move to go in this direction will not just affect the plights of our members but is injurious to Nigeria’s economy in the long run.

“The oil unions’ rejection of this plan is to protect Nigeria’s economy and the welfare of its members.

“This decision will certainly boomerang, revenue will plummet, and it will lead to a lot of other issues,” Osifo said.

Business

Okonjo-Iweala Reveals How Nigeria Can Dominate AfCFTA

Published

3 days ago

September 23, 2025

Editor

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says Nigeria has what it takes to lead Africa’s new era of trade if it tackles high logistics costs, develops efficient payment systems, and invests in value addition.

Okonjo-Iweala, who was speaking on the sidelines of the WTO Public Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, said Nigeria and other African economies must speed up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, and build stronger infrastructure to unlock billions of dollars in opportunities in manufacturing, services, and digital trade.

“The AfCFTA is a great step, but Africa trades only about 15–20 percent within itself — far below the European Union, EU’s 60 percent. We (Nigeria) need to speed up implementation so Africans trade more with each other.

“Take Lesotho: it exports around $200 million worth of textiles (jeans, etc.) to the U.S. — about 10 percent of its GDP — while Africa imports $7 billion of similar goods. Why not absorb Lesotho’s products within Africa? To unlock intra-African trade, we (Nigeria) need efficient payment systems (Afreximbank and others are working on this), better infrastructure and lower trade costs. It shouldn’t take longer to ship goods from Cape Town to Lagos than from China to Lagos.

“With critical minerals, energy, and new supply chains, plus opportunities in services and digital trade, there’s huge potential — if we invest in connectivity and implementation,” she said.

The former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance also cautioned that negative narratives about global commerce risk overshadowing recent successes achieved through multilateral cooperation.