AFRICA

Wale Edun: Nigeria Has Allocated N1tn in Incentives to Manufacturing Sector

In another development, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, on Tuesday, said the federal government had injected funds amounting to N1 trillion into the manufacturing sector as incentives within the last one year.

Edun spoke at a meeting with the National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance over the 50 per cent tax on banks’ foreign exchange windfall.

The Tuesday public hearing of the panel was in continuation of the Finance Act (Amendment) Bill 2024 deliberations.

At the meeting, also, was Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, who declared that the accelerated stabilisation fund focused, among others, on a series of legacy projects geared towards putting in place infrastructure to make the sector more viable.

The minister, in his response to requests by members of the committee that the manufacturing sector should be considered as a beneficiary of the proposed tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits (windfall tax), said the sector had already been taken care of.

He said, “There is expenditure of N1 trillion in terms of incentives to the manufacturing sector to help them with the high cost of production.

“In addition, under the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan, which is a six-month plan for emergency economic, fiscal, and corporate sectoral actions in order to help, in particular, the manufacturing sector, there is low interest funding coming for the manufacturing sector.”

In his presentation to the joint committee chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East), Adedeji said the proposed one-time windfall tax was geared towards redistribution of wealth, which, according to him, would be beneficial to the various sectors.

He explained that strategic programmes of the Tinubu government were targeted at reinvigorating the manufacturing sector.

According to the FIRS chairman, “Accelerated stabilisation funds focusing on helping the manufacturing sector are already being doled out aside legacy projects, strategically targeted at making the sector more vibrant and viable.

“Some of these strategic projects that would, in terms of infrastructure, reinvigorate the sector are the Badagry-Sokoto Highway, which would make journey from Badagry to Sokoto 11 hours. Also, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is another strategic road infrastructural project that will bring about the required connectivity for reinvigoration of the manufacturing sector.

“The plan of President Bola Tinubu on the economy, manufacturing sector and development, generally, is very robust.”

The sharing percentage from the one-time windfall tax between the federal government and the banks was, however, not agreed upon before the minister, the FIRS boss, and representatives of the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were excused from the meeting.

Tinubu had in an executive bill forwarded for approval by both chambers of the National Assembly proposed a 50 per cent sharing formula for both parties, which some members of the committees suggested for upward review.

Sunday Aborisade