Informal sector associational taxation

Prioritising taxpayer enumeration

Bringing the informal sector into the tax net has been a critical government concern at all levels. The informal sector in Nigeria and indeed sub-Saharan Africa is vast and averages between 50 and 65 per cent of GDP in countries such as Benin, Tanzania and Nigeria based on a 2016 IMF working paper titled “The […]

Ending centuries of Africa’s exploitation (3)

Africa’s place in a period of global warming (6)

ENERGY TRANSITION AND CLIMATE ACTION will dominate many major global policy and investment discussions in the foreseeable future, particularly in the next decade and a half or even far beyond. The reasons are clear: the world urgently needs to be rescued from self-fulfilling prophecies arising from the massive and unabated technological developments that have held […]

How governments discourage taxpayer compliance

Prioritising taxpayer enumeration

Voluntary tax compliance is unarguably the gold standard in IGR expansion strategy. First, increasing marginal compliance rates consequent on such expanding levels of compliance also indicate taxpayers growing internalization and response to their moral, civic, and legal obligations in tax payments. Second, it revs up the operational efficiency of tax administration as increasing the voluntary […]

Ending centuries of Africa’s exploitation (2)

Africa’s place in a period of global warming (6)

MANY ASPECTS OF EVOLUTION of modern economies have undergone radical and complete transformation so much so that there seems to be little or no relationship between the past and the present. It is a fact, however, that the past laid the foundation for the present even when the changes seem unrelated. The industrialised countries which […]

Independent revenue forecasting challenges

State and local governments are more fiscally responsible when their future revenue and expenditure estimates are substantially accurate and in balance. Accordingly, reliable revenue estimates provide realistic benchmarks for setting credible targets for sector funding. However, the painful reality is that persistently poor revenue forecasts frustrate these goals. State and local government budget implementation is […]

States, LGAs and the urgency for IGR expansion

Prioritising taxpayer enumeration

Agriculture effectively sustained Nigeria’s early post-colonial economy and financed most of its bequeathed legacy institutions and projects. The enormous developmental challenges of that era and the responsibility of each region to manage its expenditure deepened the entrepreneurial capacities of those foundational leaders to finance their fiscal programmes from their naturally endowed resources. Cocoa and rubber […]

Ending centuries of Africa’s exploitation

Africa’s place in a period of global warming (6)

HISTORIES OF AFRICA’S legendary under-development have many underpinnings in forms of anecdotes, allegories, illustrations, folklores, causes and effects of disruptions to traditions – real and supposed – or blame games over undesirable past experiences. While they all have their various roles in shaping our understanding of Africa’s past, the realities around us clearly show that […]

Africa’s imminent crises on climate and food insecurity (2)

Africa’s place in a period of global warming (6)

VULNERABILITIES OF AFRICA IN TERMS of the future of food are many and varied. Foreigners seem to see them more clearly than Africans do. Foreign investors, either private, corporate or even governments are projecting into the future, trying to figure out how to feed their people and make money without being bogged down by the […]

Seven stands of Nigeria’s insecurity

Prioritising taxpayer enumeration

The last decades produced an ominously bountiful harvest of deaths and destruction. The Nigerian Security Tracker recorded approximately 86,000 deaths due to insecurity since 2011. An average of 810 people lost their lives to insecurity monthly in the past two years. Since 2011, government security agencies alone have wasted approximately 13,500 lives, while Boko Haram […]

Africa’s imminent crises on climate and food insecurity (1)

Africa’s place in a period of global warming (6)

ZAMBIA AND ZIMBABWE ARE TWO COUNTRIES in the Southern Africa region. Earlier in the century, they both suffered serious climate events that impacted on their food production and food security. Both countries are fast urbanising and the growing populations means more mouths to feed. But both countries have had to depend on food donations from […]