E-Financial
Why Nigeria Backed out OECD Tax Accord – FIRS
Nigeria has declined to endorse the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Minimum Corporate Tax Agreement, according to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), since it does not suit the country’s overall interests.
Mohammad Nami, executive chairman of FIRS, made this explanation at the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria’s recent tax conference (CITN).
Nami was responding to a comment made by Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede in his opening paper at the conference, in which he questioned the wisdom of Nigeria, along with three other countries, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, refusing to sign the OECD’s global minimum tax deal in response to the digital 4th industrial revolution.
In his welcome address, Adesina Adedayo, president. CITN, expressed concerns about Nigeria’s refusal to sign the 15-point Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (OECD-BEPS) Action Plan, particularly action plans 5, 6,13, and 14, which he claimed formed the implementation of the OECD-BEPS Project 4 minimum requirements.
Nigeria’s use of reciprocal jurisdiction, he said, has its own consequences in terms of disrupting the global tax system.
However, Nami stated in his response that Nigeria’s cautious approach to the adoption of the (OECD)/ G20 Inclusive Framework two-pillar solution to the taxation of the digital economy is in the country’s best interests and will ensure that Nigeria does not miss out on potential revenue from the digital economy.
Nami explained why the agreement is unfair to Nigeria and developing nations in general by stating that the country was concerned about the impact that signing the agreement would have on the country’s tax structure and tax revenue creation after reviewing the terms of the agreement.
“There are grave concerns about how the rules would exacerbate the problems in our tax system.” To tax any digital transaction or multinational enterprise (MNE), for example, the company or enterprise must have an annual global turnover of €20 billion and a global profitability of 10%. That is a cause for concern. Because the majority of MNEs operating in our country do not fit these standards, we would be unable to tax them.
“Secondly, the €20 billion global annual turnover in question does not apply to a single accounting year; rather, the enterprise must generate €20 billion in revenue and maintain a 10% profit margin on average for four consecutive years; otherwise, the enterprise will never pay tax in our country, but in the country from which it originated, or its country of residence,” he added.
Finally, he pointed out that for Nigeria to apply the law, a global corporation must have generated at least €1 million in revenue from Nigeria within a year.
Nami believes that this is an unjust situation, particularly for domestic businesses that have a minimum revenue of N25 million (about €57,000) and are subject to Nigerian corporate income tax.
He went on to say that this rule will exempt a large number of multinational corporations from paying taxes in Nigeria.
In other words, even multinational corporations that currently pay taxes in Nigeria would stop paying taxes to us as a result of this rule.
Fourth, the FIRS Executive Chairman indicated that under the terms of the Two-Pillar Solution, in the case of a dispute between Nigeria and a Multinational Enterprise, Nigeria would be subjected to an international arbitration panel rather than Nigeria’s domestic court system.
“Even when the money is directly tied to a Nigerian member of an MNE group, which is typically liable to tax in Nigeria on its worldwide income and subject to Nigerian laws, it would be subject to international arbitration rather than Nigeria’s court system and laws.” We are concerned about receiving a fair bargain as a result of this procedure.
“More importantly, a dispute resolution process involving a Multinational Enterprise before an international arbitration tribunal outside the country would result in high legal fees, travel expenditures, and other incidental costs.” Nigeria will spend more, even if the tax revenue from such cases was not enough,” he stated.
On the possibility of Nigeria losing significant revenue if it does not sign the OECD Inclusive Framework rules for the taxation of the digital economy, the FIRS Executive Chairman stated that this was not a concern because the country had already proposed four solutions to the problem of digital economy taxation.
By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.
As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.
This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.
The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.
On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.
It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.
In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.
aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.
The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.
According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.
Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.
This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.
As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.
Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.
The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.
SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.
The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.
This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.
World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
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