Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The President and Chairman of the Council of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Gabriel Idahosa, yesterday said the new expatriate levy imposed by the federal government will negatively affect foreign investment.
He said that the situation has caused some investors to put various projects of on hold.
In February, the Federal government announced a new expatriate employment levy that was computed at $15,000 for every expatriate on directorate level and $10,000 for those on other levels.
Idahosa, however, in an interview with ARISE NEWS Channel, said that the expatriate levy was not what was required for foreigners to operate in Nigeria.
“The government already charges $2,000 as a fee for service for issuing the annual card, what is generally known as a green card, a residence card.
“The new one is not an increase, it’s totally unrelated to that. It is a levy for the fact that you are a foreign person working in Nigeria. It’s nothing to do with processing your card for you to work in Nigeria,” he said.
The LCCI president then said the implementation of the levy will do more harm than good, as it has already caused a couple of investors to put a hold on the projects that they have in Nigeria.
Idahosa said: “None of those investors know or expect that when they come to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Nigeria to build a gas processing plant, and they need to bring employees, none of them has been told that those employees, they’re going to be paying $10,000. And these are very important factors in decision making.
“Since the announcement, a couple of investors have put a hold on various projects that are in the pipeline, that we have to see whether we can actually do business in Nigeria going forward.”
Asked if the purpose of the levy was to protect the rights of Nigerian workers from foreign companies, he responded: “If you want to achieve protection of Nigerian workers, across the world, there are various labour laws and regulations that are continuously adjusted, these are not new. There are some African countries that have done several things to address it.
“Within the labour law system, you can actually regulate, end such gaps. It is clear that that is a different matter of how you protect your workers. What you charge an expatriate as a levy has nothing to do with the laws that protect your workers, the industrial laws that ensure that workers are protected, that wage gaps are not there, there are laws that can deal with that certainly.
“It has nothing to do with what you charge this person. And in any case, to get one expatriate into this country, it will cost you anything between N30-N50 million.
“So, it is not fun for the expatriates to be employed by these companies. We don’t see the other side when we have expatriates. So, there are specific solutions to specific issues.
“ The issue of protection of Nigerian workers against exploitation by foreign employers, even domestic employers, there are laws there. The question is, how effectively do we implement them?,” he queried.
He stated that in the national interest, the levy should be reviewed, as it could further drive away investment.
“When they (investors) invest, they expect to protect their investment by having some of their top people here as directors, as technical people to manage that investment.
“These people are part of the cost of that project, and if you want to make the investment attractive, you have to ensure that the cost of bringing those expatriates is affordable all the time, ” he argued.
The LCCI boss said a lot of conversation was going on concerning the levy around Nigeria.
“The idea is that, look, let us look at the foreseeable implications that are staring us in the face. We don’t want to put millions of Nigerians working abroad in real jeopardy, we don’t want to do that, it is serious jeopardy.
“So, it is likely that these conversations will lead to a resolution that will address most of the concerns that have been raised,” he said.
