FEC Approves New Import Tariffs on Goods from African Countries

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday in Abuja approved
0.2 per cent import rate on cost, insurance and freight on goods
coming into Nigeria from African countries.

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, the Minister of
Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the levy was meant to enhance
sustainable financing of membership subscription in the African
Union (AU).

According to her, certain imports are exempted from the new
levy, which she listed to include goods coming into Nigeria outside
the coverage of AU; goods coming into the country for aids and
goods coming from non-member countries.

Ahmed also said bearing in mind that accruals from this levy
will exceed Nigeria’s subscription in the AU, the remaining profit
will be deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and
subsequently deployed to finance Nigeria’s subscription to other
international organisations such as the World Bank and African
Development Bank.

She said: “The Federal Executive Council meeting approved a new
import levy for sustainable financing of Nigeria’s membership
subscription in the African Union. It approved a rate of 0.2
percent as a new import levy on cost, insurance, and freight (CIF)
that will be charged on imports coming into Nigeria but with some
exceptions.

“The exceptions include goods originating from outside the
territory of member countries that are coming into the country for
consumptions. It also includes goods that are coming in for aid and
goods that are originating from non-member countries but are
imported through specific financing agreements that ask for such
kinds of exemptions.

“It also exempts goods that have been ordered and are under
importation process before the scheme was announced into effect.
The purpose of this new levy is to enable the African Union member
countries pay on a sustainable basis their subscriptions to African
Union.

“The council also approved that for Nigeria, knowing that what
will accrue from this new levy will be more than what is required
as subscriptions to the African Union, the balance that will be
left will be put in a special account in the Central Bank of
Nigeria and will be used to finance her subscriptions to
multilateral organisations as the World Bank, African Development
Bank, Islamic Development Bank and institutions like that. And if
there is any excess left from that in the revenue pool, it will be
used to financed the budget.”

The minister also said the council approved the constitution of
a steering committee to be chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
to handle the design and implementation of a national single
window, which she said would be a web portal for the integration
“of all government agencies that are operators, that are
implementers in the port business or trading in the port
system.”

According to her, “the trading platform will enable better
efficiency of port operations and we project that it will
significantly increase government revenues.”

She also said the council approved the extension of CBN
intervention for continued support to the power sector,
particularly the generation arm of the sector.

“This is based on a commitment that we signed into as a country,
where we have several guarantees to the generation companies
(Gencos) to bridge any gap that they have after the Nigerian Bulk
Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) has settled them,” she
explained.

FEC also approved nine memoranda of understanding from the
Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, for
the provision of various infrastructure in the FCT.

According to the minister, the infrastructure include: the
rehabilitation of failed walkways within the Wuse District at the
cost of N1.9 billion with a completion period of 12 months; the
preparation of electricity master plan for Phase IV of Abuja at the
cost of N189 million with a completion of ten months and the design
of infrastructure for institution and research district in phase
III of Abuja at the cost of N197 million, among
others.

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