Nigerian Government engages Multinational stakeholders to Boost Digital Economy

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Tuesday called for the collaboration of multinational stakeholders toward the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

The Director-General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, made the call at the 2023 NITDA/FIRS Stakeholders Engagements Forum, in Lagos.

The stakeholders, which included Telecommunication Companies operating in Nigeria, Financial Institutions, and other Tech Organisations, had the opportunity to interact and make their impressions known. pic.twitter.com/0w7bvbtMW1

— NITDA Nigeria (@NITDANigeria) February 21, 2023

Inuwa appealed to the sense of responsibility of the stakeholders to do more and pay their levies on time, saying their support was crucial to the nation’s digital economy.

He said that the multi-stakeholders support was crucial to NITDA in promoting and supporting enabling environment for Nigeria to develop, create and capture value from digital economy.

“So, looking at the ecosystem, we believe that we cannot succeed in isolation, the ecosystem has five critical stakeholders with you as the most critical stakeholders.

“NITDA is committed to embracing emerging technologies, developing policies and creating enabling environment for start-ups and entrepreneurs to survive.

“We believe that with you all we can build a more prosperous Nigeria, a country  that is at the forefront  of Africa’s digital economy and a nation that can compete globally.

“We believe in team work, and together nothing is impossible, we work together and create a prosperous ecosystem for all,’’ he said.

Inuwa while appealing for collaboration, highlighted the benefits as building a global talent factory, completing the secretariat  for the implementation of start-up act, and achieving 98 per cent digital literacy by 3030 among others.

According to him ,all this will not be possible  without the stakeholders, as there is the need for their support to complete the secretariat in March and implement the start-up act into law, which will help to have more forecast inflow into the country.

He, however, highlighted some challenges experienced by NITDA as limited infrastructure, skill shortage limited, market access and early stage funding.

The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammed Nami, said that NITDA is funded through amongst other things as the payment of a levy of one per cent of profit before tax of companies and enterprises among others.

Nami, who was represented  by Mr Kabir Abba, Group lead General Tax, Operation Group, said that FIRS is a key partner of NITDA.

According to him, we assist in the assessment, collection and accounting for their revenue, as stated in Section 16 of the NITDA Act (2007).

“In 2022, FIRS collected and remitted the sum of N22,574,099,600.06 and the total sum collected by FIRS on behalf of the agency from 2008 to December 2022 is N168, 847, 118, 268.22,” he said.

According to him, it is important to showcase the achievements of the agency, particularly as taxpayers can easily make a connection between the taxes paid and its socio-economic impact which will also assist to improve voluntary compliance.

He said that FIRS for instance is continuously implementing initiatives principally driven by the use of Information Technology and many of such initiatives had been successfully implemented including the recently introduced Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate (ETCC).

He said FIRS also introduced the ‘TaxproMax’ solution which has enhanced compliance and collection of taxes from taxpayers.

Nami said more importantly, FIRS had been able to deploy technology to ease the burden of compliance to the taxpayers.

He said that it leveraged this legislation to deploy technology for taxpayers’ compliance and reduce the cost of compliance on the part of the taxpayers.

According to him, FIRS 2022 collection stands at N10.1trillion, as against N6.4trillion collected in 2021, showing a 57.8 per cent increment.

He said a large part of the increase could be attributed to the deployment of technology which had  started yielding the desired results.

“NITDA’s collection has also shown a significant improvement as the highest collection recorded thus far was in 2022 at N22,574,099,600.06.

“We will continue to ensure that no revenue gap is left uncovered in our quest to improve tax administration with particular emphasis on full deployment of technology across our service lines and internal operations,” he said.

Nami said that showcasing the achievements of the agency was important for FIRS especially where the introduction of technology in the tax collection and payment processes, positively impacts on taxpayers as well as ability of the government to deliver social goods, critical infrastructure and other necessary services.

The executive chairman, however, assured that the FIRS would continue to support NITDA to achieve its mandate of implementing National Information Technology policies, developing and regulating Information Technology for sustainable development.

“As well as being the prime catalyst for transforming Nigeria into an IT driven economy. This support is important as Information Technology plays a vital role in the operations of the Service and in ensuring increased revenue for the nation,” he said.