Business News
TAX WINDFALL: Nigeria produces about 21 billion sticks of Cigarette per annum
The Federal Government on Sunday announced an increase in the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco with effect from June 4, 2018. The increase in taxes will be phased from now till 2020. An excise duty tax is a tax charged on goods produced within a country.
Last November, the Minister for Finance Kemi Adeosun revealed that the government was planning to introduce new excise taxes for alcohol and tobacco. She said this at the Ecowas summit of Finance Ministers in Abuja. In that same summit, Edward Singhatey, ECOWAS vice president, also revealed that the commission would increase excise duties on tobacco and other unhealthy products to increase revenue and reduce consumption of such products in the sub-region.
Tax windfall for the government
Nairametrics research as at 2016 suggests about 21 billion sticks of cigarettes were produced in the country. 12 billion of these sticks were sold in Nigeria and the rest sold in West African Markets.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics reveal Nigeria’s beverage and tobacco imports were N64.9 billion in 2017 up from N49 billion in 2016. Nigeria’s tobacco export was N8.9 billion in the 4th quarter of 2017 alone. However, within Africa, Nigeria’s mainly exports tobacco to Ivory Coast, Benin Republic and Burkina Faso. Total African exports were about N2.3 billion.
According to the new taxes, a stick cigarette will attract a ₦1 specific rate per stick (₦20 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2018, a ₦2 specific rate per stick (₦40 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2019 and ₦2.90k specific rate per stick (₦58 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2020.The current ad valorem tax of 20% on cigarettes will, however, remain in place.
Based on this data, the Nigerian Government in 2018 stands to earn about N21 billion in new taxes from Cigarette produced in the country. Another, 42 billion in 2019 and about N60 billion in 2020.
Our sources also inform us that British American Tobacco (BAT) is the market leader for tobacco in Nigeria and controls about 78% of the market share and closer to 82% for the West African Market, according to 2016 data cited by Nairametrics.
Economy & Politics
Gbajabiamila roots for the review of Federal Character Laws
House of Reps Speaker has called for the review of the federal character structure the country runs.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has lent his voice to one of the pressing issues in Nigeria, which concerns reviewing the Federal Character Laws as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
The honourable speaker made the revelation during the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) National Strategy Meeting and Retreat in Abuja.
According to him, the need to broaden the scope of the federal character laws in the Nigerian constitution has become imperative.
He is of the opinion that it contrasts with the nation’s realities, as it limits national opportunities to geographical spread alone, without factoring in other criteria like gender, persons living with disabilities, and age classification.
What they are saying
Commenting on the need for the review of the federal character laws in Nigeria, Hon. Gbajabiamila said:
“In thinking outside the box, I think we should consider an amendment in the constitution to the definition of federal character because when we talk about Federal Character within the context of appointments, infrastructure and the rest of it in the constitution, Federal Character as it is, is limited to where you are from, like your ethnicity.
“I think it’s time that we expand the definition of Federal Character because the character of a Nation is not just based on your tribe, it’s based on Religion, it’s based on where you are from, it’s based on your sex, it’s based on your age. So when you are talking about Federal Character you look at all those things and they are what make up the Federal Character.”
The Speaker ended by charging the young legislators to provide solutions to some vital questions on burning national issues.
Economy & Politics
FAAC disburses N682.06 billion to 3 tiers of govt in September [Full-List]
FAAC disbursed the sum of N682.06bn to the three tiers of government in September 2020.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed the sum of N682.06bn to the three tiers of government in September 2020. This is contained in the latest monthly FAAC report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
According to the report, the federal allocation of N682.06bn disbursed to the three tiers (FG, States and LGAs) indicates a 1% marginal increase when compared to N676.4 billion disbursed in August 2020.
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Explore the Advanced Financial Calculators on Nairametrics
The Breakdown
A cursory look at the report showed that in September, the Federal Government received a total of N272.90bn (40%), States received a total of N197.65bn (21.6%) and Local Governments received N147.42bn (21.6%). The sum of N30.88bn (4.5%) was shared among the oil producing states as 13% derivation fund.
In addition, revenue generating agencies such as Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) received N6.66bn (1%), N13.48bn (2%) and N5.70bn (0.8%) respectively as cost of revenue collections.
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Further breakdown of revenue allocation distribution to the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) revealed that the sum of N196.56bn was disbursed to the FGN consolidated revenue account; N4.78bn was disbursed as share of derivation and ecology; N2.39bn as stabilization fund; N8.03bn was for the development of natural resources; and N6.12bn to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
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States federal allocation rose marginally
In September 2020, allocation to states rose by 3.4% to N197.65 billion compared to N198.8 billion recorded in the previous month.
The top five states with the largest share of monthly allocation in September are Delta (N13.8 Billion), Lagos (N11.44 billion), Rivers (N11.04 billion), Akwa Ibom (10.33 billion) and Bayelsa (N8.33billion). On the other hand, the top five states at the bottom of the ranking are Ekiti (N3.8 billion), Ogun (N3.7 billion), Plateau (N3.6 billion), Osun (N3.24 billion), and Cross River (N3.23 billion).
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Key Takeaway
The federal allocation disbursed to the three tiers in September showed consistent improvement, when compared the previous months. However, this is still a short fall when compared to N740.87bn disbursed to the three tiers in the corresponding period of 2019.
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The marginal growth recorded in the disbursed federal allocation may be due to the rise in revenue generation, on the back of earlier improvement in both domestic and cross border economic activities.
For states in Nigeria that largely depend on federal allocation to meet recurrent obligations, this may represent some sort of boost. However, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic (second wave) currently emerging in some developed economies may threaten oil price (the country’s main revenue source), as industrial activities may collapse globally for the second time in the year.
Energy
Abuja, Ikeja Discos top list in collection efficiency in Q1 2020- NERC
Abuja and Ikeja had highest in collection efficiency, out of the 11 electricity distribution companies in Nigeria.
A report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed that Abuja and Ikeja DisCos scored the highest in collection efficiency, out of the 11 electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, for the first quarter of 2020.
In appraising the individual performances of the DisCos, Abuja DisCo had the highest collection efficiency of 80.89%, followed by Ikeja DisCo with 72.39%. Port Harcourt DisCo has the lowest collection efficiency of 43.36%.
However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, only Abuja and Kaduna DisCos recorded improvements in collection efficiency. In particular, Kaduna DisCo recorded the highest increase of 3.65 percentage points, moving from 40.44% in 2019/Q4 to 44.09% in the first quarter of 2020.
The total revenue collected by eleven electricity distribution companies (DisCos) from customers in the first quarter of 2020, Q1 2020, stood at ₦114.29 billion out of a total bill of ₦186.82 billion.
The DisCos’ collection efficiency, which is arrived at through total revenue collected as a ratio of the total billing by DisCos, declined in 2020/Q1.
The overall collection efficiency for all DisCos decreased to 61.18% in the first quarter of 2020, representing 8.26 percentage points decrease from the 69.44% collection efficiency recorded in 2019/Q4.
The collection efficiency implies that for every ₦10.00 worth of energy billed to customers by DisCos in the first quarter of 2020, approximately ₦3.88 remained unrecovered from customers as at when due.
Low collection efficiency combined with billing inefficiencies have had adverse impact on the financial liquidity of the industry, which in turn, has led to low investment in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
What you should know
- Low collection efficiency has been largely attributed to the customers’ displeasure with estimated billings which have often resulted in an unwillingness to pay the bills.
- The Commission, during the quarter, issued an order on capping of monthly estimated bill, limiting the total volume of energy an unmetered customer can be billed to the average monthly energy use of a typical pre-paid meter customer in the same business unit.
- Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is one of the 11 power distribution companies that was privatized and handed over to new investors on 1 November 2013. KANN Utility Limited (KANN) is the 60% equity holder in AEDC. The Federal Government of Nigeria holds 40% equity in AEDC. It has franchise for the distribution and sale of electricity in the Federal Capital Territory, Niger State, Kogi State and Nassarawa State.
- Ikeja Electric Plc is based in Ikeja, the capital city of Lagos. The company emerged on November 1, 2013 following the handover of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to NEDC/KEPCO Consortium under the privatization scheme of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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