Aijustwanawrite On Taxes In Nigeria...
S piece on Government and Taxation is thought provoking. In an instant you can tell the piece was written by someone on the ground and not a blogger looking in from a faraway location. writes about the arbitrary decisions taken by State and Local government which create bottlenecks for investors in Nigeria. In addition to the taxes which she talked about, I do see how the possibility of a court case in the middle of an investment cycle can astronomically increase risk to investors. I am glad that the judiciary system is at least making an effort to protect the investors. Overall this is a well rounded piece that can be extended to different facets of our national polity. An attempt is madeat taking a swipe at the complicated challenges facing investors in Nigeria. This reaffirms my believe that without responsible institutions all economic growth and structural improvements will remain unsustainable in the long run. In Nigeria institutions are centered around individuals, it ought to be the other way around. Sometimes the victim tries to fight back, as is the case with the 1004 redevelopment in Victoria Island. The developers got cash upfront for the project to the tune of N25 million per flat (some flats went for N27 million). I think the developers spent N7 billion acquiring the property from the Federal Government (about N7 million per flat). They will probably spend another N7 to N10 billion refurbishing each flat. The state government can do the math as well as anyone else and has decided that N8 billion is too much for the developers to book as profit. The state government as determined that planning permission was not granted for reconstruction of the estates, and has slapped the developers with N3.4 billion in fees and levies. The developers have taken the matter to court, and from what I have heard will probably win.
