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NASME Advocates 5-Year Tax Amnesty for MSMEs
Federal government has been urged to grant five-year tax amnesty to the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country as a means to galvanise them, especially into aligning the small businesses with the formal sector tax related matters.
The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), made the call as part of its advocacy and mediation drives to broker compromise between the government and the MSMEs, especially on taxation.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Nigeria in collaboration with Deloitte, with the support of Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE), on Thursday officially released an advocacy paper targeted at proffering a better tax framework for the MSME sector of the Nigerian economy.
According to NASME, statistics shows that Nigeria has currently has over 35 million small business, who account for 90% of job creation, contributing about 50% of the economic growth, regrettably, the sector are heavily taxed and allowed to grapple with multifaceted challenges.
The informal economy or grey economy which is usually regarded as part of the economy that is neither taxed, nor monitored by any form of government, the experts said, deserves to be treated fairly and included into the activities of the formal sector economy.
Speaking during public presentation of Tax Advocacy Paper aimed at MSMEs in Nigeria, a work executed by Deloitte Nigeria on behalf of NASME, Fatai Folarin, chief executive officer of Deloitte Nigeria, said in spite of government’s efforts and the clout garnered by MSMEs, MSMEs have not performed creditably well and hence have not played the expected vital and vibrant role in the economic growth and development of Nigeria.
He said the report findings show an existing or perceived disconnect between policy intent and the realities of MSMEs.
“The need to bridge the gap between policy intent and MSME reality has necessitated this position paper. The drivers for this position paper are: Encouraging interaction and adoption of a concerted approach to issue of strategic importance to the development of MSMEs in Nigeria; Establishing a frame work that ensures effective realization of government objectives and targets for MSMEs; and Creating an active platform for policy advocacy on issues affecting MSMEs in Nigeria”.
The Tax Advocacy paper focuses on key objectives as the challenges faced by MSMEs in Nigeria; bridging tax and regulatory gaps in relation to MSMEs – Our Recommendations and benefits to the government.
Also speaking, Oluseye Arowolo, partner, Tax & Regulatory at Deloitte Nigeria, said that the executive summary of the paper, it has clearer, “apart from where the policy defined MSMEs, the policy does not specifically address nor differentiate the needs of each segment, which is principally the disconnect that needs to be addressed”.
He said, “Each category of MSME has its own peculiar characteristics and problems which require targeted policies to address them. If you look overview of MSMEs in Nigeria, the country’s economy is largely driven by MSMEs with 96% of Nigerian businesses falling under this category; The MSME sector accounted for 84.02% of the total labour force in Nigeria in 2013; MSMEs contribution to the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product in nominal terms stood at 48.47% in 2013; MSMEs contribution to export stood at 7.27% in 2013 and MSMEs, the world over are said to generate about 90% of employment in the private sector. So, we started work on this position paper about two years ago. Since then so many things have changed, however, there are current events in the country that show the releasing of this position paper is apt and should be adopted by the Government to cater for this segment of the economy,” Arowolo said.
The document jointly presented by NASME, Deloitte and ENABLE identifies that currently, only about 27.7% of registered businesses in Nigeria pay taxes out of the recorded number of 450,000; MSMEs account for a significant portion of the remaining 72.3%, hence “an improved tax and regulatory framework will result into widened tax net to accommodate these MSMEs as a result of the VDP and simplified tax registration process”.
“If the Total tax revenue generated by the revenue authorities in 2015 was N3.7bn; The target tax collection in 2015 was N4.6bn, government granting MSME requests will encourage the level of compliance and consequently, more revenue generation. For instance, unemployment rate and GDP in the 1st quarter of 2016 are recorded at 12.1% and -13.7% respectively. Enactment of preferential tax rules and other tax incentives requested will boost investment and encourage more players in the sector. Consequently, increased employment, more goods being produced for export and increased GDP,” he said.
The Partner, Tax & Regulatory at Deloitte Nigeria added that the paper recommends for the Government to have special MSME tax regime “where MSMEs will not be assessed under the provision of either PITA or CITA, but on a new tax and regulatory framework dedicated to MSME in clear and definite terms”.
To this end, Prince ‘Degun Agboade, president/chairman of Council of NASME thanked Deloitte for executing the work seamlessly, adding that the findings are critical to the members.
According to Agboade, MSMEs in Nigeria today are faced with challenges ranging from “Government’s perceived lack of sensitivity; Rigid and stringent requirements for start-up business; Over-regulation; Insufficient access to funds/finance and lack of awareness; Inefficiency in the administration of government’s incentives; Multiple and high taxes, among others.
He said, “In a situation you present you bankers with collateral worth N200million and they say you can only borrow N12million, whereas N50million was approved for you, does it augur well for such manufacturers? Manufacturers are going through turbulent times especially in sourcing for funds, and tax system is not harmonised. We want the Government to look into this. So, the call for tax amnesty is justified, because it is going to inject life into the MSMEs and help the government to increase tax earnings”.
Nodding in agreement, Ladi Jemi-Alade, zonal vice president, South-West at NASME said reiterated that “MSMEs are able to manufacture products up to international standards for export which will boost foreign trade, and increased innovation and technology as MSMEs tend to be major drivers of innovation while achievement of wider socio-economic goals such as poverty alleviation”.
“That is why we are saying 5-year tax amnesty for the MSMEs will bring about a programme for voluntary disclosure of records. For instance, most companies are indebted to Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the FIRS, because the penalties are stringent. So, companies need help. They need to be granted amnesty to voluntarily disclose their records and the inequalities in the tax system must be addressed”.
He said that stakeholders’ view is that the current disconnect in policy and the reality of MSMEs must be eliminated through appropriate combination of options, expressing their desire “to assist government to appreciate expectations from the MSME sector has necessitated the preparation of this sector-wide position paper. Stakeholders within the MSME sector through NASME are prepared to engage and dialogue further with Government at all levels”.
Also, Kevin Conroy, team leader, Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE), expressed confidence that if implemented, provisions in the paper will help to unleash the potential of MSME for the benefit of Nigeria’s economy.
He said that is has become imperative for government to revisit its approach to the challenges of the MSME sector, particularly by reducing the tax burdens on small businesses.
Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, said its operatives have busted a syndicate who used Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other technological tools to gain access to financial institution’s database to steal more than N3 billion.
Police did not name the financial institution where the money was stolen but DSP Ovie Ewhubare, spokesperson for the Unit, in a statement Friday, said that while a member of the syndicate has been arrested, other remained at large.
The PSFU spokesperson said the suspect was apprehended following an extensive investigation into a sophisticated cyber intrusion targeting a financial institution.
“The members of the syndicate allegedly used Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other technological tools to gain unauthorised access to the financial institution’s database.
“The breach enabled the suspects to initiate fraudulent transactions worth more than N3 billion,’’ he said.
According to him, investigations reveal that the proceeds of the alleged fraud are quickly laundered through multiple bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the source and movement of the funds.
The spokesperson said that the detectives deployed advanced digital forensic techniques and financial analysis to trace the transactions, identify members of the syndicate and recover key evidence to support prosecution.
Ewhubare said that Mr Eloho Okpoiakpo, commissioner of Police in charge of the PSFU, commended the investigating team for its professionalism in uncovering the alleged fraud.Law Enforcement
He said that Okpoiakpo directed the detectives to intensify efforts to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate, assuring that every effort would be made to bring all those involved to justice.
A new case study by Moniepoint Inc., Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem platform for individuals, businesses and their customers, traces four decades of Nigeria’s food service industry and reveals how the sector’s most persistent payment problems, that include settlement delays, unreliable confirmation, unchecked theft and inaccessible credit have been resolved by real-time digital infrastructure, turning food commerce into an $11.09 billion market in 2025.
The sector has undergone a massive structural shift marked by food-delivery super-apps, as well as a new generation of cloud kitchens operating without a single dining chair, with the food service industry poised to experience unprecedented growth as the Nigerian market is projected to reach $19.31 billion by 2030, growing at 11.73% annually.
The study traces the industry’s roots from the UAC-owned Kingsway Rendezvous of 1973 and the 1986 launch of Mr Bigg’s, through the rise of Chicken Republic and other quick-service chains, to the present day, where food and drinks form the second-largest merchant sector on Moniepoint’s platform, trailing only retail.
Tosin Eniolorunda, group CEO of Moniepoint Inc., noted that “Moniepoint believes financial inclusion is not just about access. It’s about dignity, about enabling people to transact on their terms. What’s happening in the food service sector today is significant. The real competitive question today is how deeply that payment infrastructure is woven into the way the business actually runs day to day.
“Moniepoint is sitting right at the centre of that shift. We are ensuring that payments are connected to inventory, inventory to recipes, recipes to procurement, procurement to credit, and credit to growth plans. By building out tools like Moniebook and Orda that match the operational reality of these culinary entrepreneurs, who act as mini-factories converting perishable raw materials into time-sensitive output, we are providing the digital operating system that drives sustainable scale for Nigeria’s socio-economic development.”
The report finds that for most of that history, Nigerian food businesses ran almost entirely on cash, with multi-location operators managing cash across a dozen or more outlets, facing constant exposure to loss, theft and human error. The rise of bank transfers in the 2010s introduced a new pain point around confirming that the payment had actually landed before releasing an order. At peak hours, the study notes, this manual verification could add two to five minutes to every transaction, with digital infrastructure most likely to falter precisely when demand and stakes were highest, especially during Christmas, New Year’s and Eid celebrations.
The study also documents how disconnected payment and inventory systems enabled operational leakage that was structurally difficult to detect, from unaccounted stock in the kitchen to under-ringing at the till and how Nigeria’s collateral-based lending system routinely locked thriving food businesses out of credit.
The International Finance Corporation estimates that the country’s unmet MSME credit demand was $32.2 billion in 2022, a gap that falls disproportionately on women, who, the report shows, own 86.8% of businesses in the accommodation and food services sector, the most female-dominated sector in the Nigerian economy.
To address these bottlenecks, Moniepoint introduced three structural interventions that reshaped the industry’s economics. Moving away from the traditional $T+1$ bank settlement cycle, it provided instant, same-day access to funds, allowing operators to finance the next morning’s inventory directly from the previous day’s sales.
This was paired with automated transfer confirmation at the terminal to eliminate manual verification queues and an embedded lending model that used verified transaction history instead of property collateral to unlock bulk purchasing power ahead of seasonal surges. Driven by these updates and the tightening of the cashless policy, Moniepoint witnessed a 2,823% surge in QSR terminal usage.
Beyond payments, a unified business banking dashboard replaced month-end spreadsheets with real-time, role-based visibility to curb financial misconduct across multiple branches. With Moniepoint’s launch of Moniebook and the acquisition of Orda, analysts say that the business is transitioning from a payment provider to a complete operating system, in line with its ecosystem ambition.
This integration allows culinary businesses to track ingredient depletion against precise recipes to expose hidden theft or portioning errors, while simultaneously consolidating fragmented orders from delivery apps, social media, and walk-ins into a single inventory ledger.
Some other insights from the study:
- Transaction volume across the industry peaks at lunch, between 1 pm and 2 pm, with a second evening peak at 7 pm reaching 10 to 15 times its level at 7 am – except online food delivery, which peaks and remains strong past 10 pm.
- Card payment activity records its biggest month-on-month jump of the year between November and December, while April is the industry’s quietest month for payment activity, running 46.3% below December’s.
This food service case study joins Moniepoint’s expanding pool of definitive thought leadership materials curated for the benefit of stakeholders, including regulators, investors, and the general public, aimed at enhancing their understanding of how digital payment ecosystems are transforming Nigeria’s commercial landscape across diverse sectors and market structures.
Flutterwave has secured a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the venture capital arm of Circle Internet Group, to accelerate the expansion of its USDC payments and settlement infrastructure across Africa.
This comes as demand for faster and more efficient cross-border transactions grows.
The investment strengthens Flutterwave’s ambition to integrate USDC settlement into its existing payment ecosystem, allowing businesses to receive payments in local currencies while settling in the dollar-backed stablecoin.
The company said the move would reduce settlement delays and transaction costs while enabling near-instant settlements beyond traditional banking hours.
The announcement comes after Flutterwave participated in the launch of the Circle Payments Network in 2025, marking a deeper collaboration between the two companies in advancing digital payment infrastructure across the continent.
Flutterwave said the investment aligns with its strategy of positioning stablecoins as a key component of Africa’s financial infrastructure, while ensuring blockchain-based payment services operate within existing regulatory and compliance frameworks.
Commenting on the development, Flutterwave Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Agboola, said the investment would help build the infrastructure required for the next phase of global money movement from Africa.
According to him, stablecoins have evolved beyond experimentation into core financial infrastructure capable of transforming how businesses move money across borders.
“This support from Circle Ventures is about backing the rails that will power the next era of global money movement from Africa. Stablecoins like USDC are no longer an experiment; they are becoming core financial infrastructure.
“By embedding USDC settlement into our current payments infrastructure, we are building a system that lets businesses move money at the speed of the internet. This fundamentally changes how payments from Africa connect to the world, and it positions Flutterwave as the default stablecoin gateway for the continent,” Agboola said.
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