By Abiola Olawale
American philanthropist and business magnate Bill Gates has stated that the tax payments in Nigeria are low.
According to Gates, the low tax collection in Nigeria has been restricting the government’s ability to tackle issues around food and health.
The businessman made this assertion at the Nutrivision 2024, a pan-African youth dialogue on nutrition in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
The New Diplomat reports that Gates is currently in Nigeria to meet policymakers and innovators to dialogue on tackling issues like health and innovation in Africa’s most populous country.
Gates, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stated that Nigeria is having funding issues, which he claimed have been impeding the country’s prospect of becoming a net exporter of food given the vast land and soil type in the country.
He stated: “Over time, there are plans for Nigeria to fund the government more than it does today. The actual tax collection in Nigeria is pretty low.
“In agriculture, Nigeria, today, is a net food importer given the geography, if the right credit facilities and advice to farmers, soil surveys, (and other) things are available, there’s the opportunity for Nigeria to more than double its food output which would be pretty transformative because it would mean that you’d be a net food exporter instead of having to use very scarce Dollars, particularly at the current exchange rate to go buy food, you’re bringing Dollars in.
“Particularly, agricultural productivity is important for the incomes in the rural, more northern areas and so embracing digital approaches, better seeds to get this kind of an agricultural miracle to take place that’s going to help the country in terms of equity, in terms of women, and terms of these nutrition issues.”
