Nigerians In Diaspora Risks Job Loss Over FG’s Implementation Of Expatriate Employment Levy— CPPE Warns

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has commended the federal government’s implementation of the Expatriate Employment Levy [EEL] with the dual purpose of promoting the localization of skills and economic growth.

However, the CPPE has outlined serious concerns about the unintended consequences of the policy.  

Recall that President Bola Tinubu during the launch of EEL said that Nigeria has witnessed a growing influx of expatriates into its workforce and to regulate this trend and ensure equitable opportunities for its citizens, the Nigerian government has decided to fully implement the EEL.

However the Chief Executive Officer CPPE Muda Yusuf in a document made available to THE WHISTLER said “The timeline for compliance is too short, and the policy gave barely four weeks for companies to comply,”.

According to him, for such a major policy shift, companies needed to be given a minimum of six months, noting that it would be very disruptive for their businesses, plans, and projections.

Currently, companies pay $2000 per expatriate annually, however, Yusuf said the new levy of $10,000 for staff and $15,000 for directors, which translates to N15 million and N22.5 million respectively will negatively affect the Nigerians in the diaspora.

“There are serious implications for diaspora Nigerians and this policy may trigger reciprocal actions from other countries and this may affect Nigerians in diaspora.

“Currently over 17 million Nigerians in various countries around the world doing extremely well in the fields of Education, Medicine, Health, Sports, Media & Entertainment, Leadership & Politics, Finance, Science & ICT, Transportation, Tourism, Industry and Agribusiness.

“This is a pool of very valuable external sector assets for us as a country. We have the largest diaspora population in Africa.  We also have the highest diaspora remittances on the continent raking in over $20 billion. All of these could be at risk as a result of this policy.

“If the reciprocity policy is activated in any of their host countries, the effect on our diaspora citizens will be very devastating” he warned.

The CPPE boss noted that some of the companies affected are billion-dollar investments and the country needs more direct investors than portfolio investors at this time.

He added that the policy could be a major setback for the continental economic integration vision as it is coming at a time when the African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA] is gaining traction