Daily Watch – Boko Haram hits North hard, Lagos closes 10 businesses over tax
4th September 2015
- Northern Nigeria has lost at least
N7 billion in five years from 2010 to date, due to the persistence of the Boko Haram insurgency, tourism experts have said. During the five years in review, the experts noted that the region witnessed consistently decreasing tourist numbers, shelved business visits, closures of parks, internationally branded hotels, as well as the near complete closure of bars. The government has consequently lost revenue, while social life has been almost completely knocked down. “If you add the aggregate of profit that would have made, including revenue accruing to the government the amount is overN7 billion,” said a hotelier who converted his hotel in Jos into a private school. - Investment firm Renaissance Capital is turning its sights to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) consumer segment, which according to the United Nations, account for 87 percent of the Nigerian consumer market. The investment firm says that consumers within the BOP segment spend about 60 percent of their disposable income on food and beverages. While there has been hype around Africa’s growing middle-class, it is still significantly low compared to Asia’s level, and as such investors will do well to look at companies that perform well in the BOP space. Although the sector remains profitable, it is not a walk in the park, the investment firm says.
- The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) says it sealed 10 companies in August for failure to remit
N45.52 million Personal Income Tax of staff to the state government. Six companies were sealed on Aug. 4 for tax evasion amounting toN6 million, while four companies were sealed on Aug. 11 for a total ofN39 million in evaded tax.