Just asking because, although Nigeria has banned many items from being imported into the country, such as clothes etc, there are foreign companies/stores like Wrangler, Levi, Mango etc with stores in Nigeria.

I'm assuming these stores are allowed to import their products into Nigeria to sell them even though importing clothe into Nigeria is banned. Why is that? Do they have a special licence that exempts them ?

Also, how are some stores (like Twice As Nice & Land of Plenty) able to openly sell imported goods, if imported goods are banne?

Hynman:

Just asking because, although Nigeria has banned many items from being imported into the country, such as clothes etc, there are foreign companies/stores like Wrangler, Levi, Mango etc with stores in Nigeria.

I'm assuming these stores are allowed to import their products into Nigeria to sell them even though importing clothe into Nigeria is banned. Why is that? Do they have a special licence that exempts them ?

These companies you mentioned are already big companies. so what they do is establish franchise in countries like nigeria that needs foreign investment.

babaearly:

These companies you mentioned are already big companies. so what they do is establish franchise in countries like nigeria that needs foreign investment.

Ok. But how exactly are they investing in Nigeria as a nation? They probbly pay less tax to Nigeria compared to normal Nigerian stores. Their lease gets paid to the owners of the malls housing their stores (many nigerian malls are owned by companies like Broll , which are South Africa based)

The only real advantage of having these franchise is to "make Nigeria look better", at least that's how I see it, seeing as they are not opening local factories / manufacturing plants in Nigeria to help the workforce.

So, why exactly do we NEED their foreign investments and if no real benefit is being derived, why should they be exempt from the import laws . I just dont get it sha

No, Importation of Second hand clothes is banned from Nigeria and not new clothes imported by the likes of wranglers.Please also be informed that there are two categories of import prohibition:prohibited goods(much higher custom tariffs) and absolutely prohibited imports (e.g Gun).Although companies in the gas and agricultural companies could get a custom and import VAT exemptions when they are bringing in equipments and tools.there are usually circulars from CBN,NCS,FIRS and FMF that updates the prohibition list,import VAT and other custom regulations

@Hynman

most of these companies commit a certain% of profit after tax to corporate social responsibilities.thats a way they invest in the country

profosa:

No, Importation of Second hand clothes is banned from Nigeria and not new clothes imported by the likes of wranglers.Please also be informed that there are two categories of import prohibition:prohibited goods(much higher custom tariffs) and absolutely prohibited imports (e.g Gun).Although companies in the gas and agricultural companies could get a custom and import VAT exemptions when they are bringing in equipments and tools.there are usually circulars from CBN,NCS,FIRS and FMF that updates the prohibition list,import VAT and other custom regulations

Profosa, no, I am certain new clothes are also banned from the import list . I hope I am not mistaken - if I am, please state your source - perhaps an update has been made that I am unaware of.

As far as I know, you can import for personal use, such as buying from online stores abroad. However my question is about lagos stores (the foreign ones like Mango/Levi/Wrangler, and local ones like TwiseAsNice) who import branded/new clothes into Nigeria for resale.

babaearly:

@Hynman

most of these companies commit a certain% of profit after tax to corporate social responsibilities.thats a way they invest in the country

Really? I only know of FDIs -(foreign direct investments). However, companies on FDIs not only pay less tax, they get major freebies from the government ( for example: read here ). Can you state any source that indicates these foreign companies actually pay % of their profits to any Nigerian entity?

Also, how about the non foreign stores (like Twice as Nice in Palms Mall, Lagos) who also sell imported branded goods. How do they get a pass to import and trade banned goods?