LordAdam16:


Nonsense!

Show me any company in the Western world paying 1% in taxes.

And you're here talking about the benefits of tax breaks. Like I've been living under a rock or I'm an artisan. If the 1% is so okay, why is the government plugging the leak by excluding cement from the pioneer list now?

-Lord

Okwute001:
dude, what matters is that Dangote is a son of the soil. And as such, we should fully support him. Would you rather a foreigner controls our economy.. look at what South African companies are doing with mtn and dstv.. my prayer is that people like you; wake up..do you know why The USA is able to sanction countries? Part of it is because they have the biggest companies in the world.. why do you think that china makes laws that will keep their indigenous companies on top..be wise my brother..if Dangote is a Nigerian, he has my 100% surpport. Period!! I do not give a shit what part of Nigeria he comes from..!!! Coming from an Igbo man!!!!

SmartyPants:


Is there any reason the economic policies of Western states is of relevance here??

Secondly, as to why the pioneer status maybe removed, pioneer status is a transient thing used to grant temporary benefits while anew company finds its feet. If indeed it is being lifted now, it means it has outlived its usefulness. I don't get your point really.

Economic policies are meant to be flexible. That something was good yesterday does not mean it is good today.

signz:


You don't even get my point.

Are the US and China big companies making enormous profit at the expense of their citizens?

For God's sake there are anti monopoly laws in developed economies that protect citizens from exploitation.

Please read the full article https://qz.com/1098137/africas-richest-man-has-a-built-in-advantage-with-nigerias-government/

LordAdam16:


All he has to do is finance Buhari or whoever is tipped by the elites to win next year and another loophole would be made exclusively for him to continue from 2019 to 2023 and beyond.

Do you get it now?
-Lord

LordAdam16:


Nonsense!

Show me any company in the Western world paying 1% in taxes.

And you're here talking about the benefits of tax breaks. Like I've been living under a rock or I'm an artisan. If the 1% is so okay, why is the government plugging the leak by excluding cement from the pioneer list now?

-Lord

nextstep:
So you're hating on a guy for using resources available to him (economic, social, tax) to maximize his own success?

None of the things the company did - or does - has been illegal. If it's within the law to claim multiple pioneer status within the same industry, well, that's how the law was written.

Profit margins are high generally in Nigeria. The man is comparing global margins. Instead, he should be comparing the profit margins of other companies (Nigerian and foreign) who operate in Nigeria - their profit margins have to be high to compensate for the horrible business conditions and high risk. What are the interest rates in those other countries? What about the price of electricity and other utilities?

Furthermore, if they're so worried about his monopolies, what's stopping all those other wealthy Nigerians from starting their own cement factories or petroleum refineries? How many Nigerians has Mr Fawehinmi employed? How many industries has he enabled?

Dangote is one of the best things to happen to Africa - he is building large industries in various parts of the continent, using his massive profits to fund them, slowly displacing dependence of foreigners on basics like food, petrol, cement, etc. and heralding Africa's rennaisance in manufacturing.

nextstep:


Search for apple amazon google Facebook profits tax EU

It's actually the big noise of 2016 & 2017 because governments are annoyed that these large companies have avoided paying their fair share of taxes...

LordAdam16:


You adopt their principles. You use their laws. You run their type of government. You follow their economic policies. Then you say why should they be relevant here?

Are you effing serious?

All our policy makers are Western-educated.

Why would you get the point when you didn't read the whole article? The pioneer status was for five years. Dangote used it for each of his plants at least twice. To put it simply, towards the end of the status for a plant, he applied again for it.

And that's not just it. The status he got was for individual plants not his company.

And that's not the shocker. The shocker is that instead of the government to sanction him or at least tighten the noose around his neck, they chose to eliminate cement from the list. Meaning competitors both old and new who may want to setup manufacturing plants in the future would not be able to take advantage of the same gracious benefits that he had. Oh, and he is taking advantage of another loophole, certainly provided by the government, to avoid not paying until 2019. All he has to do is finance Buhari or whoever is tipped by the elites to win next year and another loophole would be made exclusively for him to continue from 2019 to 2023 and beyond.

Do you get it now?

-Lord

nextstep:


Sounds very similar to the way lobbying and election fund-raisers work in Washington
You want government to approve fracking or a pipeline? Lobby Washington and invite some lawmakers to golf in Hawaii. Maybe contribute a few hundred thousand dollars to a re-election campaign or pay for tv ads.

chloride6:


Real Madrid is actually bad for the la liga.

Check how Premirship clubs share their money, and you see why the EPL will remind the number 1 position for a long time.

SmartyPants:


1. Because economic and political realities vary from country to country! In economics, there is no one-size fits all approach.

2. you are only arguing that Dangote was shown favor. I am pointing out that it is well within the rights of the government to grant him (or anyone else) favor so long as it is either beneficial or at least not detrimental to the Nigerian economy.

I've made the argument that granting Dangote tax relief is advantageous to everyone. I'm yet to see your counter argument to that.

LordAdam16:


I said your argument is nonsensical and that's all the counter it needs.

It appears you lack the ability to comprehend properly.

The government gave him a pioneer status for five years. All the benefits you mentioned were put into account to arrive at a 5-year span. He extended that to 12+ years by gaming the system. If the experts knew 12 years would be okay, they wouldn't have put a 5 year limit on the status.

So if those trashy reasons you gave were sacrosanct for every company and industry, no country would ask for corporate taxes.

Read my last comment to you again, if you still don't get why the author is fuming about Dangote's favoritism then don't reply me again. I'm getting close to the point where I have to question your sanity.

Because it seems you are unable to tell when a practice however legal becomes unacceptable. If Dangote can do no wrong to you, then say so. Don't hide behind economic fallacies.


Later you'd be one of those complaining about multiple taxation or the disco companies not sharing meters or the complicated process to register a company. Well, smart-a**, it is legal and the companies/institutions are not breaking any laws, so they must be right, and you can't complain.

See how s*lly you sound?

-Lord

SmartyPants:


I don't need to read beyond this line.

Your increasing resort to verbal abuse betrays the depth (or the lack thereof) of your mental processes.

So goodbye Mr.

LordAdam16:


Do you actually read any of the things I write aside single sentences you highlight then veer off on a different tangent that shows you took no time to read my reply.

When your wack replies are exposed for being incoherent, you immediately play the victim card.

Good on you to take your leave, your replies were about hitting my BS threshold.

-Lord

Obi1kenobi:


No need for the argument to devolve to this rancour. I agree with your earlier point though, which is what many of his defenders keep missing, that for any gains a small group gains from Dangote, many others lose out. Sure, he employs about 10,000 people, but the government lose out in hundreds of billions in taxes, when a man making trillions barely breaks 1% in taxes. The consumers are badly hit considering the well documented effect of high cement prices on the construction industry (Nigeria has one of the highest prices in the world for cement). That's not even getting into the scandal of the massive forex waivers Dangote has gotten for the last decade-and-half that has alarmed his industry competitors.

Much of all these considerations are not factored in their calculus.

signz:


You don't even get my point.

Are the US and China big companies making enormous profit at the expense of their citizens?

For God's sake there are anti monopoly laws in developed economies that protect citizens from exploitation.

Please read the full article https://qz.com/1098137/africas-richest-man-has-a-built-in-advantage-with-nigerias-government/

Terminator1234g:
Baseless!

obua:
Whats the margin of other cement producers?
What was the margin before the advent of Dangote Cement.
Dangote Cement is actually the only cement firm that periodically reduces price.
Other companies enjoy pioneer status also in other areas of the economy.
Dangote is an African champion and he should be encouraged and not castigated.
People should not sit in the comfort of homes and offices of employment and criticize people who stake their lives in the uncertainty of self employment

Nogodyej:
Sir if you can get Nigerian just 1 billion in tax i will believe you

Only talk you sabi Afoja man like you

MrMcJay:


Read my initial post, read your post and go sit in one corner to think about your life.

obua:
Whats the margin of other cement producers?
What was the margin before the advent of Dangote Cement.
Dangote Cement is actually the only cement firm that periodically reduces price.
Other companies enjoy pioneer status also in other areas of the economy.
Dangote is an African champion and he should be encouraged and not castigated.
People should not sit in the comfort of homes and offices of employment and criticize people who stake their lives in the uncertainty of self employment

LordAdam16:


Seems many of you can't argue constructively.

Here's my reply to another commenter making the same baseless comparison

"Amazon, Apple, Facebook et cetera are global corporations. The short form of what they do is that when they make sales, they forward the money to a low-tax jurisdiction where they often have tax arrangements with the country. Their country of choice is typically Ireland. And so avoid paying huge taxes in any country they operate in.

That's why Apple has more than $200b in off-shore accounts. If they moved that money to the US, the Feds would take at least 30% ($60b). And that's the reason why DT wants to reduce it to 10%, so most of that cash can be transferred back to the US.

Dangote's case is very different. It is a Nigerian company with 90% of sales occurring in Nigeria. He took advantage of a loophole (the pioneer status is not the main issue, it's using it multiple times for the same plants after the five years has expired). I'd defo do the same thing if I was in his shoes, as it is not a crime per se. Capitalism and morality as I said earlier don't mix.

But it is an unfair loophole and that's what the author of the OP is trying to argue. It is an unfair loophole that hurts the Nigerian economy.

There are many loopholes and shady practices like these in Nigeria and indeed all around the world. But if you read the article from start to finish, you'd understand that while other governments seek to block them as quickly as they can, the Nigerian government often acts in cahoot with the companies benefiting from the loophole against the interests of the citizens who they're meant to represent.

In business, something can be legal while still being wrong. If we say we should stop calling out things that are wrong because the law condones it, then we should just disband the government."

-Lord

mu2sa2:
What is the alternative? It is a free market, if you don't like Dangote start a rival business to compete with him. Today, Dangote is the single largest investor in the Nigerian economy, with his companies employing thousands of people. I read somewhere that obajana employees alone are more than the combined staff of all the banks in nigeria. All this talk of northerners, monopoly is rubbish. This guy is in 14 or so African countries. In Cameroon in just one year Dangote cement took over 50% of the market. The guy is a shrewed businessman with expert knowledge of the African environment. He should be commended - while politicians are stealing and stashing money in secret accounts overseas, Dangote is investing almost all his money at home.

COMPAQ:



[s]So blame the government and don't blame Dangotes simple!! How much tax do you yourself pay? In all likelihood you are under paying cos only multinationals take correct tax from their staff.[/s]

Kingkyle1:
Nice points you got there but most Nigerians don't know and those who know can't do a bleep while those responsible and capable to check mate this are not concerned because they know their own gain.

xjiggy:
Are the US companies paying excessive interest on loans? [/b]Are the US companies using Generators to power their plants? Are the policies Dangote is profiting from not for all indigenous people of this country?[b] While others are seeking license to import petroleum products, Dangote is building a refinery. His refinery will provide jobs for Nigerians and help curb importation. We buy chocolate at exorbitant prices even when we know the foreign companies buy cocoa at relatively low prices from us. Have u ever complained about that? Dangote cement bag is the fullest and comes relatively cheaper. If others are investing their stolen money in the Nigerian market, I guess the unemployment rate will be lower than what we've got now. Dangote Is a legit business owner taking full advantage of all available opportunities open to him. Leave him ALONE