‘Firms to pay for hiring foreigners’ — Tinubu launches expatriate employment levy

‘Firms to pay for hiring foreigners’ — Tinubu launches expatriate employment levy

 President Bola Tinubu has launched the expatriate employment
levy (EEL) to close wage gaps between expatriates and the Nigerian labour
force.

 

The EEL also mandates firms to pay levies for hiring
expatriates and provides guidelines on the employment of Nigerians in
foreign-owned companies.

 

Tinubu said the policy, which was initiated to oversee
expatriate employment in the country, should not become a hindrance to foreign
investment.

 

The initiative, according to the EEL handbook, aims to
diminish reliance on foreign skills and encourage companies to prioritise the
hiring of Nigerians by supporting the development of the local workforce.



The policy document also said the government intends to find
a balance between leveraging foreign expertise and fostering local talent in
Nigeria’s job market through the EEL.

 

“I consider it a game changer. It is important to know that
EEL is a contribution recently approved by the government, which will impose
effective timeline on expatriates working in this country to be able to train
and develop Nigerians,” Tinubu said.

 

“I’ve been further assured that the project has the capacity
of plugging loopholes and gaps that have bedevilled the country in dealing with
security challenges, and movement of foreigners in and out of the country.”

 

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Tinubu said with the initiatives currently undertaken by his
administration, Nigerians will begin to see improvement in their standard of
living, adding that several arms of government are partnering to accomplish
this purpose.

 

He said continued cooperation among MDAs would spur
advancement and development that would retool and reengineer the nation’s
financial system.

 

“There will be clear lines of implementation and effective
acceleration of aims and objectives of this programme,” the president said.

 

“Immigration matters, expatriate quotas and relevant
stakeholders have to be effectively guided to make Nigeria the focus of the
objective of this EEL.”

 

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‘EXPATRIATE WILL ONLY WORK IN NIGERIA IF NO NIGERIAN HAS
NEEDED SKILLS’

 

On his part, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, said
the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), a private company, and the federal government
will run the initiative through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

 

He said the project, which was approved by the federal
executive council (FEC) in May 2023, would ensure that expatriates only work in
the country where no Nigerian has the needed skills for such jobs.

 

“That’s the major objective of this particular initiative;
balancing employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates,”
Tunji-Ojo said.

 

 “And of course,
closing wage gaps between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force by making
it more attractive to hire Nigerians.

 

“As a guide, the comprehensive handbook has been developed
on the project to guide stakeholders, especially foreign-owned companies, joint
venture companies, organisations and indigenous company that employ
expatriates, to understand the concept as well as to comply with the new
ideal.”

 

Part of the driving force, he said, is to reduce the
reliance of companies on foreign personnel as well as the frequency with which
businesses pursue the renewal of their expatriate quota.

 

Tunji-Ojo said the policy would also give priority to the
transfer of knowledge, training Nigerians, and creating more opportunities for
the youths in the nation.

Source: ‘Firms to pay for hiring foreigners’ — Tinubu launches expatriate employment levy

 - NigerianEye
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