The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, says that high taxes and regulatory burdens in Nigeria are responsible for the high cost of Dangote cement produced by his company in Nigeria than in other African countries.
The Nigerian billionaire industrialist explained the price differential between exported cement by his company and the price of Dangote cement sold in Nigeria and that exporting allows his company not to avoid the variety of taxes that would dramatically increase the production expenses in Nigeria.
“When you look at my invoice, the cement I export is cheaper than the one I am selling domestically because that’s how exports work. In export, I am saving a lot of money. I am not paying 30% income tax, I am not paying 2%, education, I am not paying 1% health, I’m not paying 7.5% VAT, and I am not paying 10% withholding tax,” he said.
According to him, eliminating these costs enables Nigerian cement to be competitive in global markets against producers from Turkey, Russia, and China.
“So when you reduce all these taxes, I can afford to go and compete in the international market, with the likes of Turkey, Russia, and China,” he added.
He stressed the need for local manufacturing as a means of achieving economic self-sufficiency.
The report by Vanguard newspaper on Tuesday noted that many observers have continued to wonder why Dangote’s products are usually cheaper outside the shores of Nigeria than within the country, blaming it on Nigeria’s fiscal framework that makes it cheaper to sell locally produced goods overseas than within the country, indicating deeper structural flaws in the Nigerian economy.
GIK/APA