The ICTD’s research on fuel subsidies in Nigeria was recently featured in Nigerian national newspaper THISDAYLIVE in the article Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG, It’s Time to Change the Narrative. The article provides key research-based figures such as the size of the state’s subsidisation of gasoline – to the tune of USD 3.9 billion – which is almost double the country’s health budget. After the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed announced that Nigeria will remove fuel subsidies by 2022 and replace them with an N5000-a-month transportation grant to the poorest Nigerians, an ICTD survey cited in the article indicates that 70 per cent of Nigerians oppose the reduction or removal of subsidies.
Media Coverage
Nigeria’s THISDAYLIVE features ICTD research on fuel subsidies
Devex reports on ‘tax era’ of development, quotes ICTD’s Vanessa van den Boogaard
In a wrap report for its panel on domestic revenue in the sidelines of the WB-IMF Annual Meetings, Devex cited ICTD’s argument on the shift towards a “tax era of development“. Quoting ICTD Research Fellow Vanessa van den Boogaard, who was part of the panel, was quoted in part, saying: “We are firmly in the tax era of development, but we also know that there is a lot of work to be done.”
“Governments should not just be trying to tax harder or truing to do a blanket approach, but to do it in a smarter, targeted, tailored way, using data, using the tools that we already have at our disposal, to ensure that this critical moment is one that leads to progress and not to further inequality and popular unrest.”
Vanessa van den Boogaards speaks at Devex panel on domestic resources
ICTD Research Fellow Vanessa van den Boogaard participated at the Devex panel on dometic resources during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. on the 16th of October.
“I see tax as absolutely critical to sustainable development in general,” she said. “Tax is already the primary source of financing for lower-income countries. But as aid budgets continue to shrink, it will also continue to be linchpin of development finance more generally.”
Read more about the “Tax Era of Development” here.
Mick Moore interviewed on BBC News at 9
Professor Mick Moore was interviewed on BBC News at 9 about the ongoing Sri Lankan Crisis and where he hopes it will go next. His interview begins at 25:30 and can be played back here.