The World Bank has said Nigeria and some other countries endowed with natural resources are only getting 40 per cent of revenue from proceeds from minerals, oil and gas as a result of weak policies.
In a statement announcing the new Africa’s Resource, the World Bank recommends full taxation of natural resources.
It recommends full taxation of natural resources on environmental and social impacts, which are not always fully covered by producers, including petroleum resources.
It warned that failing to tax natural resources could act as an implicit production subsidy and raise carbon emissions.
The World Bank said Nigeria and other metals and mineral resource-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa can double revenues from natural resources such as minerals, oil, and gas.
It noted that these countries could achieve double revenue by adopting a better set of policies, implementing reforms, investing in better fiscal administration and promoting good governance.
A senior economist in the World Bank Africa Region, James Cust, was quoted as saying, “Maximizing government revenues in the form of royalties and taxes paid by private natural resource industries, alongside attracting new investment, would offer a double dividend for people and planet by increasing fiscal space and removing implicit production subsidies.”
