With fanfare on February 28, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu launched a handbook on the Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL). It was a Tuesday and the event took place in the hallowed Council Chambers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. It was perceived as a landmark achievement by the government. On that occasion, the president eulogised the scheme describing it as a “game changer that would add technology transfer, and save the current brain drain in the country”.

In the President’s estimation, the new policy “would impose an effective timeline on expatriates working in this country to be able to train and develop Nigerians”. On that occasion, the President said: “I have the honour to be part of the Expatriate Employment Levy program handbook. I consider it a game-changer. It is important to know that EEL is a contribution recently approved by the government, which will impose an effective timeline on expatriates working in this country, to be able to train and develop Nigerians. I’ve listened to Honourable Adams Oshiomhole, the Distinguished Senator making very good and valid points on why Nigeria should be at the forefront of technology transfer and stem the brain drain associated with our current situation.

“We expect revenue generation improvement, improved naturalization and indigenisation, employment of more Nigerians by foreign companies operating in this country, balancing of employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates, the close wage gap between the expatriate and the Nigerian labour force by making it more attractive to hire Nigerians,”

The President further assured that the project could plug loopholes and gaps that have bedevilled the country in dealing with security challenges, and the movement of foreigners in and out of the country. “Interestingly, this scheme will wield the dual fold of revenue generation as well as addressing employment challenges as salary gaps attendant in the remuneration of expatriate workers compared with their Nigerian counterparts,” he said.

The President said he would continue to encourage the operators, practitioners of immigration matters and expatriate quotas, warning them not to use the handbook as a bottleneck. The new Federal Government (FG) policy seeks to regulate the employment of foreigners through the expatriate employment levy and charges an annual fee of between $10,000 to $15,000 payable by companies that hire foreigners.

The Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL) is a levy imposed by the government on companies hiring foreigners to work in Nigeria. Every company in Nigeria that has foreign directors will be charged $15,000 annually per director and $10,000 for other foreign staff of the company, per staff. Expatriate quota is the number of expatriates that the ministry allots to each company that wishes to employ expatriates as staff.

A foreigner employed, in a company is expected to have two Nigerians who will understudy the expatriate for that position for which the quota was approved and are expected to submit monthly immigration returns to the NIS and the Ministry of Interior. This policy was due to take effect from the 15th of March 2024 with a compliance deadline of the 15th of April 2024. It comes with a penalty as failure to comply with the policy also attracts a fine of N3,000,000 (Three million naira only).

Without a doubt, it is a policy that has its good, bad, and ugly sides. Naturally, a lot of businesses are not happy about its introduction and have quickly labelled it as anti-business or anti-investment. This is contradictory for a government that prides itself as business and investment-friendly. The policy may have been borne out of a drive for more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as alluded to by the President on the day of its launch but it has other good sides. However, its timing when the government is cash-squeezed gives an impression that revenue generation may be the overarching objective.

The suspension of the policy before its take-off date is more worrisome and sounds like another example of acting before thinking that has trade-marked Tinubu’s administration. It is similar to the “subsidy is gone” infamous statement. The fact that it took the intervention of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Doris Uzoka-Anite, with her counterpart in the Interior Ministry to bring about the reversal of a policy launched by Mr President speaks volumes about coordination in government. Was the policy approved by the Federal Executive Council? Was there an inter-ministerial review of the handbook before the President was invited to launch it? This represents the ugly side.

But these are questions answers may never be proffered for. And, while the Organised Private Sector has welcomed the suspension of the policy, some of its key players have also talked about its unnecessity. They have argued that there were already extant laws and regulations within the framework of the Nigeria Immigration Act and the Expatriate Quota Handbook that squarely addressed the outcomes contemplated in EEL. The good side is that the policy wants to protect local jobs and encourage the transfer of technology.

“What needs to be done differently is to strengthen the institutional and regulatory effectiveness in the Ministry of Interior and the Immigration Service to ensure compliance and enforcement, said Dr Muda Yusuf. According to him, “We do not need a new policy, regulation or handbook on the employment of expatriates. A new regulation or policy will be superfluous. The current regulations or handbook could be tweaked, if necessary.”

With the protests that greeted the introduction of the handbook and the policy it contained, and the drive to attract foreign investment into the country, it could be safely inferred that the policy may die a natural death. So, the question: Why act before thinking?