The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Federal Government with France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), a France based tech firm on tax collaboration, is needles, giving the pace of development of the country in the fintech space.
An Abuja based Economist and public Analyst, Dr Aliyu Ilias said the misgivings, suspicion and fear trailing the MoU are not out of place. Speaking with Saturday Telegraph on the telephone, Dr Aliyu said doubts, fears and misgivings training the agreement were not out of place.
“Well, it depends on the government’s intentions. If the government’s intention is to actually tap into the technology as they claim, I think it’s not bad. “This is a globalised world; so everybody needs a system that actually works.
“But the challenge is, you recall that the president has an affiliation with France, so most people have their fears around the unholy alliance theory. “They feared he wanted to have direct access to the funds, in the other way around “If you ask me, at this level, I don’t think we should subject ourselves to them.
We have evolved in the tech space in Nigeria, we are somewhere at the top within that range in terms of fintech. “I think our fintech can be engaged to actually design a solution that would help. So, going abroad sometimes can create fear.
“Nigerians are looking at this tax with cautious optimism until the operation kicks off around maybe the first quarter, we’ll see how well it goes without affecting the citizenry. “For us to actually ex- pose ourselves to France will be more or less subjective to our colonial matters,” he said.
Prof. Uche Collins Nwogwufu of the economic department, Nnamdi Azikwe University, faulted the decision. He said he aligns with people who describe the MoU with France as a colonisation.
“Revealing any part of information on our fiscal system to foreign countries of unequal status means that we are giving up our sovereignty to a country that has not been friendly to African countries. “France is an advanced economy. It is one of the signatories to the security council of the United Nations.
