The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has attributed the dominance of expatriates in the country’s retail sector to regulatory weakness in enforcement of extant expatriate quota laws.
Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, in a statement, linked various instances of expatriates operating in the retail sector in Nigeria to regulatory weakness.
He said similar concerns had been expressed by indigenous retailers in the computer and electronics, textiles and fabrics, and fashion accessories where expatriates are competing with them at the retail end of the market.
“Evidence of regulatory weaknesses are the numerous instances of expatriates operating in the retail sector in the open markets, competing with our market women and men.
“We surely do not lack expertise in retail trading. But we have seen cases of some expatriates taking up shops in our traditional markets. Many of our indigenous traders in the markets have been displaced by these expatriates because they cannot compete with them,” the CPPE CEO stated.
According to him, some of these companies dominate the entire value chain as manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.
Yusuf said these were the issues that needed to be addressed by the immigration service and the Ministry of Interior. “Competition with our struggling market women and men is an unfair competition,” he added.
Yusuf commended President Bola Tinubu, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Minister of Interior for suspending the implementation of the contentious Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL), saying it is a demonstration of the fact the Tinubu administration is responsive, democratic, and inclusive in its governance process.
Yusuf said that there are already extant laws and regulations within the framework of the Nigeria Immigration Act and the Expatriate Quota Handbook that squarely address the outcomes contemplated in the EEL.
He added that the handbook is robust and comprehensive and covers the critical issues of technology transfer, localization of jobs, and restrictions of some categories of expatriates from entry into the country, based on current skill gaps, in addition to the National Content Act and Presidential Executive Orders Three and Five which focus on localisation of procurement and service opportunities.
“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,” he added.
