Business
Micro-Finance Bankers Query Stamp
Participants at the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (Wimbiz) annual lecture in Lagos recently
The National Associa
tion of Micro-Finance Banks (NAMB) has told the Federal Government to explain the N50 stamp duty policy imposed on every transaction made on current accounts to justify its implementation.
The Treasurer of the NAMB, Mrs Frances Becky, made the call in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday, in Abuja.
“We are calling on the government to reveal that policy especially as it affects the very poor people whom they want to reduce their poverty level.
“ We cannot aim to reduce poverty and at the same time we are seen to be doing things that will make people poorer.
“The government should be able to distinguish the payment because to place everybody at the same level when we are not equal has an implication.
According to Becky, the stamp duty fee is hampering the activities of the micro-finance sub-sector because the banks are turn between who bears the cost of the fee.
“If a customer through a commercial bank pays in N10, 000, automatically a stamp duty charge of N50 is deducted and there is a VAT on that N50 which immediately hits your account. “That account is run by the bank as a business account and the money is in transit to some other customer’s account. “ The question will now be, ‘ who will bear the cost’, should it be transferred to the customer, if you transfer it to the customer, they will definitely raise an alarm’’, she stated.
She noted that if the charge was imposed on the customer, it would discourage most of them from banking because they would rather save their money at home than paying for every transaction in the bank.
Becky explained that the stamp duty charge was established by the office of the postmaster-general to help generate revenue for the government and enforced by the CBN.
She argued that the ideal thing would have been to give exemptions or considerations to MFBs, who she said, were rendering services to the poor people.
“The irony of the matter is that it now seems like we are charging this people whom we are encouraging to come to the bank for doing business in the bank.
“ It is making the poor people poorer and the rich people are not feeling the impact of the charge because the same charge for N1, 000 deposits is the same charge for N50 million.
“Everywhere in the world, the richer you are the more tax you pay, so why would we do it differently in Nigeria, this policy is misdirected, it is a policy summersault.
She further said it would be wise for the government who implemented policies to enlighten the public on the importance of such policies before it was enforced.
“ If the people are also informed about what the government aims to do with such funds, it would also help to justify the charges,’’ she said.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor