Nigeria kicks against N19.2m business registration fee in Egypt

Federal Government has decried the $35,000 (about N19.2 million) deposit being requested by Egyptian authorities from foreigners, including Nigerians, to operate a business enterprise in that country.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, described the condition as unacceptable during a meeting with the Nigerian community in Cairo.

The meeting was on the sidelines of a bilateral discussion with Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on how Nigeria can access funding to support its growing creative industry.

Mohammed had led some private sector stakeholders involved in Digital Switch Over (DSO) to Afreximbank to assist them on how they can source funds to complete the wholly private sector financially driven project.

Speaking at the meeting organised by Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, Malam Nura Rimi, the minister said such a condition negates the unity that binds African countries together.

He, therefore, promised to take the matter up with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, and other relevant bodies upon his return to Nigeria.

The minister also decried the high number of Nigerian children out of school in Egypt, owing to the language barrier and non-availability of registered Nigerian schools in Cairo.

The Nigerian community had told the minister that the official language for teaching in Egypt is Arabic and the few private schools run by the British and Americans in that country were exorbitant.

They said no fewer than 7,000 Nigerian children in Egypt were out of school and therefore appealed for the construction of a Nigerian school in Cairo.

They also told the minister that because many of them could not afford the mandatory $35,000 deposit, their businesses had been labelled illegal, while they have been subjected to harassment and arrest by Egyptian security officials.