He stated this, yesterday while speaking at the opening panel of the ongoing Africa CEO Forum, held in the Ivorian city of Abidjan. The panel is themed, ‘Economic Sovereignty: From Ambition to Action’.
The Vice President, who had arrived Cote d’ Ivoire on Sunday, was welcomed at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport by the country’s Prime Minister, Mr. Patrick Achi.
Other speakers at the panel were: President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana; Managing Director of International Finance Corporation, Mr. Makhtar Diop; Governor of the Kenyan Central Bank, Dr. Patrick Njoroge; CEO of Telcar Cocoa, Kate Kanyi Tometi-Fotso and CEO of Instadeep, Karim Beguir.
Emphasising the need for collaboration between Africa and the rest of the world, Osinbajo said: “I think that we have to be a bit more careful with the concept of economic sovereignty because we really need to collaborate more. And with the way development is going, we need to watch some of these things.
“For instance, if we look at the way technology is going, which is key for us in Nigeria, particularly issues of taxation of tech companies and all of that, it is evident that this is difficult, and it is a major expression of sovereign power – the power to tax.
“The way the world and technology are structured, today, there is no way that you can use the same basis – personal and territorial basis for taxation. These are multinational enterprises that spread across countries and continents.”
Osinbajo noted: “We have got to cooperate with the world and the international tax system to ensure that we are able to derive maximum benefit. We have got to take a seat at the table and ensure that all of the various initiatives on international taxation favour us in Africa.”
According to him, “while we are looking inwards, we have to be very careful to look outwards as well because a lot of money is obviously used by tech companies across the world and a lot of our countries are value creators for these companies.
“There is a great need for us to look inwards, and at the same, time keep our eyes on the ball because we need to recognise that the world has gone beyond brick and mortar. The world is now more about intellectual capital. We have to think of how we can work with the world to achieve maximum benefit for our intellectual capacity.”
In another chat with organisers of the forum, the CEO of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, spoke about the concept of economic sovereignty, urging Africa to look inwards as a way of fast-tracking development on the continent.
He cited leveraging opportunities provided by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and improving infrastructure as some of the key areas that leaders on the continent must focus on.
Earlier, at the opening ceremony of the forum, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire commended the initiative of the organisers to bring together public and private sector leaders across the continent and beyond to discuss and develop new paths aimed at boosting the transformation of economies across Africa.
