International investors have expressed growing frustration with Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, following a virtual investor call organised by Standard Chartered Bank to discuss Nigeria’s new Capital Gains Tax (CGT) framework.
According to feedback from participants, the session — intended to clarify the controversial provisions in Nigeria’s revised tax law — left many investors uneasy about the government’s policy direction and its implications for market competitiveness.
Several fund managers and analysts who attended the meeting described the tone of the engagement as “ideological” and “less market-friendly” than expected.
“We’ve effectively put a socialist in charge of tax reform,” one investor reportedly remarked. “He basically said the bottom 97% cannot pay tax, so the government should focus on the 3% to fund the state.”
Oyedele, however, has repeatedly defended the government’s approach, stressing that the new CGT structure is not punitive but designed to create a fairer, more efficient tax system that aligns with international best practices.
“Under the old regime, capital gains on shares were taxed at a flat rate of 10%, with no relief for capital losses and limited exemptions,” Oyedele said in an earlier briefing with the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).
“The new system introduces progressive taxation based on income bands — a model adopted in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ghana, and Brazil.”
Despite these reassurances, many participants remained unconvinced. Several foreign investors described the reforms as potentially harmful to Nigeria’s investment appeal, arguing that they signalled unpredictability and a lack of sensitivity to market realities.
Some fund managers also criticised Oyedele’s assertion that investors would still pay equivalent CGT in their home countries, dismissing it as “factually inaccurate.”
“That’s mostly incorrect,” one Africa-focused institutional investor told Nairametrics. “Most large funds are zero-rated taxpayers in their home jurisdictions. It’s not the same thing.”
Frustration was further heightened by the format of the call, as participants could only submit questions through the chat function, which were screened by Razia Khan, Chief Economist for Africa at Standard Chartered, who moderated the session.
“Razia didn’t challenge him on the point about CGT making Nigeria less competitive than other frontier and emerging markets,” one participant complained.
Policy Inconsistencies and Investor Concerns
Investors also raised concerns about perceived inconsistencies in the treatment of different asset classes. Oyedele reportedly assured participants that holders of Open Market Operations (OMO) bills would not face additional taxation and that new rules for bondholders would take effect in 2025. However, equity investors were given no similar clarity.
“If they want to implement CGT, then do it properly and uniformly,” one fund manager argued. “Let everyone pay CGT on gains from a clear base date, say January 1, 2025. The current approach is confusing and frustrating.”
While many acknowledged Oyedele’s commitment to broadening the fiscal base and improving equity in taxation, several participants warned that his messaging risked eroding investor confidence.
“He’s focusing on extracting more from the top rather than expanding the base,” a global fund manager said. “That’s not how you build confidence in a frontier market.”
A Divided Response
Not all observers share the pessimism. Some analysts argue that the revised CGT policy could encourage more sustainable investment by discouraging speculative inflows and promoting longer-term capital commitments.
They note that Nigeria’s equities market has, in recent years, been largely supported by domestic institutional investors, whose steady participation has helped sustain gains of over 430 percent between December 2019 and September 2025.
Viewed from this perspective, proponents suggest that the reform could act as a stabilising filter — deterring “hot money” while incentivising investors with long-term growth horizons.
