President Bola Tinubu has introduced the Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL) as a strategy to enhance the retention of local skills and the domestication of technology, aiming to create a balance in employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates.
During the launch of the Expatriate Employment Levy handbook at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, Tinubu emphasized the importance of the scheme in promoting the growth of home-grown skills and technology without hindering foreign investment.
“I declare my support for the Expatriate Employment Levy scheme, and I will continue to encourage the operators, practitioners of immigration matters and expatriate quotas, but I emphasise: do not use it as a bottleneck; do not use it as an obstacle to frustrate potential investors,” Tinubu stated.
He highlighted that the EEL is designed to reduce wage disparities between expatriates and the Nigerian workforce, ultimately aiming to increase job prospects for qualified Nigerians within foreign companies operating in the country.
In a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu advocates greater home-grown skill retention and domestication of technologies as pursuit of foreign direct investment intensifies,’ it was revealed that Tinubu launched the levy with the goal of improving revenue generation and promoting naturalization and indigenization.
The President stressed the importance of creating a balance in employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates, as well as closing the wage gap. He expressed the expectation of increased employment of qualified Nigerians by foreign companies operating in Nigeria.
Tinubu concluded the launch by expressing optimism for the country’s future, emphasizing ongoing efforts to re-engineer the nation’s finances and prioritize growth.
Explaining the operational details of the EEL, Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, highlighted that the project will operate on a public-private partnership model involving the federal government, the Nigeria Immigration Service as the implementing agency, and the technical partner, EEL Projects Limited.
Tunji-Ojo emphasized that the project aligns with the eight-point agenda of President Tinubu, particularly focusing on job security and economic growth, with the potential to drive technology domestication among its benefits.