Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu launched the Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL) on Tuesday, February 27 to “facilitate home-grown skill retention and technology domestication.”
The EEL policy also aims to “balance employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates.”
Speaking at the launch which launch of the Expatriate Employment Levy handbook which took place at the State House in Abuja, President Tinubu said the aim is to “close wage gaps between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force, while increasing employment opportunities for qualified Nigerians in foreign companies operating in the country.”
His words:
“We expect improved revenue generation; improved naturalisation and indigenization; we anticipate the employment of more qualified Nigerians by foreign companies operating in this country. We seek a greater balancing of employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates and the closure of the wage gap between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force by making it more attractive to hire Nigerians.
“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.
“There will be clear lines of implementation and effective acceleration of aims and objectives of this programme. officials in charge of immigration matters, expatriate quotas, and relevant stakeholders have to be effectively guided to make Nigeria the focus of the objective of this EEL. Therefore, it is my honour to launch the handbook of the Expatriate Employment Levy,” the President said.
