Nigeria and other West African Countries should move away from reliance on foreign assistance to finance developmental projects in the region, financial experts have advised.
According to them, over-dependency on financial aid and external loans might affect long-term prosperity for the entire region.
The experts raised the concern during a workshop on tax expenditure organised by the ECOWAS Commission under the Context of the Implementation of the Support Programme for Tax Transition in West Africa in Abuja.
The three-day workshop, which began on Tuesday and ended on Thursday was aimed at examining directives on harmonisation of tax expenditure management practices and the monitoring and evaluation of tax transition in ECOWAS member states.
The Special Advisor to the Director (Custom Union and Taxation in ECOWAS), Gbenga Falana, said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had affected world economies and limited foreign assistance to developing nations.
While emphasising that debt profile of most of the countries in the sub-region was mounting, he stressed the need for West African countries to look inward and finance local projects through effective domestic resource mobilisation.
Falana said, “Donors themselves have come to realise that they can’t continue to provide fund to finance our development because of the pandemic.
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