Nigeria’s govt and tax authorities taking tougher line on compliance than ever before - Sage

A growing focus on promoting sound corporate governance and enforcing regulatory compliance from the Nigerian government, paired with growing foreign investor interest in the country, is driving interest in enterprise business applications in Nigeria.

That’s according to Magnus Nmonwu, Regional Director for Sage West Africa, who says that Nigeria’s government and tax authorities are taking a tougher line on compliance than ever before. At the same time, Nigerian companies are finding themselves under pressure to improve financial reporting and corporate governance to address the demands of multinational business partners, investors, and customers.

Magnus Nmonwu

Says Nmonwu: “Nigeria is becoming an increasingly important player on the global economic stage, and one consequence of that is we are seeing a bigger focus on compliance”. Government understands that a stable regulatory compliance framework is essential to attracting business investment and growing the economy, and there is also a concerted focus on growing the tax base.

“The consequence for enterprises is that they need to pay more attention than ever to getting their reporting standards, governance, and risk management up to international requirements. This is one factor behind the rapid growth in demand for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions in Nigeria, across all sectors of business.” One of the most important recent developments is the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria. 

IFRS is a set of accounting standards that guide recognition, measurement and disclosure of business transactions in the financial statements.