As stakeholders look for a tax waiver, OGFZA secures $24 billion in investments.

The strategic importance of Nigeria’s free zones is highlighted by the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority’s (OGFZA) announcement that it has drawn over $24 billion in investments. Additionally, the Authority supported demands for a 10-year exemption from the new tax law restrictions for operators in free zones. During a town hall meeting with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and OGFZA licensees on Thursday at the One Oil and Gas Free Zone in Rivers State, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Bamanga Usman Jada made the revelation. Given that Nigeria’s free zones have already produced hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs nationwide, he contended that the proposed 10-year extension would give operators the “adaptation space” necessary to shift and adhere to changing tax rules.