That 20% Tax On Imported Medicines
By Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu
Recently, the federal Government of Nigeria imposed a 20% tax on imported medicines in a new tax policy called Import Adjustment Tax. Prior to this, Nigeria had 0% duty on imported drugs. This is a consequence of an ECOWAS Committee on Health recommendation that member states charged 0% duty on imported drugs. This became necessary when ECOWAS reasoned that healthcare needs of the region cannot be adequately addressed by the available drugs manufacturing companies.