{"id":3754,"date":"2023-05-23T13:39:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T13:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/?p=2610"},"modified":"2023-11-23T14:50:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T14:50:14","slug":"free-trade-zones-in-nigeria-legal-framework-incentives-and-opportunities-for-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/free-trade-zones-in-nigeria-legal-framework-incentives-and-opportunities-for-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"FREE TRADE ZONES IN NIGERIA: LEGAL FRAMEWORK, INCENTIVES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A Free trade zone (FTZ) is a distinct economic zone in the country that confers special privileges in relation to trade and business policy for companies carrying on business within that zone, especially in the area of taxes.\u00a0 It can also be defined as a special area within a country where foreign and local companies can import materials, manufacture goods, export products, and perform services without being subject to the usual customs, tax, labor, and other bureaucratic regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a mutually-benefitting relationship between the free trade zones and the government of Nigeria in that as they are exempt from customary law, especially in the area of taxes and customs duties, the government anticipates that the abovementioned companies would boost the overall economic growth and national exports.[i] There are over 42 licensed free trade zones in Nigeria with over 500 businesses (companies) doing business with them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some examples of functioning Free Trade Zones in Nigeria include the following: Lekki Free Zone, Ladol Free Zone, Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, Abuja Tech Village Free Zone, Snake Island Integrated Free Zone, Lagos Free Trade Zone, etc.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n LEGAL FRAMEWORK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The primary laws regulating the FTZs in Nigeria are the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Act 1992 (NEPZ Act) and the Oil and Gas Free Zone Act (OGFZ Act)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NEPZ Act established the Nigerian Export Processing Authority (NEPZA) to license, manage and supervise FTZs in Nigeria. NEPZA has the power to make regulations binding FTZs in Nigeria. NEPZA has also made specific regulations over the operation of specific FTZs like the Lekki Free Trade Regulations 2016. NEPZA has passed a regulation over the operation of FTZs in Nigeria known as the Regulations and Operational Guidelines for Free Zones in Nigeria 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0The OGFZ Act established the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA), with the power to license oil and gas free trade zones and manage and supervise the Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone.[iii]<\/a> OGFZA also has guidelines as contained in the Oil and Gas Export Free Zones Regulation 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n INCENTIVES FOR DOING BUSINESS IN THE FREE TRADE ZONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many benefits available for an enterprise when it is set up in a Free Trade Zone in Nigeria:[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n REGISTRATION OF A COMPANY IN FREE TRADE ZONES IN NIGERIA<\/p>\n\n\n\n To set up a company in the free trade zone, the investor must take certain steps that are standard for all of the free zones of the nation. These steps are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free zones in Nigeria provide rewarding opportunities that not only attract foreign investors but also provide employment opportunities to local citizens. Thus, businesses should take advantage of these incentives to maximize industrial growth and economic development by taking steps to set up their businesses in a free trade zone in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [i]<\/a> Business Setup, <https:\/\/www.businesssetup.com\/ng\/free-trade-zone-in-nigeria<\/a>>, accessed on April 25, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n [ii]<\/a> Ibid<\/p>\n\n\n\n [iii]<\/a> Afolabi Elebiju, <Free Trade Zones & Nigeria Tax Regime\u201d,<https:\/\/www.templars-law.com\/app\/uploads\/2015\/05\/citn_presentation.pdf<\/a> > , accessed on April 25th<\/sup>, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n [iv]<\/a> Taxaide, Free Trade Zones: Taking advantage of the Incentives, <https:\/\/taxaide.com.ng\/2021\/04\/15\/free-trade-zones-taking-advantage-of-the-incentives\/>, accessed on April 25th<\/sup>, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n [v]<\/a> Section 20\/para 3(4)(b) & OGEFZ Regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [vi]<\/a> Oxford Business Group, \u201cNigerian free zones offer a multitude of incentives for investors\u201d, https:\/\/oxfordbusinessgroup.com\/reports\/nigeria\/2016-report\/economy\/laws-of-attraction-free-zones-offer-a-multitude-of-incentives-for-investors <\/a>> accessed on April 25th<\/sup>, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n [vii]<\/a> NEPZA, \u201cEnterprise Setup\u201d, <https:\/\/nepza.gov.ng\/enterprises\/new-enterprise\/enterprise-setup\/<\/a>>, accessed on 26th<\/sup> April 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by <\/strong>Deborah Dada<\/strong><\/a> for The Trusted Advisors<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Email us: info@trustedadvisorslaw.com<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Telephone Number: +234 810 159 9159<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some examples of functioning Free Trade Zones in Nigeria include the following: Lekki Free Zone, Ladol Free Zone, Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, Abuja Tech Village Free Zone, Snake Island Integrated Free Zone, Lagos Free Trade Zone, etc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wds_primary_category":2,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,75],"tags":[1233,1234,1235,1236,1237,1238,1239,1240,1241,1242,1243,1244,1245,1246,1247,1248,1249,1250,1251,1252,1253],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedadvisorslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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