Business
Company Taxes: Nigeria Generates N392.8bn In Q1 2021 -Report
Nigeria generated the sum of N392.8 billion from company income taxes in the first quarter of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has stated.
According to a quarterly report on company income tax by sectors, recently released by the NBS, the company income taxes in the first quarter of 2021 represents an increase of N971 billion (32.84%) compared to N295.7 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020 and a 32.82% increase compared to N294.72 billion generated in the preceding period (Q4 2020).
The report also revealed that Breweries, Bottling, and Beverages sector generated the highest amount of company income tax with N23.26 billion generated.
It was closely followed by professional services including Telecoms which generated a sum of N18.17 billion while state ministries and parastatals generated N17.35 billion in the period under review.
Textile and garment industry generated the least company income tax in the period under review with N13.49 million closely followed by mining (N34.4 million) and automobiles and assemblies with N73.57 million.
Out of the total amount generated in Q1 2021, N152.33bn was generated as CIT locally while N184.59 billion was generated as foreign CIT payment. The balance of N55.85 billion was generated as CIT from other payments.
The breweries, bottling, and beverages sector led the list of sectors with the highest company income tax generated in Q1 2021, overtaking professional services, which had led the list in the previous quarter.
Breweries, bottling, and beverages generated a sum of N23.26 billion in the review period, representing 5.6% of the total company income tax generated by Nigeria, while professional services and telecoms followed closely with N18.17 billion, hereby accounting for 4.6% of the total.
Other sectors, which made the list of top sectors include, State ministries and parastatals with N17.35 billion, manufacturing (N16.25 billion), oil-producing (N15.36 billion), and trading with N13.5 billion.
In terms of the increase in sectoral company income tax, the breweries, bottling, and beverages sector recorded an increase of 329.5% year-on-year in Q1 2021 compared to N5.42 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020. It also increased by 109.3% compared to N11.11 billion recorded in Q4 2020.
Stevedoring, clearing and forwarding businesses was a distant second on the list with N1.6 billion generated as company income tax. This represents a 73.4% increase when compared to N921.92 million recorded in Q1 2020.
It would be recalled that a 52.93% year-on-year increase in value-added taxes generated by Nigeria in Q1 2021 as it recorded N496.39 billion VAT. This means that Nigeria has received a sum of N792.1 billion in Q1 2021 from CIT and VAT.
Revenue generated from these taxes represents 86.1% of the projected tax revenue (N920.14 billion) in the 2021 budget document.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
