Business
NASME Seeks Tax Holiday, Amnesty For SMEs
The Nigerian Association
of Small and Medium Enterprises, NASMEs has called on the Federal Government to grant at least five years tax holiday for small and medium enterprises in the country to boost the growth of the sector.
The group also called for a tax amnesty to existing SMEs in the country in order to promote tax compliance among them including fostering voluntary tax record disclosures.
These were contained in an advocacy paper prepared by NASME in collaboration with professional services firm, Deloitte and with the support of Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment, ENABLE.
According to the paper’s recommendations, enactment of preferential tax rules and other tax incentives requested will boost investment and encourage more players in the sector. Consequently, it will lead to increased employment, more goods being produced for export and increased GDP.
At the public presentation of the position paper by Deloitte to NASME in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Nigeria, Mr. Fatai Folarin, said in spite of government’s efforts and the clout garnered by MSMEs, the sector has not performed creditably well and hence have not played the expected vital and vibrant role in the economic growth and development of Nigeria.
He said the report findings show an existing or perceived disconnect between policy intent and the realities of SMEs.
He said: “The need to bridge the gap between policy intent and SME reality has necessitated this position paper. The drivers for this position paper are encouraging interaction and adoption of a concerted approach to issue of strategic importance to the development of SMEs in Nigeria; establishing a framework that ensures effective realization of government objectives and targets for SMEs and creating an active platform for policy advocacy on issues affecting SMEs in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, Zonal Vice President, South-West, NASME, Ladi Jemi-Alade, said “SMEs are able to manufacture products up to international standards for export which will boost foreign trade, and increased innovation and technology as SMEs tend to be major drivers of innovation while achieving wider socio-economic goals such as poverty alleviation.
“That is why we are saying five years tax amnesty for the SMEs will bring about a voluntary disclosure of records. For instance, most companies are indebted to Corporate Affairs Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, because the penalties are stringent. So, companies need help. They need to be granted amnesty to voluntarily disclose their records and the inequalities in the tax system must also be addressed.”
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.
