Global Tax 50 2016: Kemi Adeosun

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Global Tax 50 2016: Kemi Adeosun

Finance minister, Nigeria

Kemi Adeosun

Kemi Adeosun is a new entry this year

Kemi Adeosun has been the finance minister of Nigeria since November 11 2015. Her work in improving Nigeria's economy has focused on looking towards alternative economic activity to boost government revenue. With oil accounting for 70% of government revenue in Nigeria, but only 13% of the economy, Adeosun has focused her time in office on reviewing tax policy to effectively harness the much-needed resources for sustainable economic growth and development.

Raising non-oil revenue has been her priority, especially in light of the slump in oil prices. As Adeosun drills down to the details, she tells the government to forget about oil, particularly because the fluctuating price has affected revenue collection. Adeosun told the Financial Times that a number of federal agencies had habitually under-reported their revenues. "Because of oil, we ignored everything else," said Adeosun. She is working on strengthening Nigeria's tax policies to evolve the country's tax system to support its shifting fiscal structure.

However, her appointment to office wasn't always believed to be beneficial to the economy. The business community criticised her appointment to office because she was seen as "poorly qualified for the job". Her career in taxation had taken her from being a senior manager at PwC in London to a managing director at Chapel Hill Denham Management – unusually junior positions for a person then thrusted into a top government job.

Adeosun began her government career as the commissioner of finance in the Ogun State in 2011. She was described by the Economist as an "accountant who cleaned up the books of one of Nigeria's smaller states" in November 2015, but less than a year later the same publication called her the "tenacious" finance minister that is helping Nigeria get control of its earnings.

Adeosun has had her work cut out for her. Nigeria has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world at just 5%, necessitating an overhaul of its tax policy. On August 10, Adeosun spoke to the inauguration committee about the National Tax Policy document, which was introduced in 2012. The committee was tasked with reviewing the National Tax Policy, recommending a list of tax laws and regulations, suggesting an effective implementation process for the law, and reviewing existing double taxation agreements. Other work tasked to the committee included ensuring inter-agency cooperation between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue agencies to enhance the government's internally generated revenue, and expanding Nigeria's treaty network to include major trading partners. "Government shall indeed remain committed to the continuous improvement of our tax system as part of a dynamic framework to enhance compliance," Adeosun said.

In its latest health check of the Nigerian economy, the IMF recommended that Nigeria raise its VAT from 5% to 7.5%, to broaden its tax base and to strengthen its tax administration in order to fill the revenue gap left by oil. Adeosun is also encouraging the government to implement technology-driven tax reforms to improve efficiency in tax collection. In an article written by Adeosun, she said that Nigeria's tax system is moving in a fresh direction.

"Infrastructural projects such as rail and roads create jobs, generate taxes and stimulate further spending. This is the economic multiplier effect that capital spending brings," Adeosun said. "Therefore, while an increase in public spending may create a deficit in the short term, the resultant increase in productivity will lead to a higher rate of economic growth and greater tax revenues."

The Global Tax 50 2016

View the full list and introduction

The top 10 • Ranked in order of influence

1. Margrethe Vestager

2. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

3. Brexit

4. Arun Jaitley

5. Jacob Lew

6. Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet

7. Operation Zealots

8. Guy Verhofstadt

9. Theresa May (and the 'three Brexiteers')

10. Donald Trump

The remaining 40 • In alphabetic order

Kemi Adeosun

Piet Battiau

Elise Bean

Monica Bhatia

Allison Christians

Tim Cook

Rita de la Feria

Caroline Flint

Judith Freedman

Chrystia Freeland

Pravin Gordhan

Orrin Hatch

Meg Hillier

Mulyani Indrawati

Lou Jiwei

Paul Johnson

Stephanie Johnston

Chris Jordan

Pravind Jugnauth

Wang Jun

Jean-Claude Juncker

Kathleen Kerrigan

Christine Lagarde

Werner Langen

Jolyon Maugham

Angela Merkel

Narendra Modi

Will Morris

Michael Noonan

Grace Perez-Navarro

Platform for the Collaboration on Tax

Donato Raponi

Pascal Saint-Amans

Heather Self

Robert Stack

Tax Justice Network

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Transparency International

US Committee on Ways and Means

Rodrigo Valdés

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The promise of nine years’ tax certainty and a ‘rational and pragmatic’ government process makes APAs a no-brainer, Indian tax advisers tell ITR
Despite garnering significant revenues from multinationals, Italy’s digital services tax presents pressing double taxation issues, say Stefano Simontacchi and Francesco Saverio Scandone of BonelliErede
ITR’s research shows that in-house tax counsel in Asia also feel underserved by their advisers’ international networks
World Tax global head of research Jon Moore tells ITR how his team spots standout submissions, and gives early statistical insights into this year’s entries
Australia’s conservative opposition will repeal controversial tax agent reporting rules if elected in the country’s May general election
Shapley would be the fourth person to hold the job this year; in other news, UK tax advisory firm MHA raised fewer funds than expected from its London IPO
The US needs to be involved in pillar one for there to be more international acceptance of the project, Michael Masciangelo says
The UK regulator is investigating EY’s auditing of the national postal service as it relates to the high-profile Horizon scandal, which saw hundreds wrongfully convicted
The directive will extend cooperation and information exchange around pillar two, according to the Council of the EU
Audit engagement partner Christopher Voogd has also been hit with a £32,500 charge over the firm’s work with Stirling Water Seafield Finance
Gift this article