Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, highlighted the challenges posed by Nigeria’s low tax collection rates, particularly in financing critical sectors such as health and education. Speaking at Nutrivision 2024, a Pan-African youth dialogue on nutrition held in Abuja on Tuesday, Gates emphasized the need for a more robust tax system to support essential public services.
Gates stressed that for Nigerians to have confidence in the government’s ability to provide quality healthcare, there must be a strong commitment to the effective management of health program funds. He underscored the importance of running an efficient primary healthcare system, with well-placed and adequately staffed centers, as a foundation for building credibility in health initiatives.
The philanthropist pointed out that by enhancing the credibility of health programs, Nigeria could achieve greater fiscal flexibility, which would allow the country to prioritize funding for primary healthcare. This approach, he suggested, would not only improve health outcomes but also strengthen the overall healthcare infrastructure.
Addressing potential financing mechanisms for large-scale public health interventions, Gates noted that the key to sustainable development lies in efficient management and prioritization of resources. He also expressed optimism about Nigeria’s potential to significantly increase its agricultural output, proposing that the country could move from being a net food importer to becoming a major food exporter.
To achieve this transformation, Gates highlighted the need for improved credit facilities, comprehensive soil surveys, and effective advisory services for farmers. These measures, he suggested, would empower the agricultural sector and contribute to broader economic growth and food security in Nigeria.
“Over time, there are plans for Nigeria to fund the government more than it does today. The actual tax collection in Nigeria is actually pretty low.”
“If citizens want the education and the health things, as they develop the confidence that these programmes can be very well run, and our foundation is involved with a lot of the exemplars that are showing the way in terms of making sure the money is spent really well, running a very efficient primary health care system where the employees are doing great work, the centres are where they should be, you don’t have underloaded centres or overloaded centres,” the billionaire said.
“It’s exciting that we are driving the credibility of those health programmes and so that the citizens will feel like primary health care is amongst the priorities that should be very funded as you get some fiscal flexibility,” he added.
He said, “Nigeria today is a net food importer and yet, given the geography, if the right credit facilities and advice to farmers, soil surveys, things are available, there is the opportunity for Nigeria to more than double its food output, which would be pretty transformative, because it would mean that you would be a net food exporter,” Gates said.
“Instead of having to use very scarce dollars, particularly the current exchange rate to go buy food, you are actually bringing dollars in.”
He said agricultural productivity, particularly in rural and northern areas, is crucial for improving incomes.
The billionaire further suggested that by leveraging digital technologies and adopting improved seed varieties, Nigeria could trigger an agricultural “miracle” that would boost the economy and address equity and nutrition challenges across the country.
