Time for Hollande to Support Africa and Abandon His Palm Oil Tax
LAGOS, Nigeria, May 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA) - the Nigeria-based public policy think tank, issued a statement condemning the French Government's planned palm oil tax.
French President Hollande's palm oil tax amendment is supporting the French triumvirate – Communist, Greens and Socialist Senators – that have once again proposed their typical colonial, discriminatory tax against people from the Global South who produce palm oil. It is undignified for a French Government to support such a harmful, tax.
IPPA congratulates the French Senators on the Sustainable Development Committee who previously voted against the tax. These Senators should be praised for supporting African small farmers, and defending the rights of Africans to live a life comparable to Europeans.
However, now the Government, led by the illustrious Segolene Royal – supported by President Hollande – with her comrades from the Communist and Green Parties, have set their sight on sentencing poor Africans to modern day economic slavery.
Thompson Ayodele, Director of IPPA, said:
"President Hollande's silence is deafening. The proposals by Segolene Royal, and Senators Didier, Filleul and Dantec are disgraceful.
"Small farmers produce 80% of Nigeria's palm oil, and they rely on it to feed their families and improve their living conditions. The French tax on palm oil is not only unfair and unjustified, but also illegal under the WTO trade laws and undermines France's commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals."
Segolene Royal, French Environment Minister, is leading the campaign to discriminate against Africans and palm oil small farmers, who will be dramatically cut from supply chains if these proposals become law.
French Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, stated clearly in 2013 that France would never impose taxes on palm oil. Now is the time for that promise to be clearly kept, and for the palm oil tax to be abandoned.
The Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), an award-winning organisation, is Nigeria's public policy research institute/think tank. Its major concern is with the principles and institutions that enhance economic development and wealth creation, with particular focus on Africa and Nigeria.
