Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) has held its 25th Inaugural Lecture, with Professor Olusegun Vincent of the School of Management and Social Sciences (SMSS) examining Nigeria’s informal economy and the potential impact of the 2025 tax reforms.
The lecture, titled “Deconstructing Nigeria’s Informal Economy: Tax Haven or Emerging Enterprise Ecosystem? Interrogating the Promise of the 2025 Tax Reforms,” was delivered at the Honeywell Group Auditorium, Lagos Business School.
In her formal introduction, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Enase Okonedo, described Professor Vincent as a scholar whose career combines academic excellence with extensive professional and public-sector experience in accounting, taxation, finance, corporate governance and sustainability.
Professor Vincent, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, holds a first-class degree from the University of Derby, postgraduate qualifications from the University of Ibadan and the University of Greenwich, and a PhD in Finance from Brunel University London.
He has also worked in professional practice and banking and served as head of the Economic Intelligence Unit in the Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget before joining Pan-Atlantic University about a decade ago.
At the university, he has taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, published in high-impact journals, supervised doctoral students and served for seven years as Director of Academic Planning, during which all university programmes achieved successful accreditation.
In his lecture, Professor Vincent challenged the conventional perception of Nigeria’s informal economy as simply a reservoir of tax evasion.
He described the sector as a complex and diverse ecosystem comprising survivalist enterprises, micro and small businesses, entrepreneurs, traders and sophisticated operators who may deliberately remain outside the formal economy.
According to him, policymakers must understand the different forms and drivers of informality—including necessity-driven, structural and voluntary informality—before developing effective policies for the sector.
Professor Vincent also cautioned against treating the informal economy and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as interchangeable concepts, arguing that such a misunderstanding could result in ineffective policy interventions.
He maintained that sustainable domestic revenue mobilisation requires more than simply expanding the tax net. Rather, government must promote appropriate formalisation, strengthen enterprise development, encourage voluntary tax compliance and create mechanisms for strategically integrating informal businesses into the formal economy.
A central question raised by the lecture was whether the 2025 Tax Reforms would approach Nigeria’s informal economy primarily as a tax base to be captured or as an emerging enterprise ecosystem that should be nurtured and constructively engaged.
The event attracted principal officers of the university, academics, students, alumni, industry leaders and members of the public, reinforcing Pan-Atlantic University’s commitment to using scholarship and research to address critical national challenges.
About Pan-Atlantic University
Pan-Atlantic University is a private, nonprofit institution in Lagos, Nigeria, committed to developing competent and ethical professionals equipped to serve society with integrity.
