Politics

G20 Summit: Brazil’s billionaire tax plan faces pushback

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2024

The G20 summit in Rio aims to build consensus on taxing the super-rich for climate action and poverty relief. But as geopolitical issues take priority, President Lula may struggle to quell skepticism over the proposal.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, hosting the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro from Monday, will try to progress plans to tax the world’s richest billionaires, who often use complex loopholes to avoid tax.

At a July meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio, the world’s wealthiest nations agreed to start a “dialogue on fair and progressive taxation, including of ultra-high-net-worth individuals,” despite fierce resistance from the United States and within Germany’s now collapsed coalition government.

While the world’s growing geopolitical issues — the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, the prospect of a second Trump term in the US and China trade — are expected to dominate the two-day summit, Lula hopes to move the wealth tax plan forward as the money raised from billionaires will help boost other pressing global issues.

Campaigners have called for years for greater scrutiny over how the wealthy avoid taxes
© Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Advocates say new tax would cause little pain

Devised by French economist Gabriel Zucman, the plan would introduce an annual tax of 2% on the total net worth of the uberwealthy — not just their annual income. This would include real estate assets, corporate shareholdings and other investments. Zucman estimates that the top 0.01% of the population pay an effective tax rate of just 0.3% of their wealth.

The new levy could raise up to $250 billion (€237 billion) a year from the nearly 2,800 billionaires globally, who have a combined net worth estimated at some $13.5 trillion, according to the Forbes Richest World’s Billionaires List. The funds raised would be used to tackle growing global inequalities, especially among heavily indebted low-income countries, including many in Africa.

“The taxation of high net-worth individuals is very important as it could be a source for funding initiatives that fight hunger and poverty, and also tackle climate change,” Tomas Marques, a research fellow at Hamburg’s GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies, told DW.

Developing nations, who many scientists say are being disproportionately affected by climate change, have for years demanded funding to offset its worst impacts. Success stories include World Bank and Green Climate Fund support for India’s bid to boost solar power capacity and Brazil’s Amazon Fund, aimed at reducing deforestation, which is part-funded by Norway and Germany.

Skepticism over G20 spending plans

While there may be broad public support for new taxes on the ultra-wealthy, the rise of national populism in many G20 countries is increasing scrutiny about how public money is spent, amid concerns that international aid and development funds could be better deployed at home.

“Most of the G20 countries are having a hard time balancing their budgets,” Maria Antonieta Del Tedesco Lins, an economist and associate professor at the University of Sao Paulo, told DW. “While extra taxes would help, it’s very hard to juggle national pressures with new international or multilateral obligations.”

Monday’s opening ceremony in Rio will launch the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative under Brazil’s G20 presidency that seeks to accelerate efforts in the fight against poverty and a lack of food by 2030.

The Brazilian government is also the principal backer of the proposed tax on the ultrawealthy, along with France, Spain and South Africa. Despite this support, the lower house of Brazil’s parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, last month rejected plans for an additional domestic levy on those with large fortunes.

“It’s a shame because Brazil could benefit a lot [from this tax] because we are a very unequal country. If there was an international consensus [on taxing the superrich] it could help negotiations in the Brazilian Congress,” said Lins, who took part in a G20 academic engagement group ahead of the summit.

In Brazil, as in the rest of the world, the wealthy often shield their wealth from tax authorities by creating shell companies in countries with low or zero taxes, taking advantage of banking secrecy laws and forming trusts and charitable foundations, which offer generous tax breaks.

US spurns wealth-tax proposal

While China’s and India’s positions on the new tax are ambiguous, Washington remains firmly opposed. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Wall Street Journal in May that the measure was “something we can’t sign on to.”

President-elect Donald Trump has yet to comment on the proposal but is unlikely to back hiking taxes on the uber-rich. His first term was marked by large tax cuts — which benefited wealthy individuals and corporations the most. But during his short-lived run for the White House in 2000, he did promise to cut the national debt by levying a one-time 14.25% tax on the wealthy.

Lula then faces tough odds in making any meaningful progress during the two-day summit, especially as many critical geopolitical issues, as well as Brazil’s proposal to improve global governance will also dominate the talks.

“Lula is a great negotiator,” Marques said. “He bills himself as a bridge builder between the Global South and Global North. But I don’t know how he can reach a consensus around this very sensitive topic.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is a shrewed negotiator, who is determined to push ahead with higher taxes on billionaires
© Erica Martin/TheNEWS2/picture alliance

Wealth tax — a boon for Africa

Better representation at G20 for Africa is now critical, as the continent seeks to benefit from any new tax plan, through the receipt of poverty and climate alleviation funds. The African Union, the regional bloc of 55 African countries, will be attending the Rio summit for the first time, after being admitted as a full G20 member in August.

Next year, South Africa will take over the rotating G20 presidency — the fourth consecutive leadership of the bloc from the Global South, after Indonesia, India, and Brazil. The role will give the country and Africa as a whole further opportunities to shape global policies and advocate for the continent’s interests.

“African countries have been underrepresented in the G20 despite the continent’s importance globally,” Marques, who is in Rio for the summit, told DW. “But things are changing, and the African Union is now starting to have some influence on policymaking.”

Edited by: Uwe Hessler

Author: Nik Martin

Politics

BREAKING: Senate Moves To Declare Abaribe’s Seat Vacant Over Defection

Published

13 hours ago

March 12, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

The Senate leadership on Thursday moved to declare the seat of Abia South Senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, vacant following his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The move came shortly after Abaribe was listed among nine senators who formally announced their defection from their respective political parties to the ADC on the floor of the Senate.

While the leadership of the upper chamber accepted the defection of eight other lawmakers who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), Abaribe’s case immediately sparked constitutional objections.

Raising the first point of order, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, argued that Abaribe’s defection could not stand because there was no crisis or division within APGA that could justify his decision to leave the party.

In his response, Abaribe told the chamber that he had been expelled from APGA in September 2025, a development he said necessitated his defection to the ADC.

However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, maintained that the alleged expulsion from APGA automatically disqualified Abaribe from retaining his seat in the Senate.

Citing Section 65(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Bamidele noted that a person seeking election into the National Assembly must be a member of a political party and sponsored by that party.

According to him, once Abaribe was expelled by the party that sponsored his election, he ceased to qualify as a member of the Senate.

Bamidele further relied on Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, which provides that “a member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat if he defects to another political party before the expiration of his tenure, except where the defection results from a division or merger in the original party.”

He stressed that no such division existed within APGA to justify Abaribe’s defection and therefore urged the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, to declare the Abia South seat vacant.

Responding, Akpabio also faulted Abaribe for failing to notify the Senate leadership earlier that he had allegedly been expelled from APGA since September 2025.

The Senate President subsequently gave the Abia lawmaker up till the next legislative day to present documentary evidence confirming his expulsion from APGA.

Akpabio also Abaribe would have to withdraw his defection letter or risk having his seat declared vacant by the Senate.

Politics

BREAKING: Nine senators from the PDP, LP, and APGA have defected to the ADC today in the Senate chambers.

Published

14 hours ago

March 12, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Nine senators from the PDP, LP, and APGA have defected to the ADC today in the Senate chambers.

No fewer than nine senators from different political parties formally announced their defection to the African Democratic Congress on Thursday, further reshaping the political configuration of the Senate.

Those who declared for the party include the lawmaker representing Sokoto South, Aminu Tambuwal; his Abia South counterpart, Enyinnaya Abaribe; Binos Yaroe (Adamawa South); Victor Umeh (Anambra Central); Tony Nwoye (Anambra North); Lawal Usman (Kaduna Central); Ogoshi Onawo (Nasarawa South); Austin Akobundu (Abia Central); and Ireti Kingibe (Federal Capital Territory).

Their letters of defection were read on the floor of the Senate during Thursday’s plenary by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

In his letter, Nwoye attributed his decision to internal crises within the Labour Party.

“I wish to tender my resignation amid the ongoing multiple litigations within the Labour Party, which have significantly affected the cohesion and stability of the party.

“Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and regards,” Nwoye’s defection read.

Reacting after reading the letters, Akpabio welcomed the lawmakers to their new political platform but dismissed suggestions that the ruling All Progressives Congress was responsible for the wave of defections.

He said, “Deputy Senate President and Leader of the Senate, I hope you noticed that I have read (defections) from three different political parties now. So, you cannot accuse the ruling party of tampering with its leadership. Here, we have APGA, Labour, SDP, and all of them.

“So, all of them have a problem. They’ve not been able to put their parties together. So, the APC cannot be blamed for this.

“They are all out to ensure that we have what you call a minority status in this chamber, and I am very proud of them.”

The latest defections further underscore the continuing political realignments in the 10th Senate, where lawmakers have repeatedly switched party allegiances amid internal disputes within several opposition parties.

As of Thursday, the APC retains a dominant majority with 87 senators, while the Peoples Democratic Party has dwindled to seven members.

The ADC, boosted by the latest defections, now has seven senators in the chamber.

Other minority parties include the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), each of which has one senator, bringing the total membership of the Senate to 106.

The Labour Party and Social Democratic Party currently have no representation in the upper chamber following the latest defections.

Politics

2027: ‘Nigerians hungry, give them bread with your picture on it’ – Aisha Yesufu tells Peter Obi, Atiku

Published

23 hours ago

March 12, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Social activist, Aisha Yesufu, has advised opposition leaders, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar to adopt practical campaign strategies that directly address the economic hardship faced by many Nigerians ahead of the 2027 elections.

In a post on X on Thursday, Yesufu argued that widespread poverty has made many citizens more concerned about immediate survival than political messaging.

According to her, citizens have been “deliberately impoverished,” with money taken from their pockets while the cost of food continues to rise, making small material assistance more significant to voters.

She said opposition parties must communicate with voters in ways that resonate with their daily struggles.

Yesufu added that hunger often limits people’s ability to focus on political arguments or policy debates.

She wrote: “Citizens were deliberately impoverished, monies taken away from their pockets and food made expensive so that little tokens will matter to them.

“As we go into the 2027 election, the opposition must campaign to the people in the language the people will understand.

“For those who need bread, give them bread with your picture on it. For those who need policies, give them policy documents with your picture on it.

“A hungry man or woman cannot reason. He or she just wants the rumbling in their tummy to stop.”