Author: Caroline Muriuki

Nigeria exempts food from Value Added Tax (VAT) as it increases the tax to 7.5 per cent as it seeks to alleviate the cost burden from consumers.

The Value-added tax will be effective from February 1, 2020, the exception of bread, cereals, cooking oils, culinary herbs, fish, flour and starch, fruits, meat and poultry. Others are milk, nuts, pulses, vegetables, natural water, roots, salt, table water and sanitary towels.

On January 13, 2020, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the 2019 Finance Bill, increasing VAT and also exempted companies with less than $82,000 capital from paying tax.

Also Read:Nigeria takes on revenue boost and small business support for the economy

According to PWC (a global network of tax consulting form), 48 per cent of national GDP is contributed by SME’s in Nigeria, account for 96 per cent of businesses and 84 per cent of employment.

The Senior Special …

Zimbabwe signed a currency swap deal with China, hoping to stabilise its economy and improve trade.

Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his five-country Africa tour recently where he said the country was following in the steps of Japan, Nigeria and South Africa.

“What this means is that there are those who will be investing in Zimbabwe from China. Those who require their proceeds to be remitted back to China can now do so,” he said.

A currency swap involves the exchange of principal and interest in different currencies. The purpose of a currency swap is to reduce the cost of borrowing a foreign currency. Mr. Ncube said the currency swap will help Chinese investors in bringing in fresh capital into Zimbabwe.  “The idea is that those individuals will then swap currency so that those who are investing in Zimbabwe are able to …

Orange Egypt signed an agreement with the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) to build and operate the new administrative capital’s data centre and cloud computing platform.

The data centre is an infrastructure milestone that seeks to establish the concept of the ‘smart capital’ and is considered to be one of the key technological hubs in Egypt and in Africa.

Orange Egypt was awarded the contract to build and operate the data centre according to the latest international standards based on ACUD’s multinational expertise in providing innovative technologies and solutions in collaboration with key international players in the ICT sector.

Also Read: ENGIE to run Orange Group’s mega West Africa data center

Orange Egypt will provide the main infrastructure to establish and operate the data centre, according to the agreement. This will allow the Administrative Capital to exploit smart technologies to provide various services including providing IoT solutions, cloud computing, …

Belfast-based Lagan group will develop the Kampala Industrial Business Park.

The announcement was made at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, which is being hosted by the UK government.

Ugandan President Museveni and other African leaders from 20 other countries attended the summit, hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The UK Government confirmed it would loan £185 million to Uganda to help build $246 million of infrastructure for the 2,200 acre Industrial Business Park, located on the outskirts of Kampala.

Also Read: Uganda Umeme secures $70m loan for investment

The construction work, which began two weeks ago, is expected to last around 42 months.

The Department for International Development in London claimed the Kampala project, could eventually create up to 200,000 jobs in Uganda. It also said with staff, materials and equipment being sourced in Northern Ireland it will boost the construction sector in the country.

Lagan Group chairman Kevin …

The UK-Africa Investment Summit held on Monday saw attendance from dignitaries and delegates from 16 African countries, including President El Sisi of Egypt and Boris Johnson British Prime Minister.

During his opening speech, Prime Minister Johnson said “Look around the world today and you will swiftly see that the UK is not only the obvious partner of choice, we’re also very much the partner of today, of tomorrow and decades to come,”

He referred to Africa as a booming continent with “staggering levels of growth”

Also Read: Seven African climate-resilient projects get ACCF funding

This was the first UK-Africa Investment Summit hosted by the UK Government. It was attended by the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, the international development secretary, Alok Sharma and Prince Harry.

A plenary panel discussion on ‘Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure – Unlocking the City of London and UK financial services for growth in Africa’ was discussed by …

Zimbabwe is ready to host the Sixth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) Minister said.

The forum will be held in Victoria Falls in February from 24 to 27 under the theme ‘2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.” said Sekai Nzenza, the acting Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Zimbabwe.

“The Forum gives Zimbabwe an opportunity to showcase itself, especially that the country is really open for business and also what the country can offer in terms of tourism. It is also a great opportunity for the country to establish strategic alliances on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as we continue to reengage with the rest of the world,” said Ms Nzenza.
She said Zimbabwe is fully committed to achieving the sustainable development goals agenda and the 2063 African Union Agenda.

Also Read: Zimbabwe is open for business,

Social entrepreneurs have improved about 622 million lives around the world over the past 20 years, a new report released on Friday shows.

The Schwab Foundation Report for Social Entrepreneurship shows how social entrepreneurs can influence at scale, contribute to sustainable development goals and modify the systems in which they operate.

More than $6.7 billion projects and products have been distributed by the social entrepreneur. The report found that these projects have enhanced livelihoods by increasing healthcare access, improving education outcomes and providing clean energy solutions.

Also Read: Nairobi among hot spots for social entrepreneurs-poll

It has also alleviated more than 192 million tonnes of carbon dioxide which is equivalent to taking around 40.7 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year.

“This report challenges the notion that models of social innovation can be dismissed as small, isolated islands of success amidst our overwhelming global challenges. Consider the combined …

Investment in South Africa remains low despite positively changing direction two years ago after the election, Danesh Ranchhod vice president and executive director of the Franklin Templeton Markets Equity said.

“The past two years have seen some change in direction; these include a new president with better intent, an election and subsequent change in cabinet ministers as well as an attempt to change the boards of weak state-owned institutions. While these remain positive developments the deterioration in the economy and state institutions still require serious attention,” said Ranchhod.

Also Read: South Africa’s business confidence index plummets

He said South Africa has endured several years of weak economic growth, state-owned entity mismanagement, rampant corruption and a policy stall. Which he said that much of it originated and accelerated under the previous leadership with proof pointing to middlemen and government officials who mismanaged state entities.

The Franklin Templeton Markets Equity said it …

Rwanda launched a campaign to collect one million smartphones to increase access to phones. With the country’s smartphone penetration at 20 per cent according to officials, connect Rwanda aims to increase the access of the devices.

Around 1.6 million Rwandans own smartphones out of the 10 million Rwandans who own mobile phones this is according to Statistics from the ministry of information and communication technology (ICT) and innovation.

“The Connect Rwanda campaign is aimed at increasing smartphone ownership in the country. To date, phone penetration stands at 79.8 per cent, but smartphone penetration is still low at 14.6 per cent,” said Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s ICT and innovation minister.

Also Read: Ghanaian digital payments company partners with Visa targeting 180M Africans

She added that smartphones are critical to helping Rwandans gain access to online services and information.
She said that Rwanda has digitised several services and many businesses are going e-commerce …

South Africa is set to increase its tourist arrivals from India, according to Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.

Kubayi-Ngubane has hailed as a resounding success her two-day market roadshow to Mumbai in India from January 14 to 16, the tourism department said in a statement.

The roadshow was characterised by “robust engagement” with tour operators, destination management companies, film producers and potential investors.

South Africa increased its efforts to unlock market opportunities for the realisation of the country’s 2030 target of doubling international tourist arrivals from 10.5 million to 21 million.

Also Read: South Africa’s miners decry power crisis crippling business

“India remains one of our key trading partners and [a] priority market for driving arrival numbers to South Africa. We will continue to invest in our marketing and engagement efforts, both with our trade partners and travellers, while providing diversified tourist products,” Kubayi-Ngubane said in the statement.

With the forecasted …