Category: Africa
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Kenya:Relief for Uber as taxman shifts VAT headache to car owners
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has shifted the burden of paying value added tax for e-taxi hailing to car owners, handing Uber — the US tech giant — a major reprieve. The taxman made its position known in response to reports that it was targeting e-taxi operators such as Uber and Safaricom-backed Little Ride for…
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Cameroon: More than 70 people killed in train crash
More than 70 people were killed and over 600 injured when a packed passenger train crashed in Cameroon on Friday, the president announced on Saturday, declaring a national day of mourning to commemorate the dead. The packed Camrail train had been travelling from the capital Yaounde to the port city of Douala. It derailed at…
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Githu seeks tough penalties for in-flight offences
Unruly passengers on board flights that land in Kenya’s airports will face prosecution and other tough sanctions if Parliament ratifies a new protocol amending the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft. Airlines will have the right to, and may seek compensation from, unruly passengers for costs incurred as a result…
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Nigeria: Innoson, Chinese Consortium to Invest U.S.$1 Billion in Nigeria
Innoson Group is partnering with a consortium of Chinese investors to pump in $1billion into Nigeria’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. According to Innoson Group, the investments include $400 million, which will be invested in Nigeria’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) project in digital satellite TV station, and an additional $600 million covering other important…
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Egyptian President Sisi’s Approval Ratings Drop 14 Per Cent – Poll
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s approval rating dropped 14 per cent over the course of two months, according to a new poll conducted by the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (Baseera). Baseera’s poll shows that, while 82 per cent expressed their approval of the president’s performance around two months ago, only 68 per cent…
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Rwanda-Morocco Housing Project Construction Kicks Off Early 2017
Construction of affordable housing units by the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) and Palmeraie Development Group is set to kick off early next year, following the signing of a partnership agreement during the visit of King Mohammed VI of Morocco last week. The agreement sealed a partnership between the two bodies to develop 5000 affordable…
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MTN CEO start date sooner, suspends Nigeria dividend payout
MTN Group’s next chief executive will take over three months ahead of plan, the South African telecoms company announced on Monday, as the firm faces allegations it illegally moved $14 billion out of Nigeria. Rob Shuter, Vodafone European boss, was due to start in July next year but MTN said in a statement accompanying its…
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Kenya:Only 10pc of development budget spent with a quarter of year gone
Only 10 per cent of Kenya’s development budget has been spent with a quarter of the year gone in what could affect completion of projects and economic growth. Data from the Treasury shows that by the end of September, a total of Sh41.8 billion had been spent on development against the annual budget of Sh416…
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Kenya:Ministry of Energy officials get fresh power to dish out energy contracts
Ministry of Energy officials are set to get sweeping powers to award multi-billion shilling electricity generation contracts to investors in an impending policy shift that is intended to yield lower consumer tariffs, but is also fraught with the risk of conflict of interest. New draft regulations expected to come into force in three months’ time…
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Nigeria: High Fish Feed Prices Forcing Lagos Farmers Out of Business
Fish farmers in Lagos State are presently leaving the business due to the increase in the price of fish feeds in the state. The prices, according to the farmers, have gone up by as high as 80 to 100 percent and that was forcing some of them to abandon their farms in search of other…