Kenya will increase taxes to fund the 2019/2020 budget, finance minister Henry Rotich (photo), announced on June 13, 2019.   According to the official, the government wants to raise about $364 million of fiscal revenues for its budget in the coming fiscal year. For this purpose, it plans to increase capital gain taxes from 5% to about 12.5%. In addition, vehicle excise duty should be...

The Democratic Republic of Congo has submitted an application to become a member of the East African Community (ECA), president Félix Tshisekedi announced on June 13, 2019. "This membership will break down customs barriers and boost exchanges between our respective countries," M. Tshisekedi said in the first day of his visit in Tanzania.   According to the official, those countries must...

International Business Machines (IBM) has launched its quantum computer program in 16 African universities. This is the result of a partnership with Wits University in South Africa. This university will manage the remaining fifteen universities’ access to the program. Also known as IBM Q, the program is based on IBM’s quantum supercomputer. This computer was presented during the Consumer...

Kenya is the most prepared country for artificial intelligence in Africa, According to the 2019 Government AI Readiness Index published by the  International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Oxford Insights.   Out of the 194 countries ranked in the world, 12 African countries are in the top100. Kenya is the 52nd globally followed by Tunisia (54th), Mauritius (60th), South...

Kenya is the undisputed leader of mobile banking in Africa, according to a research published early June 2019 by Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes. Named "The Mobile: Deepening Financial Inclusion But at a High Cost," this study reveals that in Kenya, 72% of banking clients use their mobile phones to access services such as savings and credit. This is about thrice the world average...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the payment of $247 million to Tunisia in the framework the extended credit facility.  This was announced by the minister of great reforms  Taoufik Rajhi (photo), on June 12, 2019.   This is the sixth tranche of a $2.8 billion support programme approved in 2016 to support economic reforms in this North African country....

Truestone Impact Investment Management, a British fund manager operating in Subsaharan Africa, plans to launch Mano River Transition Fund aimed at investing between $500 thousand and $5 million in SMEs in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Overall, the fund plans to invest $50 million in those SMEs. “The qualifying companies that we have identified for follow-on investment are cash flow...

Cöte d’Ivoire plans to adopt a budget close to $13.8 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, the government indicates in the 2020-2022 budget planning document published this week.   Compared with the budget for the ongoing 2019 fiscal year, this represents an increase by 9.8%. Named "Document de programmation budgétaire et économique pluriannuelle (DPBEP) 2020-2022", the said document...

A delegation of Luxembourg businessmen visited Rwanda on June 10, 2019, in the framework of the first Rwanda-Luxembourg Business Forum organized by the RDB (Rwanda Development Board) and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. During the forum, fifteen Luxembourg companies expressed their interests in the Rwandan IT sector that highlights the country as an African tech and digital pole. According...

International telecommunications services provider MGI Global Services has signed a 5-year agreement with satellite internet provider Avanti Communications for broadband internet provision in South Sudan, Chad and Angola. MGI Global Services indicates that its goal with this partnership is to provide quality internet in rural areas with poor coverage.   Ilija Reymond, MGI managing partner,...