In Senegal, the government will now shift from a parliamentary regime with a bicephalous administration to a presidential regime. Last weekend, the parliament adopted the constitutional amendment suppressing the prime ministry. This new measure is aimed at "allowing the president to be in direct contact with the level of enforcement, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies,"...

Revenue collection in Ethiopia has increased significantly after the government implemented tax reforms to boost resources. These findings were revealed at a workshop hosted by the African Development Bank and a high-level delegation from the Ethiopian government. A study found that the introduction of electronic cash registers increased value added tax (VAT) collections and payments by about...

The recently created Angolan stock exchange Bolsa de Dívida e Valores de Angola (Bodiva) will proceed to its first IPO by end 2019, its director Patricio Vilar (photo), announced on May 2, 2019. The director also indicated that five private firms showed “concrete interests” for listings on the BODIVA. He did not reveal the name of the firms that will join the exchange but it is to be...

On May 2, 2019, the Tunisian ministry of finance introduced a set of digital services to facilitate the payment of taxes and other duties and fees by users. These services are part of the government’s strategy to boost the use of electronic payment methods that are faster and reduce unnecessary paper burden. Users can now pay or check their outstanding fines or taxes via internet and SMS....

The 54th Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the African Development Bank and the 45th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the Bank Group, will be held in Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea from 11 to 14 June 2019. The Annual Meetings are the Bank’s largest event and will bring together about 3000 delegates and participants. The Meetings provide a...

Ivorian Minister of Tourism Siandou Fofana on 25 April 2019 presented a strategy document aimed at making Côte d’Ivoire Africa’s fifth biggest tourism destination from 2025 to the African Development Bank, and sought its support to implement the plan. The document entitled "Sublime Côte d’Ivoire", was presented to the Bank’s Vice-President responsible for Private sector, Infrastructure...

World Bank will provide $250 million to improve access to affordable housing in Kenya. This was announced by the Bretton Woods institution in a release published on May 1, 2019. The new funding will be administrated by Kenya Mortgage Refinance Corporation (KMRC). KMRC, 80% owned by the private sector, will provide long-term financing to banks. These banks will then grant cheap housing...

Leader of Zimbabwean telecom market Econet Wireless signed a service agreement with Subex, one of the telecommunications analytics solution providers in the world. With the adoption of Subex’s Analytics Center of Trust (ACT) offer, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe wants to become an independent institution improving its operational efficiency thanks to data. Relying on the predictive analysis of ACT,...

Despite austerity measures adopted in June 2018, Zambia’s 2018 budget deficit was 7.5% of GDP, above the 7% forecasted, finance minister Margaret Mwanakatwe (photo) announced on May 1, 2019.   The finance minister also indicated that new measures would be initiated to reduce the 2019 budget deficit to 6.5% of GDP. Weeks ago, the country’s debt was said to have risen by about 15% to...

On April 30, 2019, 37.8 million of Dangote Flour Mills’ shares changed ownership.   This is a record level for the firm since December 14, 2015, when 63.4 million shares were negotiated. It is also the first time since 2014 that the share is recording 11 straight days up with an average of 8.4% increase daily. In those eleven days, the firm’s market capitalisation went 124% up to NGN94...