africa Archives - Page 6 of 33 - AfricaBusiness.com

17Oct

By Denny Da SilvaNo Comments

Kenya News, Main, Nigeria News, South Africa News

New global tax rules will help address imbalances in tax revenue in Africa

By Denny Da Silva, Associate Director, Tax, Baker McKenzie, Johannesburg One hundred and thirty six of the 140 members of the OECD G20 Inclusive Framework, including South Africa, have agreed on a new set of global tax rules that will reform the world’s tax system. Notably, two African countries that are members of the Inclusive Framework have not yet joined the agreement - Kenya and Nigeria. The two-pillar system will be presented to the G20 Leaders’ Summit at the end of October 2021. It will result in a reallocation of taxing rights from resident to source countries of certain multinational enterprises (MNEs), if thresholds are met, in addition to a 15% global minimum tax rate for certain organizations, implemented from 2023. The agreement aims to redress global tax revenue imbalances a...

1Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Over Half World’s Population Now Using Mobile Internet

But More Work Needs to be Done to Bridge the Digital Divide GSMA Research Shows 3.4 Billion People Do Not Use Mobile Internet Despite Living in Areas with Mobile Broadband Coverage The GSMA has launched its global State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2021 showing that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of the world’s population is now using the mobile internet. Mobile internet usage translates to just over 4 billion connected people, 225 million more compared to 2019, and up from a third of people globally just six years ago. Even with this impressive growth in mobile internet connectivity, both in terms of mobile internet coverage and usage, the report highlights that work must accelerate to bridge the digital divide. Of the 3.8 billion people who remain uncon...

1Oct

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Ethiopia News, Kingdom of Eswatini News, Main, Malawi News, Mozambique News, Namibia News, South Africa News

Increasing competition policy enforcement across Africa

By Angelo Tzarevski, Associate Director, and Zareenah Rasool, Candidate Attorney, Competition & Antitrust Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Competition policy continues to be viewed by regulators as a key driver of economic growth globally. Across Africa, competition policy enforcement is increasingly being employed as a tool to boost economic performance and promote the revitalization of trade and industry following the devastating impact of COVID-19. The effects of the pandemic have led to negative economic growth in a number of African jurisdictions, and have given rise to opportunistic, anticompetitive behaviours such as unreasonable price increases and price gouging, coordination amongst competitors, and other unsavoury business practices that erode competition. Over the pas...

17Sep

By Virusha SubbanNo Comments

Main

China’s trade with the continent grows to record highs

By Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and Africa increased by 40.5 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2021, and was valued at a record high of USD 139.1 billion. The Ministry noted that African products were increasingly being recognised in the Chinese market, and that imports from Africa into China increased by 46.3% between January and July 2021. Further, the import of agricultural products, such as rubber, cotton and coffee from Africa into China doubled when compared to the first seven months of 2020. Data from the Ministry further revealed that over the last 20 years, China's trade with Africa has risen 20-fold, showing that China is Africa's biggest bilater...

17Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Your immediate response to prevent banking fraud

If you are like any normal South Africa, you approach intersections labelled high crime or high smash and grab zone with an overabundance of caution and the same applies to any intersection where there are a lot of people loitering around your vehicle. The last thing you want is to become a victim of a crime of opportunity, Close to 41% of the South African population has a smartphone. With Government encouraging the public to practice social distancing, online banking platforms have become extremely popular. Criminals are aware of this and reports from the South African Police Service point out that when it comes to crimes of opportunity (i.e.: smash and grab) criminals press their victims for their online banking password before making off with the phone. “This creates a situation ...

9Aug

By Joseph MainaNo Comments

Agriculture, Kenya News, Uganda News

Biotechnology and biodiversity in Africa

Though biotechnology is most often seen as a tool to meet Africa’s food needs, it could also play a role in protecting the continent’s unique biodiversity. Ugandan environmental activist, geneticist and conservation biologist Clet Wandui asserts that biotechnology has in fact helped to preserve and protect Africa’s biodiversity, a term that refers to the number of different species that are present in a given location, along with the numbers of individuals in each species and genetic variability within the species. “Actually, biotechnology has come to save biodiversity,” Wandui told this writer. “If you look scientifically at the drivers of biodiversity loss, there is nowhere biotechnology comes in.” He says that, broadly, biotechnology has been instrumental in increasing yields, reduci...

29Jun

By Joseph MainaNo Comments

Medicine

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy threatens to derail war against pandemic in Africa

Vaccine hesitancy in many parts of Africa has emerged as a potent threat to efforts to mitigate COVID-19 and could considerably counteract wider move to contain the pandemic, despite significant gains made to control the disease in the continent. There is consensus among a cross-section of health experts from the continent that the fight against COVID-19 must address the pockets of apathy and reluctance that now threaten to derail mitigation of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines vaccine hesitancy as the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services. Hesitancy is complex and context-specific, varying across time, space and vaccines. “Early evidence from across Africa shows that many are eager to get the vaccine, despite very limite...

22Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

Digital Lab Africa calls on Video Game creators

Video Game category is now open to all prototypes/concepts of video games for any type of device The second phase of the Digital Lab Africa (DLA) call for applications is now open after a successful first phase for animation and immersive experience categories. The focus of this phase is on Video Games. The destabilising impact of the pandemic on the music and digital art sectors has been such that the inclusion of these two categories has been set to resume in 2022. Applications for the Video Game category opened on 11 June and will close on 11 July 2021. In 2020, DLA received more than 500 applications from over 32 countries. For its fifth edition, Digital Lab Africa has switched to a fully online format. The online incubation which will take place between September 2021 and March 2022 ...

18Jun

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

No IPOs in Africa in the first half of 2021, but global IPO Activity on Pace to Hit Historic Highs in 2021

There were no cross-border Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on African exchanges in the first half of 2021 (H1 2021) according to new Baker McKenzie analysis, H1 IPO Snapshot: Unfolding Trends for 2021. However, the continued global demand for special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs reached African shores in the first half of 2021 - with a cross-border listing from a South African SPAC issuer - African Gold Acquisition Corporation - into the New York Stock Exchange. Globally, however, Baker McKenzie’s analysis shows that the continued global demand for SPAC deals, as well as current high liquidity and investor enthusiasm, caused capital raising to surge to new highs in the first half of 2021, with the bulk of companies preferring to list their IPOs locally. Globally, a total of 1,26...

16Jun

By Veselina DzhingarovaNo Comments

Interview, Science

An interview with N’Gunu Tiny on COVID and its impact on education in Africa

Interviewing N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group about education in Africa. Finding out about education in Africa, its pre-pandemic trajectory and how it has been interrupted by COVID-19. N’Gunu Tiny talks about how this will further impact social mobility and, crucially, what should be done now? Discussing education in Africa, the pandemic and more with N’Gunu Tiny Q: How do you think the pandemic has impacted global education? There is absolutely no doubt that COVID-19 has negatively impacted global education. However, as with many of the worst effects of the past 15 months of pandemic-based state measures, the hardest hit are those with the poorest and least robust education systems in the first place. And this includes sub-Saharan Africa. I think that th...