KENYA

Banks seek review of law on filing taxes every five days

The banking sector wants Parliament to review a new law requiring firms in sectors with a high risk of under-declaring taxes to pay dues every five days. The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) told Parliament that the enactment of the Finance Act, of 2023 has created administrative challenges for commercial lenders who are required to compute Withholding Tax daily and remit the dues every five days. The National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning committee chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani had in July amended the Excise Duty Act through the Finance Bill, 2023 to allow the taxman to impose a five-day deadline for remittance of excise duty on firms.

(Business Daily)

TANZANIA

TADB, BoT launch agriculture financing training

The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) has launched a training programme focusing on providing individuals with the competencies required to improve agriculture through agricultural finance. The programme, to be jointly implemented with the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Academy, is meant to produce competent professionals and improve financing linkages among agri-value chain actors, financing institutions and other stakeholders. TADB managing director Frank Nyabundege said during the launch in Dar es Salaam on Monday that the philosophy behind the programme was to produce innovative, creative and positive-minded professionals in agricultural finance.

(The Citizen)

UGANDA

Uganda among countries  with easy access to credit  

A report by Standard Bank indicates that it is increasingly becoming easier to access credit in Uganda compared to other African countries. The Africa Trade Barometer report, which measures economic parameters including governance, infrastructure, trade openness, financial behaviour and access to credit among others, notes that due to the growing influence of mobile money, more Ugandans are now accessing credit compared to other countries. The report notes that at least 49 per cent of surveyed businesses believe it is now easier to access credit, which is an improvement from 38%.

(Monitor)

RWANDA

Rwanda gets $106m EU aid as food insecurity spirals

The European Union (EU) has announced $106 million in aid to help Rwanda combat rising food insecurity that has affected the majority of the country’s poor. Launched on Tuesday, 31st October 2023, the aid will be used in 14 projects to mitigate soaring food prices across the country, under the new “Kuhangara” initiative.  “These projects come on the back of higher consumer price indices with about 20.6 per cent of Rwandan households remaining food insecure according to the 2021 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment report,” the EU said in a statement.

(The East African)

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia set to host 2023 African Economic Conference

The stage is now set for the 2023 African Economic Conference, jointly organised by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The hybrid conference will be held from 16-18 November, with the physical location being the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. According to ECA, this year, the largest research and economic gathering on the continent will focus on “Imperatives for Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa”.

(ENA)