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Opposition frowns as parliament approves ‘controversial’ E-Levy in Ghana

Published

3 years ago

March 30, 2022

The legislature in Ghana has approved a new contested tax on electronic transactions which will introduce a 1.5 percent taxation on electronic money transfers and according to the government, help raise $900m in much-needed revenue.

The new tax, which is known as the E-levy has sparked widespread popular criticism in the West African country.

Ghana’s Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Ken Ofori-Atta in the 2022 budget statement and economic policy that was presented before parliament in November 2021 revealed the government’s intention to tax all electronic transactions in the informal sector to cover the tax net.

Opposition legislators however staged a walkout of debates while the majority went on to pass the bill into act.

“The Electronic Transfer Levy duly read today after the consideration stage has been passed,” Alban Bagbin, the speaker of parliament said.

Before they walking out of the debate however, opposition legislators dismissed the new tax as unfair.

A lawmaker from the opposition, Isaac Adongo said “the people have roundly rejected the e-levy and our constituents have told us to reject it, so why is the president imposing it on us?”

“What is the crime of Ghanaians that now the government wants to use their pockets as collateral?” Adongo remarked.

The newly passed E-levy would cover all inward remittances (which would be paid by the recipient), all person-to-person (P2P) mobile transactions (which includes sending of funds to another account, payment for goods and services, payment of utilities, all POS/Merchant payments.

A number of African countries have expanded the scope of their indirect taxes to cover digital services, but only a few have thus far implemented some form of direct digital services tax that applies to non-residents with no physical presence in their respective countries.

Earlier, this month, africanewswatch.com reported that Rwanda like Nigeria and Zimbabwe announced plans to tax online services and digital companies consumed within the country.

Related Topics:E-levy Featured Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo

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3 years after, Nigeria’s Belemaoil restarts Oil Lease 55

Published

3 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following a three-year hiatus due to theft-related damage to the plant, Nigerian independent producer, Belemaoil Producing, has reopened operations at its oil block on Oil Mining Lease 55, the company announced on Monday.

In February 2015, Belemaoil purchased OML 55 from Chevron Corp. OML 55 is situated in a marsh to shallow water area, approximately 40 kilometres west of the Bonny oil export facility.

According to a statement by a Belemaoil representative, widespread oil theft from OML 55’s delivery line to the Bonny terminal forced the closure of the facility in 2021.

The block has five oilfields, which provide more than 70 million standard cubic feet of petrol per day and around 14,000 barrels per day, according to the business.

An official stated that the first floating oil storage vessel arrived at OML 55 on October 6th, signalling “a major milestone in the company’s efforts to restart production”.

Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, is attempting to increase its crude production, which has decreased recently as a result of widespread theft and sabotage, which drove oil majors to abandon onshore drilling in favour of deepwater production.

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Kenya permits JPMorgan Chase to open representative office

Published

4 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The central bank of Kenya announced on Monday that JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) had been permitted to create a new tab and open a representative office in the East African nation.

According to a statement from the Central Bank of Kenya, representative offices of foreign banks in Kenya act as hubs for marketing and communication for their parent banks and affiliates.

The announcement further stated that the JPMorgan Chase representative office will help to diversify Kenya’s banking industry and encourage trade and investment.

In an effort by the largest United States lender to grow on the continent, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is scheduled to visit Africa in mid-October, according to a report published by Reuters last month, which cited four people with knowledge of the situation.

Within the next three years, the bank intends to renovate 1,700 existing branches and open 500 new ones. According to J.P. Morgan’s most recent financial report, as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the bank had 4,884 branches.