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World Bank approves $1billion sustainability loan for Kenya

Published

1 year ago

June 1, 2023

Kenya is set to receive a $1billion loan from the World Bank under the Fiscal Sustainability and Inclusive Green Growth Development Programme Operation (DPO).

The International lender on Wednesday approved the budget support loan after Kenya requested to raise the amount by 33 percent due to the tightened global financing conditions, which have seen it shelve a planned Eurobond issuance that had been slated for the current financial year.

The fund will be partly drawn from low-cost financing to low-income economies and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which, unlike the IDA, extends semi-concessional financing.

According to a statement by the World Bank, “the first bundle of policy reforms will target the creation of fiscal space in a sustainable and equitable manner, including revenue and expenditure measures to support fiscal consolidation, strengthening the debt management framework, and protecting pro-poor expenditures. These will be augmented by a second set of reforms that improve competitiveness to boost agricultural exports, which is both a powerhouse sector where Kenya has a clear comparative advantage and the sector employing most of Kenya’s poor.

“In governance, the DPO supports an important set of initiatives to promote objective decision-making through the Conflict-of-Interest Bill, to streamline the state’s orderly exit from commercial investments through amending the State-Owned Enterprises Privatization Act,” the World Bank says.

Kenya last week announced that it had reached an agreement that could unlock more than $3 billion of new financing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The country has had some revenue challenges but it has maintained it would not default on its debt repayment obligations despite having cash crunch which has affected the payment of civil service salaries.

Related Topics:Featured Kenya World Bank

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Egypt reduces 2040 renewable energy target to 40%, prioritises natural gas

Published

2 days ago

October 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi announced on Sunday that Egypt had reduced its 2040 renewable energy target down from a previous goal of 58% to 40%, highlighting the fact that natural gas will continue to play a significant role in the nation’s energy mix for years to come.

Egypt promised to increase the percentage of renewable energy output in its energy mix to 42% by 2035 before hosting the COP27 climate meeting in 2022.

Later, the aim was advanced to 2030. Mohamed Shaker, the then-minister of electricity, unveiled a bold proposal in June 2024 to increase this to 58% by 2040; however, that goal has since been abandoned.

“This is a message to all of us to work together to increase discoveries and attract more investments through the bids being offered for exploration, aiming to achieve discoveries in the region, which holds more wealth, particularly natural gas,” Badawi said in the opening session of the Mediterranean Energy Conference 2024.

Egypt’s persistent dependence on fossil fuels coincides with efforts to regain the confidence of international oil companies, whose domestic activities ceased due to a shortage of hard currency that put the nation in debt to the tune of billions of dollars.

Since entering office in July, Badawi has met with many foreign energy corporations, such as Eni of Italy, which intends to increase production in Egypt’s largest gas field, Zohr, by digging additional wells in early 2025.

At its peak of 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) in 2019, Zohr’s gas output allowed the nation to turn a profit.

However, by early 2024, output had dropped to 1.9 bcf/d, forcing Egypt to import more gas through a pipeline connecting it to Israel and more LNG to avoid a months-long load-shedding program.

Additionally, Egypt imports fuel oil that contains sulphur; in September, imports reached a record-breaking 255,000 barrels per day (bpd), the highest level since at least 2016.

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Nigerian govt imposes 5% tax on telecom, betting services

Published

3 days ago

October 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As part of a new plan to restructure the nation’s tax system, the Nigerian government has proposed a 5% excise fee on gaming and betting operations, and telecom services.

The bill was obtained from the National Assembly on October 4, 2024. It was titled “A Bill for an Act to Repeal Certain Acts on Taxation and Consolidate the Legal Frameworks relating to Taxation and Enact the Nigeria Tax Act to Provide for Taxation of Income, Transactions, and Instruments, and Related Matters.”

The goal of the new legislation, according to an examination of it on Friday, is to impose excise taxes on services like betting, lotteries, gaming, and telecoms that are offered in Nigeria.

According to a portion of the bill, the amount of an excisable transaction is the amount that the service provider charges for the service, expressed in both money and money’s worth.

“Services, including telecommunications, gaming, gambling, betting, and lotteries however described, provided in Nigeria shall be charged with duties of excise at the rates specified under the Tenth Schedule to this Act in a manner as may be prescribed by the Service.”

Telecom services, including postpaid and prepaid services governed by the Nigerian Communications Commission, will be subject to a 5% charge, according to a breakdown of the excise duty structure in the law.

Lottery services, gaming, gambling, and betting will all be charged at the same rate.

The bill also establishes criteria for currency transactions, stating that excise duty will apply to any discrepancy between the actual transaction rate and the current Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate.

Part of the government’s plan to increase non-oil revenue in the face of budgetary challenges is the new tax structure.

Authorities are trying to increase their revenue base because to the telecom and gambling industries’ explosive growth.

Additionally, the measure seeks to guarantee that currency trades match official CBN rates, with any discrepancy subject to excise duty under a model of self-assessment.