VenturesNow

Kenyan anti-tax protests extend to more towns and cities

Published

5 months ago

June 21, 2024

Protests against the Finance Bill have expanded throughout Kenya, from the capital city of Nairobi to other regions, as citizens remain opposed to President William Ruto’s proposal to raise the Ksh3.9 trillion ($31 billion) national budget.

After a 24-hour respite, street demonstrations in Nairobi resumed on Thursday morning, with armed police using tear gas to scatter the demonstrators. Running clashes broke out between the officers and masses of primarily young demonstrators who were trying to gain entry to the Parliament Buildings.

Several roads close to Parliament were shut by anti-riot police to keep an eye on it and make sure no citizens entered.

“We shall use other ways to get to Parliament and occupy it,” a protester said.

Other towns and cities, like as Mombasa, Kilifi at the Coast, Lodwar, Kakamega, Kisii, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Meru, Nanyuki, and Kisumu, also saw similar demonstrations. Mombasa locals participate in a nonviolent protest march against Finance Bill 2024. The demonstrators that compelled Dr Ruto to rescind some of his tax proposals now demand that Parliament reject the entire bill.

“Don’t Amend, Reject! Ruto Must Go!,” they chanted in Nairobi’s Central Business District as they played cat and mouse with the police.

Thousands of young protestors flooded the streets of Eldoret, Dr Ruto’s hometown, stopping any commercial activity. The sizable throngs that participated in the #OccupyEldoret demonstrations mirrored the sea of humanity that was seen both during President Ruto’s inauguration and during the celebration of his victory in the 2022 election.

The protesters created a stir in the community as bystanders expressed support for their effort to get the Kenya Kwanza administration to remove the harsh taxes found in Finance Bill 2024.

Before gathering at several locations on the town’s outskirts, the demonstrators had first divided into four groups of several hundred people, waving protest placards and screaming anti-government, anti-Ruto, and anti-Finance Bill songs.

Calling out their elected leaders, the demonstrators threatened to closely monitor MPs during Thursday afternoon’s legislative vote. The demonstrations were mainly nonviolent; there was not a single instance of police walking side by side with protestors with tear gas canisters.

Despite the large number of police, the marchers were being gently led and protected by the law enforcement officials.

The proposed 16% VAT on bread, sugar transportation, financial services, foreign exchange transactions, and the 2.5% motor vehicle tax were removed from the Finance Bill, according to a Tuesday announcement from the Kenyan government.

VenturesNow

Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.

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Dangote refinery begins petroleum sales to West Africa

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an indication to traders that the activities of its mega-refinery might soon disrupt regional fuel markets, Nigeria’s private Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started exporting refined petroleum products to neighbouring West African nations.

According to a Bloomberg story on Tuesday, a tanker had transported a consignment of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to seas off the coast of Togo, a nearby West African nation. The article cited data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and a ship-tracking tool.

According to the source, a CL Jane Austen recently departed west after loading over 300,000 barrels from Dangote.

Recall that Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority, stated last month that the nation is thinking of purchasing petroleum products from the Dangote refinery in order to reduce the approximately $400 million it spends each month on more costly exports from Europe.

Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos, the chairman of NPA, Ghana, said that by eliminating freight expenses, buying from Nigeria instead of Europe will lower the cost of other products and services.

“If the refinery reaches 650,000bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Hamid said.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that the refinery would start exporting fuel to Namibia, Angola, and South Africa. Four more African nations—Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Central Africa Republic—had also begun talks with the refinery, it was said.

According to a very reliable source who spoke directly to one of our reporters, the management of the refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day was in the advanced stages of negotiations with the nations to begin lifting petroleum.

“I can confirm to you that talks are actually at the advanced stage with Ghana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, while the initial discussion is coming up with Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic,” the source said.

The petroleum product shipment is currently floating off the coast of Lome, which is a well-liked location for ship-to-ship transfers, according to the source.

Furthermore, the final destination of the cargo of the CL Jane Austen is uncertain.

Despite being off Togo, the region is frequently utilised for ship-to-ship transfers, thus the gasoline may eventually be transported elsewhere.

“While the shipment is tiny in the context of the global gasoline market, it signals the ramp-up of Dangote’s production and the potential to export significant volumes of gasoline beyond Nigeria, which could upend regional markets.”

Last month, the refinery sent its first shipment of petrol by sea to Lagos, a neighbouring commercial centre.

Under the regulatory statute, the Federal Government last month terminated the state-owned oil company’s monopoly on purchasing gasoline from the plant for domestic use, but it has permitted the ongoing importation of fuel from the US and Europe.