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Kenyan aviation employees strike against Adani’s airport agreement

Published

2 months ago

August 13, 2024

In response to a planned agreement with an Indian business to develop the nation’s largest airport, Kenya’s main aviation union said it will go on strike starting Monday.

This industrial action could seriously disrupt the country’s premier vacation destination in East Africa.

The proposed agreement with India’s Adani Airport Holdings, according to the Kenya Aviation Personnel Union, which represents airport employees, would result in job losses and attract non-Kenyan personnel. It was disclosed last month.

A seven-day notice of strike issued on Monday demanded that the government revoke the “unlawful intended sale of JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) to Adani Airport Holdings of India”.

The airport is not for sale, according to Kenya’s government, and there hasn’t been a decision taken on whether to move forward with a planned public-private collaboration to develop the facility.

A spokesman for the Adani Group could not be reached for comment at this time.

Kenya Airways, the country’s flag carrier, might also experience severe disruptions from any strike.

“We shall reconsider our intention to engage in industrial action … only if the Adani Airport Holdings Limited’s deal is abandoned in its entirety,” Kenya Aviation Workers Union Secretary General Moss Ndiema said in the strike notice.

He reiterated his demand that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) board as a whole step down. On Monday, the KAA affirmed that it had been served with a strike notice. Elijah Miano, a representative, stated, “We are hopeful that a resolution can be reached through negotiation.”

Adani would renovate the passenger terminal and install a second runway at JKIA, according to the authority. An inquiry for feedback from Kenya Airways Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka was not answered.

In a statement released last month regarding the Adani plan, the government stated that JKIA needed immediate improvements as it was overbooked and handling more people than it could handle. It cited instances such as leaky roofs that it claimed had resulted in “international embarrassment.”

According to the statement, the government was “constrained to fund due to the current tight fiscal situation” despite the potential $2 billion cost of modernising JKIA.

It stated that Adani’s bid was being examined right now. The administration promised safeguards to ensure Kenya’s national interests are protected if an agreement is reached.

Proposed tax hikes sparked a national youth-led protest movement in June, which has since questioned the apparent lack of openness surrounding the proposed Adani contract.

Police attempted to shut down JKIA last month by preventing protesters from entering the facility.

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

Published

1 day 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.

VenturesNow

Nigerian govt imposes 5% tax on telecom, betting services

Published

2 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.