Insight type: Legal Alert

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Data Protection Law came into force on 2 January 2022. The Executive Regulations to the Data Protection Law will be released shortly, after which businesses will have six (6) months to ensure that their data protection policies around personal data and consent are fully compliant with the Data Protection Law.

One of the key outcomes of the recently concluded COP27 was the historic decision to set up a fund to help vulnerable countries respond to losses and damages related to the adverse effects of climate change. In this feature, we focus on the discussions that have led to the establishment of the fund and highlight some of the provisions of the funding arrangement agreed upon by the Parties. The article also summarises, briefly, other outcomes of COP27 and provides highlights on what governments, private parties and civil societies should look out for in the run-up to COP28.

Trade operations under the Africa Free Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) have begun, with Kenya shipping its first batches of locally-made car batteries and tea to Ghana. This process was made possible following the launch of the Guided Trade Initiative by the AfCFTA’s Secretariat – an initiative aimed at testing and demonstrating the efficacy of the legal framework of the AfCFTA instruments and obtaining feedback from the institutional national systems in the participating countries.

The Finance Act, 2022 (the Finance Act) was published on 30 June 2022 to make amendments to a raft of laws in Tanzania including the Income Tax Act and the Value Added Tax Act.

The National Pension Commission (Commission) recently announced the introduction of the Guidelines on Accessing Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Balance towards Payment of Equity Contribution for Residential Mortgage by RSA Holders (the Guidelines). The Guidelines, which were passed in line with the provisions of Section 89 (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (the Act), allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of RSA holders to utilise part of their retirement savings as an equity contribution to secure residential mortgages.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has published the Draft Information Memorandum (IM) for its upcoming auction of the remaining lots of 2 x 100MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in Nigeria.

 

Founders and investors looking to create solutions or invest within Nigeria’s financial technology (Fintech) sector would need to embrace its regulatory landscape. This article is the first of a series highlighting key regulators of the Fintech sector in Nigeria.

The Parliament of Uganda passed the National Payment Systems Act (the Act) in 2020 and a year later, the National Payment Systems Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) were passed to operationalise the Act. The objective of this regime is to control risk, promote the efficiency of payment systems and provide for the functions of the Central Bank (BOU) in its role as the regulator of fintech and other enterprises operating payment systems.

The High Court of Kenya has dismissed a petition seeking to block Kenya Airways (KQ) from training its pilots abroad. The petition, in which ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla & Khanna acted for KQ, sought to, among other things, stop KQ’s Ab Initio Pilots Training Programme, through which KQ trains its future pilots, with no prior experience and its foreign-based pilot training programmes.

There have been certain significant amendments introduced to British Virgin Island (BVI) Business Companies Act. The amendments will come into force on 1 January 2023. The key changes relate to abolishing the use of bearer shares, disclosure of director information, filing of financial returns, striking off and dissolution of companies, restoration of struck off and dissolved companies, new qualification and residency requirements for liquidators and insolvent liquidations.