In our previous alert in the Carbon Market Series, The Climate Change (Amendment) Act, we provided high level insights into the Climate Change (Amendment) Act, 2023 (the Amendment Act) which introduces and regulates the carbon markets in Kenya to stimulate the reduction of carbon emissions through voluntary contributions.
On 1 September 2023, the Climate Change (Amendment) Act, 2023 (the Amendment Act) was signed into law by the President of Kenya. In the following week, Kenya hosted the Inaugural Africa Climate Summit 2023, underscoring the country’s steadfast commitment to combat climate change.
Uganda is a mineral rich country with vast deposits of gold, uranium, limestone, marble, graphite, iron, copper, and cobalt, among others. Whereas its mining sector once accounted for 30% of the country’s export earnings in the 1950’s and 1960’s, today the sector’s contribution is about 0.8%. This decline has been attributed to a weak legislative framework to award, protect and enforce mineral rights; a significant informal mining sector; a paucity of foreign investors; environmental degradation; and human rights abuses.
The Kenyan Government has recently done away with the local shareholding requirement in the ICT sector that has been in place for over ten years. It is expected that this move will encourage the ease of doing business in the ICT sector and attract more foreign investment into the sector.
On 12 June 2023, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2023 (the Act/Amendment) into law. It is important to note that the Amendment does not repeal the Evidence Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and is intended to reflect technological advancements in evidence-taking, particularly in court proceedings.
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Roads and Transport has established a taskforce on the Development of National Electric Mobility Policy, Strategy, Legislations and Regulations (the e-Mobility Taskforce) and appointed Daniel Ngumy, Managing Partner and Head of Tax at ALN Kenya, as Chairperson of the Taskforce.
In fulfilling its core mandate, the Taskforce will be required to
On 29 June 2023, the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) ruled on Scoline Anyango Ojung’a’s (the Claimant) case against Healthlink Matcare Ltd T/A Nairobi Women’s Hospital (the Respondent) for alleged unfair termination.
The Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 (the Finance Act 2023) was enacted by the Mauritian Parliament and, on 20 July 2023, received presidential assent. It amends numerous primary enactments in Mauritius mainly in order to give effect to the budgetary measures announced by the Honourable Minister of Finance in his Budget Speech 2023-2024 delivered on 2 June 2023.
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has issued a directive on the delineation of regulatory oversight between the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in relation to the regulation of terminal operations and the export of crude oil pursuant to sections 7(ee) and 32 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) pending the amendment of the PIA.
In June 2023, the Finance Act of 2023 (the Act) brought significant changes to Kenya’s taxation statutes. However, the Act faced a suspension due to a constitutional petition, causing uncertainty for taxpayers. A Court of Appeal ruling on 28 July 2023 has now lifted the conservatory orders suspending the implementation of the Finance Act, and the Finance Act is therefore deemed to have been effective from 1 July 2023. Taxpayers must now consider immediate actions and implications.
