Insight type: Legal Alert

The Finance Act, 2025, effective 1 July 2025, has fundamentally reshaped Kenya’s import ecosystem by amending Section 44A of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015. This mandates a valid Certificate of Origin (CoO) for every import, irrespective of origin or trade agreement status, positioning it as a non-negotiable requirement to be enforced by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Nigeria’s insurance sector has been considered underdeveloped relative to the size of the economy. Persistent issues such as low penetration, weak public confidence and undercapitalisation have hindered its ability to deliver effective financial intermediation and risk protection. Previous reform attempts, ranging from revised capital thresholds to piecemeal legislative updates, sought to address these challenges but stopped short of achieving a comprehensive transformation.

On 12 September 2025, the Government of Tanzania published Government Notice No. 563, introducing the Mining (Local Content) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (“2025 Local Content Regulations”). These amendments significantly revise the Mining (Local Content) Regulations, 2018, which were themselves amended on 8 February 2019 and 8 July 2022 (“2018 Local Content Regulations”). The 2025 Local Content Regulations codify practices that the Mining Commission has been increasingly enforcing in practice and expand the framework governing local content compliance in the mining sector.

The Uganda Gazette of 04th July 2025 published new fiscal and Tax laws including the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2025; the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2025; the Excise Duty (Amendment) Act, 2025; the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Act, 2025; the Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act, 2025; the External Trade (Amendment) Act, 2025; and the Hides and Skins (Export Duty) (Amendment) Act, 2025. These laws contain tax changes which took effect on 1 July 2025 (save for use of National Identification Numbers as Tax Identification Numbers).

 

During the first half of President Trump’s second term, familiar themes of his “America First” policy have continued to dominate the administration’s agenda. Following the expiry of the initial 90-day suspension of tariffs on 9 July 2025, and a subsequent extension to 1 August 2025, President Trump has issued a new Executive Order revising the reciprocal tariff rates.

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) recently issued a public notice announcing the commencement of sector-by-sector investigations into organisations suspected of non-compliance with the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA). A total of 1,368 organisations are listed and are now required to present evidence of compliance with the NDPA within twenty-one (21) days.

The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 (NTA), the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025 (NTAA), the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025 (NRSA) and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025 (JRBA) (collectively referred to herein as the New Tax Acts) which were recently signed into law by the President of Nigeria have established a new tax regime for Nigeria and are set to become effective in 2026.

The East African Community (EAC) Competition Authority (the EAC Authority) has, in a notice dated 1 July 2025, announced that it will begin receiving and approving notifications for mergers and acquisitions with cross-border effect within the EAC region from 1 November 2025. This marks a significant operational milestone in the regional competition landscape, and it is expected to have a significant impact on cross-border M&A in the region.

The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 (the 2025 Act) came into force on 27 May 2025. The new statute repeals the earlier 2003 Persons with Disabilities Act (Cap. 133) and puts in place a more inclusive and enforceable framework. Among the most significant areas of reform is in the employment regime, where persons with disabilities have historically faced systemic barriers, discrimination and exclusion.