December 2022 / Focus Africa

$2 billion  Revenue expected to be raised by horticulture sector in Tanzania by 2023 as the East African country plans to make the industry the largest source of foreign exchange. This will be an increase from the current $750 million annual revenue. (The Citizen)

200,000  Improved cookstoves to be delivered across households in Rwanda for free in an initiative aiming to cut harmful household emissions and reduce deforestation. BB Energy will supply the energy efficient cooking stoves sponsored by local subsidiary Société Pétrolière (SP) and local manufacturer Quality Engineering Company. (Africa Business Communities)

8 million kg Handling capacity of Kenyan food distribution platform Twiga Food's new distribution centre in Tatu City. The new facility will be the backbone of Twiga's supply chain, enabling partners to access 140,000 customers across Kenya and Uganda. (Food Business Africa)

$6 billion Investment in green ammonia by the UK's Hive Energy in South Africa. The project includes a 900,00-tonne-per-year ammonia facility and renewable plants producing 5,000 MW of power annually. (Afrik21)

1.6 million Barrels of oil per day produced in Nigeria, more than a four-fold increase, achieved after the implementation of a monitoring system to deter pipeline theft. (Premium Times)

72%  Increase on net income interest earned by investors in Kenya who opted to roll over their securities into a new infrastructure bond, benefitting from rising rates on government debt. The investors were given an alternative to take up a six-year infrastructure bond instead of cash on maturing Treasury bills. (Business Daily Africa)

$1 billion Investment plan pledged by Visa to drive digital transformation in Africa, scale operations, deploy new technologies and deepen collaborations with partners by 2027 to further scale Visa's operations in Africa. (Techbuild.Africa)

85% Share of DRC's Trust Merchant Bank acquired by Kenya's KCB. The deal, first announced in August, adds a sixth East African market to KCB's holdings through the 109-branch lender. (Business Daily)

22,000 megawatts Electricity generation capacity in Nigeria after the government added additional 4000 megawatts to boost power generation in the West African country. Additionally, 6000 megawatts of capacity was added to the transmission network to support electricity supplies. (Vanguard)

On 14 December 2022, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation for trade and investment between them, during the US-Africa Business Forum held on the same day, in the context of the US-Africa Leaders Summit, held from 13 to 15 December 2022 in Washington, DC. The MoU was signed to promote effective cooperation and collaboration in the areas of trade and investment by exchanging information on best practices and boosting open dialogue to address matters of mutual interest regarding the implementation of the AfCFTA.

The Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) has issued a resolution requiring traders to issue electronic invoices. This resolution is the third step in the implementation of an electronic system. This obligation concerns services provided or goods sold to the final consumer, as of 15 January 2023.

Decision No. (588) of 2022 was published on 20 October 2022.