Economy
Stakeholders Call for Efficient Tax Systems in Africa
By Dipo Olowookere
African governments have been advised to broaden and protect their tax bases so as to hasten rapid development across the continent.
This suggestion was made at a four-day workshop on protecting the tax base of developing countries, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last Friday.
The programme was sponsored by the Italian government and participants were urged to use the new skills and knowledge gained at the event in implementing more effective and efficient tax systems that will ensure more resources are harvested for Africa’s development.
Speaking at the end of the technical workshop attended by revenue and tax experts from 23 African countries, Aida Opoku-Mensah, ECA’s Special Adviser on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, thanked Italy saying it was one of the very few developmental partners willing to support programmes that can give capacity to African governments to broaden and protect their tax bases.
She said it was crucial for Africa to have the necessary support so countries can continue to strengthen their potential and by extension improve their domestic resource mobilization which in turn aids the continent to fund their development, in particular the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
“SDGs and taxation, when you look at them you think they are poles apart but if we can support African countries to better manage their tax administration and to be able to increase their domestic resource mobilization, with the right governance strategy, it can lead to the implementation of the SDGs and lead to the reduction of dependency on aid and also put African countries in the driving seat in terms of their development priorities,” said Ms Opoku-Mensah.
She told participants, who received certificates at the end of the workshop, of a Memorandum of Understanding that will be signed by the UN Secretary General and the African Union Chairperson in January next year on the implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
“It is an important step because we are going to embed into this framework the work that has already started with you in these workshops to protect the continent’s tax base, going forward,” said Ms Opoku-Mensah.
Participants also discussed illicit financial flows (IFFs) through which Africa is losing an estimated $50 annually.
Curbing illicit financial flows, they agreed, would strongly bolster the continent’s efforts to fund her own development.
Giuseppe Sean Coppola, the Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Ethiopia, said his government will continue to support efforts to strengthen capacity in Africa for governments to broaden and protect their tax bases.
He said the availability of more resources to African governments can also improve their quest for regional integration, adding he hoped the training had been useful for participants so they can help protect their respective countries tax bases.
“Italy looks forward to continuing to engage with countries in the region and providing support to further strengthen their potential for domestic resource mobilization,” said Mr Coppola.
“This is one step towards achieving Agenda 2030 and it’s also instrumental to achieving the AU’s Agenda 2063 and we are very pleased to be contributing to that.”
Elene Belleti of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), which ran the workshop, said the training was part of efforts to implement the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA).
“We need to tackle illicit financial flows because we cannot allow the leaking of resources from these countries to continue,” said Ms Belleti.
“We want to tackle tax evasion but on the other hand we cannot only focus on the illicit component. We also have to focus on how to tackle tax avoidance and how to create more transparent tax systems; how to protect the tax base from erosion; how to prevent profit shifting and this I hope is part of the knowledge you gained during the past few days.”
Participants during the four days discussed cross-cutting subjects looking at specific issues related to tax base erosion, how to draft legislation to prevent that, international practices, environmental and extraction industry taxation.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The acquisition of the Bullet brand portfolio from Sun Mark has been completed by Champion Breweries Plc, a statement from the company confirms.
This marks a transformative milestone in the organisation’s strategic expansion into a diversified, pan-African beverage platform.
With this development, Champion Breweries now owns the Bullet brand assets, trademarks, formulations, and commercial rights globally through an asset carve-out structure.
The assets are held in a newly incorporated entity in the Netherlands, in which Champion Breweries holds a majority interest, while Vinar N.V., the majority shareholder of Sun Mark, retains a minority stake.
Bullet products are currently distributed in 14 African markets, positioning Champion Breweries to scale beyond Nigeria in the high-growth ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic and energy drink segments.
This expansion significantly broadens the brewer’s addressable market and strengthens its revenue base with an established, profitable portfolio that already enjoys strong brand recognition and consumer loyalty across multiple markets.
“The successful completion of our public equity raises, together with the formal close of the Bullet acquisition, marks a defining moment for Champion Breweries.
“The support we received from both existing shareholders and new investors reflects strong confidence in our long-term strategy to build a diversified, high-growth beverage platform with pan-African scale.
“Our focus now is on disciplined execution, integration, and delivering sustained value across markets,” the chairman of Champion Breweries, Mr Imo-Abasi Jacob, stated.
Through this transaction, Champion Breweries is expected to achieve enhanced foreign exchange earnings, expanded distribution leverage across African markets, integrated supply chain efficiencies, portfolio diversification into high‑growth consumer beverage categories, and strengthened presence in the RTD and energy drink segments.
The acquisition accelerates Champion Breweries’ transition from a regional brewing business to a multi-category consumer platform with continental reach.
Bullet Black is Nigeria’s leading ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage, while Bullet Blue has built a strong presence in the energy drink category across several African markets.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Emerging market fintech firm, M-KOPA, has announced plans to deepen its reach in Nigeria to the South South and South East regions, starting with Edo this year, after providing N231 billion in credit to over 1 million customers in the country.
The firm released its first Nigeria-focused Impact Report, which showed that Nigeria is M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market and fastest to reach the milestone.
Since its foray into the Nigerian market in 2019, M-KOPA has been working to dismantle barriers to financial inclusion by providing flexible smartphone financing and digital financial tools that align with how people in the informal economy earn and manage their money.
It operates in six states in the country, including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, among others.
The report highlights the company’s contribution to income generation, digital inclusion and economic opportunity for Every Day Earners across the country.
The report showed that M-KOPA has enabled 290,000 first-time smartphone users, while 56 per cent of agents accessed their first income opportunity through the platform.
It showed high income and livelihood gains among its users, with about 77 per cent of customers leveraging smartphones or digital loans obtained through the platform to generate income, indicating that access to financed devices is directly supporting micro-entrepreneurial activity and informal sector productivity.
Furthermore, 75 per cent of users report higher earnings since gaining access to M-KOPA’s services, suggesting measurable improvements in personal revenue streams. On the distribution side, 99 per cent of agents disclose increased earnings, reflecting positive spillover effects across the company’s value chain.
In addition, 81 per cent of long-term customers state that their household expenses have improved, pointing to enhanced financial stability and better consumption smoothing over time.
Speaking on the report, Mr Babajide Duroshola, General Manager, M-KOPA Nigeria, said, “Nigeria represents extraordinary potential, and we’re proud that it has become M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market. Our Impact Report shows that when Every Day Earners gain access to the right digital and financial tools, they use them to create stability and long-term progress for their families. This is about access that unlocks opportunity and sustained prosperity.”
On its expansion plans Nigeria-wide, the M-KOPA helmsman said, “Many of the states we are considering are already similar to the ones we are currently in proximity… So, there is proximity and similarity between these states, and that’s what we are going to do, starting with Edo.”
He noted that as M-KOPA Nigeria continues to expand, the focus remains on ensuring more everyday earners gain access to the digital and financial tools they need to build resilient, prosperous futures in Nigeria’s rapidly digitising economy.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The ban on the export of raw shea nuts from Nigeria has been extended by one year by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday disclosed that the ban is now till February 25, 2027.
It was emphasised that this decision underscores the administration’s commitment to advancing industrial development, strengthening domestic value addition, and supporting the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The ban aims to deepen processing capacity within Nigeria, enhance livelihoods in shea-producing communities, and promote the growth of Nigerian exports anchored on value-added products, the statement noted.
To further these objectives, President Tinubu has authorised the two Ministers of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Presidential Food Security Coordination Unit (PFSCU), to coordinate the implementation of a unified, evidence-based national framework that aligns industrialisation, trade, and investment priorities across the shea nut value chain.
He also approved the adoption of an export framework established by the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the withdrawal of all waivers allowing the direct export of raw shea nuts.
The President directed that any excess supply of raw shea nuts should be exported exclusively through the NCX framework, in accordance with the approved guidelines.
Additionally, he directed the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide access to a dedicated NESS Support Window to enable the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to pilot a Livelihood Finance Mechanism to strengthen production and processing capacity.
Shea nuts, the oil-rich fruits from the shea tree common in the Savanna belt of Nigeria, are the raw material for shea butter, renowned for its moisturising, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The extracted butter is a principal ingredient in cosmetics for skin and hair, as well as in edible cooking oil. The Federal Government encourages processing shea nuts into butter locally, as butter fetches between 10 and 20 times the price of the raw nuts.
The federal government said it remains committed to policies that promote inclusive growth, local manufacturing and position Nigeria as a competitive participant in global agricultural value chains.
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