Business

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded South Africa’s rating to junk status on Monday, as the country’s currency continued to slide following a controversial cabinet shuffle. “The executive changes initiated by President Zuma have put at risk fiscal and growth outcomes,” S&P said …

The Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) has become the third East African region country to commission the regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS). After similar events in the recent past in Nairobi and Kampala, this completes the geo-fencing of the route from Mombasa to Kigali. The Independent talked to Richard Tusabe, …

BoU’s Mutebile leads call for export driven policy instead Amelia Kyambadde, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, has had a tough time selling her flagship policy plank, the `Buy Uganda Build Uganda’ (BUBU).   But the latest criticism against the policy came from the most unexpected voice; that of the …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Pravin Gordhan, who was sacked late Thursday, is liked and admired by many ordinary South Africans — an unusual achievement for any finance minister. He held onto the purse strings for longer than many analysts expected after he was parachuted into the job in …

MTN pays $98 million part of Nigerian fine: officials Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | South African telecoms giant MTN has paid nearly $100 million of a $1.7 billion fine for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria, officials said on Friday. “MTN has paid 30 billion naira ($98 million, 92 …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Lloyd’s of London’s decision to open a European subsidiary was inevitable following the trigger of Brexit, with the only difficult choice being its location, chief executive Inga Beale told AFP Thursday. Lloyd’s, which insures against catastrophes such as earthquakes, shipwrecks and revolutions, announced it …

New Delhi, India | AFP | India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday passed four supporting bills that will pave the way for a landmark tax reform and transform the world’s fastest growing economy into a common market. The government aims to launch the goods and services tax (GST) law by …

New York, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday to revive America’s coal industry by rolling back regulation, but energy experts expressed doubt his moves would significantly boost prospects for the controversial energy source. Trump, flanked by coal miners and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, a …

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has ordered telecommunication companies to deactivate all unregistered or partially registered phone SIM-cards by midnight tonight. The order will also affect all pre-activated SIM-cards being sold on the streets. Registration for a SIM-card will from midnight tonight be open only to customers with either a …

Stanbic Bank again makes Chinese businesses irresistible offers Uganda imported US$700 million worth of goods from China last year and exported goods valued at US$30 million over the same period, according to the latest government data. But the skewed trade figures between Uganda and the world’s second largest economy do …