Nigeria's consolidated Tax Act took effect on 1 January 2026, lifting company capital gains tax toward 30% while exempting most investors and reshaping incentives.

Uganda's Protection of Sovereignty Act, signed then heavily amended after public outcry, has narrowed from broad commercial control to foreign political financing, easing the alarm for investors.

Egypt has become one of Africa's "Big Four" fintech markets, with payment providers and startups multiplying across more than a dozen fintech subsectors.

Kenya has entered a tougher data-protection enforcement phase, with new compliance-audit rules, an amendment bill in play and a landmark biometric-deletion ruling.

South Africa's draft Public Procurement Regulations 2026 introduce a multi-criteria scoring matrix for infrastructure and government contracts, with consultation just closed.

Nigeria's Consolidated Tax Act Is Now Live, Reshaping the Numbers for Companies and Investors

Nigeria's Tax Act 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026, repealing and consolidating the Companies Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, VAT, Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duties regimes into a single modernised code. Company capital gains tax rises from a flat 10% toward 30%, with proceeds reinvested in Nigerian company shares within the year exempted proportionally, while the framework also widens investor exemptions and lifts the personal-income-tax floor.

Why it matters for counsel: Every company and investor with Nigerian exposure needs to re-run the numbers against the consolidated code, especially on disposals where the higher capital gains rate and the reinvestment relief change deal structuring. The single-code design simplifies the map, but the rates and reliefs reward careful planning.

Uganda Walks Back Its Sovereignty Law, and for Investors It Is Largely Business as Usual

Uganda's Protection of Sovereignty Act, signed in its original form to curb foreign funding broadly, was substantially amended after an unprecedented public outcry, narrowing its reach from broad commercial regulation to foreign political financing. The term "foreigner" is now confined to non-Ugandan citizens, foreign governments and foreign-incorporated entities engaged in or financing political activity, and funding received by entities regulated under an Act of Parliament for lawful activities is exempt.

Why it matters for counsel: The amended Act removes much of the commercial alarm the first draft created, but counsel should still map whether any client activity could be read as political financing and confirm the regulated-entity exemption applies. The headline risk has eased; the line-drawing has not gone away.

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Egypt Cements Its Place Among Africa's Fintech Heavyweights as the Sector Scales

Egypt has emerged as one of Africa's "Big Four" fintech markets, with the number of fintech startups and payment service providers growing more than fivefold in recent years to over 170 companies across more than a dozen subsectors. The growth is drawing capital and regulatory attention in equal measure, positioning the country as a cornerstone of the wider MENA digital-finance build-out.

Why it matters for counsel: Rapid sector growth pulls licensing, payments regulation and capital-raising into sharper focus, and investors entering the space need to align with the evolving FSC and central-bank frameworks early. The opportunity is real, but so is the compliance and structuring work behind a scalable Egyptian fintech.

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Kenya's Data Regime Grows Teeth: Audit Rules, an Amendment Bill and a Landmark Deletion Order

Kenya has moved into a tougher data-protection enforcement phase, with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner publishing draft compliance-audit regulations and a Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2025 aiming to sharpen enforcement, clarify data-sharing and address AI. A landmark ruling ordered the blanket deletion of biometric data collected from Kenyan citizens, signalling that regulators and courts are now willing to act.

Why it matters for counsel: Organisations handling Kenyan personal data, especially data-rich financial and digital businesses, should expect structured audits and real enforcement rather than paper compliance. Getting data-governance, audit-readiness and lawful-basis records in order is now an operational priority, not a future one.

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South Africa's New Procurement Rules Reset How Infrastructure Contracts Are Won

Under the Public Procurement Act 2024, the National Treasury published draft General Public Procurement Regulations in April 2026, with the consultation period running to mid-June. The proposed framework introduces a multi-criteria matrix in which price is only one factor, and functionality, capability and preference must each clear a minimum 70% score, with infrastructure and capital-asset procurement carved out for specific mandatory rules.

Why it matters for counsel: Contractors and developers bidding for South African public work need to rebuild their bid strategy around the scoring matrix, since a sub-70% score in any single category means automatic disqualification. Getting functionality and capability evidence right becomes as important as price.

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