Ghana's Vice President Makes Pledges to Get Rid of Controversial E-Levy If Elected In 2025

What’s happened this Week:

• Bank of Ghana allows LemFi to resume remittances In Ghana

• Paystack rolls out Apple Pay in South Africa and Ivory Coast

• and more!

In The News This Week:

Bank of Ghana Approves LemFi to Resume Remittance Services to Ghana

LemFi (RightCard Payment Services Limited) obtained approval from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to resume its remittance services to Ghana with some of its approved partners.

NBC Universal To Invest $177 Million Into Showmax’s Streaming Platform in 2024

MultiChoice Group and Comcast’s NBCUniversal Media will be investing about $177 million in Showmax’s video streaming platform in 2024.

Multichoice Africa Rejects $1.7 Billion Buyout Bid From Canal Plus

Multichoice Africa, the leading pay-TV operator in the continent, has rejected a buyout bid from a consortium of investors led by French media giant Vivendi.

The bid, which valued Multichoice Africa at $2.1 billion, was seen as an attempt to expand Vivendi’s presence in the African market and to compete with Netflix and other streaming services.

In the rest of the news:

• Telecel Group Receives $20 Million Investment From Africa Credit Opportunities Fund

• Bank Of Ghana Launches Beta Version Of Online Economic Data Portal

• Paystack Rolls Out “Pay With Apple Pay” Option In Cote D’Ivoire and South Africa

• The Ghana Movie Industry Is In A State Of Failure

• Could The New US Visa Restriction On Misuse of Surveillance Software Affect African Government Officials?

• Ghana’s New Emissions Levy Policy On Vehicles Makes No Sense

Deep Dive

Ghana’s Vice President Pledges to Abolish E-Levy and Emissions Tax - Ghana’s Vice President who is currently running for the presidency in December gave a speech on Wednesday where he pledged to abolish some controversial levies (which were ironically implemented by the current administration which he is still a part of).

Why This Matters: The E-levy is a controversial bill that was introduced in 2022. The levy placed a 1.5% tax on the electronic movement of mobile money on users. The level was later reduced to 1% in 2023.

The emissions tax, which was just passed earlier this year, would tax vehicle owners a specific amount to be paid annually depending on the vehicle they drive.

Zooming Out: The Vice President will be going against the former president, John Mamaha of the National Democratic Party, as they both contest for the presidency in 2025.

The current administration is facing numerous challenges including high inflation, a high exchange rate to the dollar, and a stringent $3 billion IMF programme all of which have soured public opinion on the currently ruling party.

Some early polls have the former president winning the presidency in the general elections in December later this year.

VIDEO: The State of EV Mobility in Ghana

Africa Ecosystem Activity

• 4th Entrepreneurship Empowerment Project to support 500 African startups - Disrupt Africa

• Pan-African B2B commerce startup Boost partners Mastercard to power small businesses - Disrupt Africa

• 5 African startups chosen for global social impact programme - Disrupt Africa

• Ethiopian e-health startup Medstore launches paid services on its medical marketplace - Disrupt Africa

• Applications open for Kofi Annan Award for Innovation in Africa - Disrupt Africa

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Stat of The Day

The African Cup of Nationals Finals is this Sunday with Nigeria facing off against host country Cote D’Ivoire.

A win for Nigeria will give them their 4th AFCON trophy while a win for Cote D’Ivoire gives them their 3rd AFCON trophy.

Good luck to both teams!