Uganda: Tullow Oil awarded $313m against Heritage in Ugandan tax dispute

Tullow Oil, the exploration company headed by Irishman Aidan Heavey, has won a major London legal battle against Heritage Oil after a judge ruled in the high court that Tullow must be compensated for a $310 million (€233 million) tax bill from the Ugandan authorities.

In 2010 Tullow bought Heritage’s half share in two oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin for $1.35 billion in cash, which led to the Ugandan revenue authority to impose a $400 million capital gains tax bill.

Uganda Starts Online Register for Start-Ups

Kampala — Investors who want to start up companies in Uganda can now do it online.

The e-registry portal (www.businesslicences.org) will be hosted and operated by Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) with support from the World Bank Group.

This new service, which was launched last week, will reduce bureaucratic procedures allowing for a one-stop shop for business registration and licensing.

Uganda: Government Eases Business Licence Procedures

Faced with a huge task of collecting at least Shs 8 trillion from the domestic pool to finance the national budget for the next financial year, government has moved to ease the process of getting a business licence.

The creation of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) - an e-registry portal - will allow potential businesses to get information on licences when starting a business. It comes with adequate information about licensing requirements, costs, application forms and the contact details for all relevant regulatory agencies. The launch of the portal is one of the most critical strategies by government to ease the setup of businesses, and attract more tax revenue, especially after donors withdrew a substantial amount of aid.

Tanzania: TRA Closes Fish Factory

Musoma — Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has closed down the fish processing industry, Prime Catch (Export) Ltd for failure to pay tax totaling over Tsh1.1bn ($673,242).

TRA's Official, Mr Toans Silvanus told East African Business Week in Musoma last week that the factory failed to pay the one year debt.

'The factory has been constantly reminded to pay income, letters have been written to them without fruition," Silvanus said.

Tanzania: Geita Gold Mine Keen On Expanding Business

GEITA Gold Mine expects to increase production by pumping into its operations 478.6 bn/- (300 million US dollars).

They company envisages expanding exploration activities. Geita Gold Mine will embark on an eight-year exploration programme that will see the mine continue employing locals and foreigners, for a much longer period due to extension of the mine's lifespan.

"Besides exploration activities the money will also be invested in purchases of heavy duty trucks which are essential in ferrying the ore from the open pit floor to the surface for further processing," said Mr Tenga Tenga, Communications Manager, AngloGold Ashanti Limited.

Tanzania: President of Tanzania visits Sunderland to announce SAFC deal

SAFC stars of the future could hail from Tanzania, thanks to a ground-breaking new partnership.

The club is lending its expertise to the East African nation, with the creation of a football academy programme which will nurture the sporting talent of the country’s youth.

President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Dk Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, met will SAFC chairman Ellis Short and club chief executive Margaret Byrne for a tour of the Stadium of Light and Academy of Light yesterday.

Rwanda: Songa Designs International in Solana Beach provides unique business opportunity for artisans

By Diane Y. Welch

Through the founding of Solana Beach–based Songa Designs International, Sarah Sternberg, with her business partner and head designer Ellie Kates, has provided a unique business opportunity for talented artisans in East Africa’s once war-torn Rwanda.

It is an endeavor that evolved from Sternberg’s volunteer work, building wells and providing safe water education to communities there five years ago. It has since developed into an international for-profit business that significantly helps reduce poverty through job creation, while supporting Rwandan women to become independent artisans within a global trade market.

Rwanda: Central Bank to Reward Top Business Reporters

The national Bank of Rwanda (BNR) in collaboration with the Media High Council (MHC) will reward journalists and media outlets that have excelled in economy reporting.

Emmanuel Mugisha, the Media High Council executive secretary, said the awards are aimed at empowering professional journalism and encouraging specialised reporting.

"The BNR: Economy Reporters Excellence Award will be offered to individual journalists and media outlets to recognise their performance in informing and educating their readership about economic issues," Mugisha said in a statement. The best reporter will win Rwf2m and a trophy, while the first runner-up will walk away with Rwf1m and the winning media house will get a trophy, it added.

Rwanda signs 4G internet deal with South Korea firm

Rwanda on Monday signed a deal with South Korea's largest telecoms provider KT Corp to roll out high-speed 4G Internet to most of its citizens within three years.

Rwanda, a landlocked central African state and one of Africa's fastest growing economies,, has laid more than 3,000km of fibre-optic cable since 2009 in a bid to develop a service based economy and become a regional leader in information communication technology (ICT). Critics, however, say almost no large investor has come on board yet.

Rwanda's economy expanded by 9.4 per cent in the 2011/2012 fiscal year but only around 8.3 per cent of the population have internet access at the moment, according to Rwandan officials.

Rwanda said KT Corp will inject around $140 million into a joint venture company, which will be responsible for rolling out a fast 4G LTE broadband network to 95 per cent of Rwandans. Debt and vendor financing will also be needed.

"This agreement with KT marks a major milestone in Rwanda's drive to become a modern, knowledge-based economy - and by expanding our information infrastructure, we will create jobs, support social progress and propel economic growth," Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT, said in a statement.

Rwanda said the government's equity investment in the joint venture, which has a 25-year term, would consist of using its national fibre optic cable, spectrum and wholesale-only operator license.

Kigali also invited other mobile network operators to invest in the project and provide retail access to 4G LTE wireless broadband services to some 12 million Rwandans.

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Rwanda: Smart Rwanda to Boost ICT for Development

The ministry of youth and ICT (MYICT) in collaboration with the Work Bank is hosting the SMART Rwanda Days which started on Monday.

The event is part of a co-creation exercise involving global experts and Rwandans running on social media and aimed at identifying possible "Smart" solutions (meaning innovative, information-driven, ICT-enabled). It is a high-level meeting which is designed to help stakeholders develop a shared vision for Smart Rwanda.

SMART Rwanda will be a citizen-centric and business-friendly, accessible and sustainable information and service delivery ecosystem, realized through public and private investment, to transform the economy and enhance the well-being of individuals and the community.