VAT on Petroleum

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The IMF taxes on Africa’s petty traders of Nyamakima

I was a cab reporter on the City beat when Tuskys was evicted from its 11-year-old iconic BebaBeba outlet in the middle of Nairobi, that up till then had looked as the most ideal location for a retailer, on the bus route to Nairobi middle class surburbs north of the city. Tuskys at the time had not yet began hurtling towards the retail sector collapse. It was a big stable brand. In 2017, the retail sector troubles were being diagnosed as the legacy mismanagement of state linked Uchumi, where patronage had compromised supply contracting diverting money from real suppliers to related parties and insider shell companies. Tuskys explained that…

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When taxes don’t make business sense

With a scheduled touchdown of 12 midnight at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, I knew I will have problems finding my way to Ndenderu, Kiambu County, in the dead of the night.  So upon getting that “Karibu nyumbani” alert from Safaricom, and going through the arrival immigration checks by tired-looking officers, I stepped out on the cold tarmac to get a taxi home. “Boss, unaelekea wapi?,” a trio of taxi drivers, keen to secure a late-night deal, shove each other mobbing me at the arrivals section. Years of technological advances and the rise of digital ride hailing applications have done little to change…

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