Africa: Finance and Banking

The Octopus card is a Hong Kong-developed contactless stored-value smart card. Initially introduced for public transport, it has since evolved into a prepaid payment tool across a range of everyday transactions.

The Mauritius fund industry demonstrated significant resilience and adaptability in 2025, successfully navigating a complex period of global tax reform and heightened regulatory standards. The year was defined by the integration of the 2025 Finance Act’s new tax framework (including the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax, or QDMTT) and a reinforced focus on economic substance, such as the two resident director rule for global business companies (GBCs).

In meeting its policy commitments and addressing the regulatory amendments required to implement the Payments Ecosystem Modernisation (PEM) Programme, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published two draft documents for public comment.

Europe's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation has transformed ESG fund classification through its Article 6, 8, and 9 categories, but the recent SpaceX IPO has exposed critical ambiguities in the "good governance" requirement. With over 60% of EU funds potentially restricted from participating in the largest IPO ever due to concerns about Elon Musk's concentrated control and governance structure, the question arises: can fund managers reconcile SpaceX's unique corporate governance with SFDR's green inv

Private equity, venture capital, and private credit markets in Nigeria are evolving rapidly, with disclosed deal values surging 84% to US$810.7 million in 2025. While venture capital dominates transaction volume and value, private debt is expanding its role in working capital, acquisition finance, and infrastructure. The critical question is not whether capital can enter Nigeria at scale, but whether it can stay, perform through cycles, and ultimately return to investors as distributions.

The European Union's Retail Investment Strategy represents a comprehensive overhaul of investor protection rules across multiple financial services directives, fundamentally reshaping how investment products are manufactured, distributed, and disclosed to retail investors. With political agreement reached and formal adoption imminent, financial institutions face significant compliance challenges around inducements, value-for-money assessments, and enhanced disclosure requirements that will transform retail

The Supreme Court of Uganda has delivered a landmark judgment in Sebasif Group Enterprises v DFCU Bank that fundamentally reshapes the allocation of risk in finance leasing transactions. The decision establishes that financiers who take legal title to assets cannot disclaim responsibility for that title's validity through standard exclusion clauses, drawing a critical distinction between mechanical risk and proprietary risk. This ruling has far-reaching implications for banks, asset finance providers, and l

Nigeria's aviation market relies heavily on leased aircraft, creating significant opportunities for international lessors and financiers. However, foreign exchange volatility, regulatory complexities, and enforcement challenges mean that every aircraft lease must be structured with asset recovery in mind. The critical question is not whether a lease will perform as expected, but whether lessors can swiftly protect and recover their assets when transactions become distressed.

This collection examines critical developments across African legal systems, from procurement remedies and textile waste regulation to merger control thresholds and constitutional interpretation.

Nigeria's pension industry faces a transformative period as the National Pension Commission introduces revised minimum capital requirements for Pension Fund Administrators and Pension Fund Custodians, with a compliance deadline of 30 June 2027. This regulatory shift will compel operators and their shareholders to fundamentally reassess their capital positions, funding capabilities, and strategic direction for the future.

Project finance transactions are, by their nature, capital-intensive and typically funded through a combination of debt instruments drawn from multiple sources: senior lenders, mezzanine financiers, subordinated creditors, and increasingly, development finance institutions.

East Africa's infrastructure and development sectors face a critical capital shortage that foreign lenders could address—but only if the legal framework supports cross-border lending. Recent court decisions in Kenya and Uganda have grappled with a fundamental question: can local borrowers defeat foreign lenders' claims by pointing to registration failures? This analysis examines how both jurisdictions navigated this issue, the contrasting speeds of their legal corrections, and what these developments