Frameworks Meet Reality

4 min read

Nigeria’s Plastic Ban Colliding with the Realities of Manufacturing

This week, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) publicly called for the suspension of the National Environmental (Plastic Waste Control) Regulations 2026, which prohibit single-use plastics below 80 microns and introduce levies on certain shopping bags. Manufacturers argue that the regulation is premature and lacks sufficient empirical justification. Production lines can’t be redesigned overnight, and alternative materials don’t appear simply because regulations say they should.

MAN also points to similar bans elsewhere that have produced mixed results. Kenya, India, Bangladesh and South Africa have all struggled with the familiar problem of products disappearing from formal channels only to reappear through informal ones.

Nigeria already has a Plastic Circularity Roadmap, published in 2024, which remains only partially implemented. That’s partly why manufacturers are questioning whether the next step has arrived before the previous one has been completed.

Nigerian packaging manufacturers sit inside supply chains that stretch across West Africa. Any disruption, whether through implementation, suspension or quiet abandonment of the regulations, will affect costs and availability far beyond Nigeria’s borders.

Environmental goals are rarely controversial. The difficult part is deciding how quickly an economy can realistically travel from one system to another.

Morocco’s Digital Tax Net is Becoming Harder to Avoid

Morocco’s new VAT platform for foreign digital service providers went live this month. Any overseas business selling digital services directly to Moroccan consumers now has to register from the very first transaction. There is no threshold. A single customer creates an obligation.

More striking is the level of detail required. Rather than accepting broad summaries, Morocco is asking for quarterly transaction-level reporting. This isn’t simply about collecting revenue. It’s about creating records and building visibility.

For software companies, streaming platforms and SaaS providers with Moroccan customers, the implications are straightforward. Compliance is no longer theoretical. Businesses inside Morocco may also begin to notice the effects indirectly. Foreign suppliers are likely to pass VAT costs through to customers or request additional tax information as they adjust to the new regime.

Morocco joins a growing list of African economies (including Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa) in constructing a more formal framework around digital commerce. Whether enforcement develops quickly enough to match those ambitions is the part worth watching.

Political Memory Shapes Kenya’s Finance Bill

Kenya’s Finance Committee has recommended removing several highly contentious provisions from the 2026 Finance Bill, including a proposed 25% excise duty on mobile phones and a measure that would have allowed the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to pursue disputed tax claims before appeals had been exhausted.

The changes are closely linked to recent history. Last year’s Finance Bill sparked protests that ended with demonstrators entering Parliament and the eventual veto of the legislation by President Ruto. This time, lawmakers seem less inclined to test public patience.

Businesses will probably pay the most attention to the removal of the KRA agency notice provision. Had it remained, companies could have faced immediate cash flow issues while still contesting assessments in court. Whether the tax authority was ultimately right or wrong would have become almost secondary.

The government still aims to raise around $763 million through what remains of the bill. But the message from Parliament appears quite clear; revenue collection matters. Political stability matters too. And memories, especially recent ones, tend to influence legislation.

Workers Return at Tenke Fungurume, but Concerns Persist

Workers at Tenke Fungurume Mining in the DRC walked out after a new collective bargaining agreement was signed without broader consultation. Management declared the strike illegal, offered a loyalty bonus to employees who stayed at work and warned those absent to return within 48 hours. They did. Operations resumed, and CMOC Group said the impact on production was limited.

On the surface, the disruption barely registered.

But Tenke Fungurume is no ordinary mine. Together with CMOC’s neighbouring Kisanfu operation, it produced almost 750,000 tonnes of copper in 2024. Two adjacent sites, operated by the same company, now hold a prominent position in one of the world’s most critical supply chains. A prolonged disruption wouldn’t be easily replaced elsewhere.

Rising demand from electric vehicles, renewable energy and increasingly AI data centres has pushed copper prices close to record levels. The DRC has become the world’s second-largest supplier, largely due to Chinese investment.

The strike itself was never really about production figures. Workers objected to an agreement they felt had been reached without them. The dispute was resolved. The underlying issue, the relationship between rapidly expanding mining operations and the institutions around them, is less easily settled.