The small south African nation Lesotho is looking to implement its tax modernization project to double government revenue despite the crushing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the local economy. This southern African nation of 2.1 million people’s revenue authority has the financial backing to now fully implement its tax modernization project. Lesotho is banking on an improved and digitalized revenue collection system for helping the growth of its economy.
The South African economy continues to battle a negative growth trend exacerbating high levels of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. The GDP per capita continued to decline. The economy of South Africa was already in major turmoil and was reeling under pressure. The Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions which came with it only deteriorated the condition of the economy further. After this, the social unrest affected thousands of businesses in two major provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. These two provinces of South Africa account for half of the GDP of the country. The social unrest caused another dent in the growth of the economy.
However, things seem to be perking up and, a new era is finally opening up for the Central African financial market. The merger of the Douala and Libreville stock exchanges that happened on July 1, 2019, seems to be the beginning of a glimmer of hope for the African country. The Central African financial market has just recorded the very first IPO of a company called ”La Régionale” in the financial sector.
It is the first time that the shares of a private company have been listed on the African stock exchange. It is a turning point and, this operation breaks the gloomy status observed for nearly two years on this stock exchange.
Until now, the Central African Stock Exchange has not been very active. Financial experts believe that the main reason for this is the lack of communication. The general public, business promoters and, company managers need to be educated about the stock market and the benefits that it may get for them, according to the Deputy Managing Director of Financial Capital, Mr. Heubo Delort.