GLE Africa: The Legal Developments Shaping Your Region This Fortnight

[object Object] · [object Object] · August 13, 2026

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Kenya's licensing framework frozen by the High Court, Zambia consolidates financial supervision, and Nigeria's fintech clock runs down.

July 30 – August 13 · August 2026 | Read online

Good morning from the GLE Editorial desk. This fortnight Africa's regulators moved on licensing, supervision and the price of getting either wrong. Kenya's new gambling licensing framework was frozen by the High Court on a public participation challenge, Zambia brought every financial service provider under one central bank, Nigeria's fintech sector entered the final stretch before two hard compliance deadlines, DR Congo moved to reopen its mining code, and Ethiopia widened access to foreign exchange. For counsel advising investors across the continent, the common thread is that market access now turns on process as much as policy.

Joel Gordon, Editorial · Global Law Experts

Quick digest

Kenya's High Court stayed the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations 2026 in July, leaving a sector with a governing statute in force and no working licensing framework until the petition is determined.

Zambia's Banking and Financial Services Act 2026 repeals the Money-lenders Act and brings every financial service provider, including virtual and alternative finance, under Bank of Zambia supervision.

Nigeria's fintech sector faces two firm deadlines, 31 December 2026 and 1 January 2027, on beneficial ownership, market share caps and payment data localisation.

Jurisdictions covered

Kenya · Zambia · Nigeria · DR Congo · Ethiopia · Gabon · Cameroon · Senegal · Uganda · Tanzania · South Africa · Botswana
Lawyers featured in this edition

Morintat Peter Oiboo · Emmanuel Manda · Dr. Sanford U. Mba · Camilla Jing

What mattered this fortnight

KENYA · REGULATORY & LICENSING

Kenya's High Court Freezes the New Gambling Licensing Rules Over Public Participation
The High Court stayed the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations 2026 in July, granting interim conservatory orders on a constitutional petition. The challenge rests on Articles 10 and 118 of the 2010 Constitution, arguing the gazetted capital and fee requirements were materially higher than the figures put to public consultation.
Why it matters for counsel: The Gambling Control Act replaced legislation dating to 1966 and created the Gambling Regulatory Authority, so the sector now has a statute in force and no licensing framework to operate under. Some renewal fees had risen between 200 and 49,900 per cent. The transferable point reaches well beyond gambling: Kenyan subsidiary legislation can be frozen where consultation and gazetting diverge, which is live risk for anyone awaiting licences under new fintech, mining, energy or data frameworks.
Read the full analysis →

ZAMBIA · BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

Zambia Brings Every Financial Service Provider Under One Regulator
The Banking and Financial Services Act 2026 consolidates financial sector regulation under the Bank of Zambia and repeals both the previous Act and the Money-lenders Act, Chapter 398. Regulation now applies on a proportionality principle, tailored to an institution's size, complexity and risk profile.
Why it matters for counsel: The repeal of the Money-lenders Act is the structural change: lenders and non-traditional providers that sat outside mainstream supervision now operate inside a single framework. Three new licence categories arrive with it, covering community banking, alternative financial services based on ethical or religious principles, and virtual banking conducted without physical interaction. Operating unlicensed carries a fine up to ZMW 1,200,000, imprisonment up to thirty years, or both. Existing licences remain valid until expiry, so the transition is staged rather than immediate.
Read the full analysis →

NIGERIA · FINTECH & PAYMENTS

Nigeria's Fintech Rulebook Enters Its Final Stretch Before Two Hard Deadlines
Between March and June 2026 the Central Bank of Nigeria issued its most extensive set of fintech regulations to date, covering ultimate beneficial ownership disclosure, market share caps across issuing and acquiring, and payment data localisation. The sector is working to 31 December 2026 and 1 January 2027.
Why it matters for counsel: The beneficial ownership circular reaches through multiple companies, investment funds, trusts and offshore entities to the natural persons who ultimately control a business, which puts pressure on layered holding structures common to fintech investment. The market structure rule bars an institution controlling more than 25 per cent of consumer issuing from also controlling more than 15 per cent of merchant acquiring, with monthly reporting. For acquirers, these are now diligence questions rather than compliance footnotes.
Read the full analysis →

DR CONGO · MINING & NATURAL RESOURCES

DR Congo Moves to Reopen Its Mining Code, and the Financiers Push Back
A bill introduced by lawmaker Serge N'konde Chembo, entered into review on 13 June 2026, would amend roughly 40 articles of the 2018 mining code and give government broader powers to limit production and stockpile strategic minerals. The Chamber of Mines convened an emergency meeting in Kinshasa.
Why it matters for counsel: Information Minister Patrick Muyaya said the government would listen to and integrate the sector's concerns, describing a review after eight years as a normal exercise. The objections on record are about predictability rather than the substance: Benjamin Katabuka of KoBold Metals warned that established rules should not change in the middle of the game, and Cyrille Mutombo of the Barrick-operated Kibali mine said repeated changes through annual finance laws already disrupt long-term planning. For project lenders across Central Africa, the question is what stabilisation now buys.
Read the full analysis →

ETHIOPIA · BANKING & FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Ethiopia Opens the Foreign Exchange Gates as Banks Race a Capital Deadline
National Bank of Ethiopia Directive FXD/04/2026 authorises forward foreign exchange contracts, allows service exporters to retain 100 per cent of their forex earnings indefinitely, and delegates profit remittance approvals to commercial banks.
Why it matters for counsel: The directive lands as Ethiopian banks work to a minimum paid-up capital floor of 5 billion birr by July 2026, pushing the sector toward fresh equity raises and mergers, and roughly a year after Proclamation 1360/2024 opened banking to foreign entrants. Taken together, the reforms address the two questions foreign investors have asked about Ethiopia for a decade: whether earnings can be hedged, and whether profits can be repatriated without a queue. Delegating remittance approval to commercial banks is the practical change.
Read the full analysis →

West Africa

NIGERIA · SECURITIES
Nigerian Issuers Face a Broader Material Disclosure Duty
The Securities and Exchange Commission requires issuers to disclose any event or development that could materially affect the company's financial condition, widening the continuous disclosure obligation for listed entities.

SENEGAL · BANKING
Senegal's Banking Law Fixes the Corporate Form for Licensed Banks
Banks must be public limited companies with fixed capital or co-operatives with variable capital. Approval runs through the Minister of Finance following verification by the central bank and a favourable opinion from the Banking Commission.

East Africa

UGANDA · TAX & MINING
Uganda Gives the Minister Power Over Mining Input Tax Terms
The VAT (Amendment) Act 2026 allows the Minister to prescribe the terms and conditions for payment of tax on inputs in the mining sector, a measure justified as encouraging investment in the sector.

TANZANIA · MINING & LEVIES
Tanzania's Mining Levy Changes Are Now Biting
Amendments to the Mining Act introduced by Finance Act No. 11 of 2025 are now in force, including an HIV Response Levy on mineral production payable at the same time as mineral royalty by mineral right holders and licensees.

Southern Africa

SOUTH AFRICA · COMPETITION
South Africa Lifts Its Merger Notification Thresholds
New merger thresholds took effect on 1 May 2026. The combined turnover or asset threshold for intermediate mergers rises to R1 billion from R600 million, and for large mergers to R9.5 billion from R6.6 billion.

BOTSWANA · VIRTUAL ASSETS
Botswana Extends Supervision Across Virtual Assets and Non-Bank Finance
The Virtual Assets Act 2025, together with guidance for non-bank supervision, complements new liquidity and prudential banking rules, widening the regulatory perimeter across the financial sector.

Central Africa

GABON · TAX & COMPLIANCE
Gabon Makes Electronic Invoicing Mandatory Under Finance Law 2026
Gabon's Finance Law 2026 introduces mandatory electronic invoicing alongside further tax measures, moving compliance obligations onto a digital footing for businesses operating in the country.

CAMEROON · MINING & FISCAL
Cameroon Consults on Export Rates to Push Processing Onshore
Consultations are underway on fiscal reform setting specific rates for iron, bauxite and oil exports, designed to encourage local processing over raw export. It sits alongside a 2023 law requiring at least 10 per cent state equity in mining ventures and production sharing of up to 15 per cent of output.

Member spotlight

Morintat Peter Oiboo
McKay Advocates · Kenya · Corporate and M&A
On President and Partner at McKay Advocates, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Commissioner for Oaths and Notary Public. Successfully challenged a KRA tax assessment in excess of KES 600 million against an international NGO, and the Commissioner of Customs Services' power to close a container freight terminal in Mombasa., on a GLE Q&A.

Emmanuel Manda
ALN Zambia | Musa Dudhia & Co. · Zambia · Tax
On Partner and a Notable Practitioner in General Corporate Tax in the ITR World Tax EMEA guide. Acted for Sibanye Stillwater on its proposed acquisition of an interest in Mopani, and for the Sanlam Group on its pan-African joint venture with the Allianz Group., on a GLE Q&A.

Dr. Sanford U. Mba
Dentons ACAS-Law · Nigeria · Corporate, Banking and Finance
On Recognised by IFLR1000 as a Rising Star Partner in Banking and Finance. Advised Interswitch's management on Visa's USD 200 million investment, and the Africa Finance Corporation on the USD 35 million financing of the Ibigwe modular refinery., on a GLE Q&A.

Camilla Jing
JING & Partners · Cameroon · Corporate and Project Finance
On Holds an LLM in Oil and Gas Law and Policy from the University of Dundee and is admitted in Cameroon, New York, and England and Wales. A core member of her firm's Corporate Finance, Project Finance, Oil and Gas and Mining practices across the CEMAC region., on a GLE Q&A.

What we're tracking next

Kenya's constitutional petition on the gambling licensing regulations proceeds to a substantive hearing, with the regulator's response and the severability question both in play.

Nigeria's fintech compliance deadlines fall on 31 December 2026 and 1 January 2027, with monthly market share reporting running up to them.

DR Congo's mining code bill remains in review, with the government signalling it will take amendments from the sector before the text is settled.

Open calls for commentary
We are looking for two jurisdictional voices for the next Africa edition. First, on OHADA: how are the uniform acts actually working for cross-border deals in practice, and where do they still leave gaps? Second, on data protection enforcement: which African regulator is genuinely enforcing rather than publishing, and what has changed for your clients? Reply to this email with two or three sentences and we will attribute your take by name and firm in the next edition.

Contributors this fortnight
Morintat Peter Oiboo, McKay Advocates, Kenya
Emmanuel Manda, ALN Zambia | Musa Dudhia & Co., Zambia
Dr. Sanford U. Mba, Dentons ACAS-Law, Nigeria
Camilla Jing, JING & Partners, Cameroon

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