2026 Year in Review: Changes in legislation and payroll across Africa

2026 has witnessed its fair share of developments affecting both payroll operations and local compliance. It has also seen the revolutionary introduction of the Mercator map, which now shows Africa in its true size.

Read on to find a selection of the most relevant 2026 updates.

Botswana: a new employment framework

Botswana's Employment and Labour Relations Act 27 of 2025 came into force on 1 September 2026. It consolidated several separate labour laws into a single framework and introduced further changes, including:

• Limits on the use of fixed-term contracts
• Broader leave entitlements
• Protection against discrimination
• Paternity leave
• Negotiated packages for retrenchment
• Stronger enforcement powers, with penalties for non-compliant employers

The Act also allowed the Employment and Labour Relations Council to establish sector-specific councils to negotiate employment terms.

Egypt: new bodies to implement the 2025 Labour Law

Egypt's Cabinet approved two resolutions that put key parts of Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 into practice.

The first created a Supreme Council for Social Consultation, bringing together government, employer, and worker representatives to shape labour policy and head off disputes. The second established a fund for informal and irregular workers, covering emergency aid, social insurance contributions, training, and a route into formal employment.

Ghana: tax and customs reforms

Ghana's Parliament passed a package of bills covering excise duty, customs procedures, income tax, and VAT.

For employers, the most relevant change was that the national daily minimum wage became exempt from income tax, alongside revisions to individual tax rates. The customs and VAT reforms tightened compliance requirements more broadly.

Botswana: re-enacted Income Tax Act

Botswana's re-enacted Income Tax Act took effect on 1 July 2026 and reformed the tax treatment of both individuals and companies. It updated the rules on employment income, capital gains tax, partnerships, corporate residence, deductible expenses, and assessed losses.

It also strengthened the country's international tax framework with new provisions on transfer pricing, exchange of information, and dispute resolution.

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Kenya: new health insurance minimums for visitors

A Gazette Notice published on 29 July 2026 set new minimum limits for mandatory inbound travel health insurance, with a combined benefit of at least US$50,000.

The notice specified US$20,000 for medical expenses, US$25,000 for emergency medical transportation, US$5,000 for repatriation of remains, US$1,000 for mental illness, and US$300 for prescribed medicines. Cover had to be provided by insurers licensed under the Insurance Act.

Angola: supervisory cooperation with Portugal

Angola's insurance regulator, ARSEG, and Portugal's ASF signed a cooperation protocol to strengthen oversight of the insurance and pension sectors. It covered technical training, information sharing, risk-based supervision, corporate governance, and technological innovation.

The agreement also aimed to improve consumer protection, reinforce regulatory systems, and bring Angola's insurance market closer to international standards.

South Africa: Companies Amendment Act provisions

Sections 5, 6, and 19 of the Companies Amendment Act 16 of 2024 took effect on 22 May 2026.

 They introduced new requirements for preparing and presenting company remuneration policies and clarified that certain parts of the remuneration report were not subject to audit. They also allowed disputes to be referred to the Companies Tribunal for arbitration after failed mediation or conciliation.

Lesotho: personal income tax thresholds

From 1 April 2026, Lesotho changed how PAYE was calculated for resident employees. The threshold for the 20% rate rose from M70,500 to M77,760, so more income was taxed at the lower rate, while income above that level remained taxed at 30%. The monthly tax credit also increased to M1,020.

Together, these changes were likely to leave employees with slightly higher take-home pay.

Nigeria: foreign currency remittances

Nigeria's Central Bank banned foreign currency remittances for the diaspora. From 1 May 2026, all international money transfer operators had to route transactions through naira settlement accounts held at licensed banks.

Egypt: remote work on Sundays

Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority required entities in the non-banking financial sector to work remotely every Sunday in April 2026, to support business continuity during the global energy crisis. Compliance was mandatory, and a review was planned for the end of the month.

South Africa: new earnings threshold

A new earnings threshold under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act took effect on 1 May 2026. Employees earning above the threshold could lose certain protections, including those relating to:

• Working hours and overtime
• Compressed working weeks and the averaging of hours
• Meal intervals
• Daily and weekly rest periods
• Pay for Sunday work
• Night work
• Public holidays on which the employee would not ordinarily work

The threshold rose from R261,748.45 to R269,600.90 a year, which meant that employees who had earned above the old limit but below the new one became covered by these protections.

United States: visa bonds for African nationals

Citizens of 30 African countries, including Mauritius, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, could be required to post refundable bonds of up to US$15,000 when applying for B1 (business) or B2 (tourism) visas.

The policy, introduced under the Trump administration, complicated cross-border travel for African professionals. For multinationals operating across the continent, the practical effects were immediate. Business travel became more expensive and administratively complex, and companies that relied on African staff for meetings, client engagements, or project work in the US needed to revisit their mobility planning and timelines.

The 30 countries were: Mauritius, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Lesotho.

A new world map

The UN voted to replace the Mercator projection with the Equal Earth map, which shows Africa at its true size. On the Mercator map, which had been in use for 457 years, Greenland appeared far larger than it really is, when Africa is in fact 14 times its size. Togo's Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, told Reuters that a fair world begins with a fair map.

One point to check before publishing: the Kenya sub-limits add up to US$51,300, not the US$50,000 combined figure stated, so it is worth confirming the numbers against the Gazette Notice.

 

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