Draft decisions on building IDs, land tax, public asset sales + African finance: In its weekly meeting yesterday, the cabinet approved draft legislation to give properties unique digital IDs, as well as to help public enterprises more efficiently cut their losses by selling unprofitable assets, it said in a statement. The meeting also agreed to allow the country to join two new Africa-wide development finance institutions, and to extend the suspension of the so-called ‘mud tax’ for another year.

Property IDs: The cabinet approved a draft law that would give each property a unique digital ID on a centralized government database, the statement reads. The government would issue ID cards or plates for each property and issue penalties to anyone who removes or otherwise tampers with the ID plates. This is part of the government’s push to build a comprehensive property inventory and crack down on wildcat building.

Helping public enterprise companies cut their losses: Amendments to the executive regulations of the 1991 public enterprise companies law were also approved that lay out how public enterprises can go about selling unprofitable production lines.

No mud tax for another year: The cabinet also greenlit the suspension of the 14% agriculture land tax (AKA mud tax) for an additional year starting from 1 August, the statement reads. The tax has been suspended since 2017.

Joining the Africa50 infrastructure investment platform: The government also approved two presidential decrees allowing Egypt to join the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Africa50 for Project Development and Africa50 for Project Financing. The project development side aims to invest capital in the early stages of projects, while the project financing side aims to develop infrastructure in African countries by mobilizing funding from diverse sources.

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