Business

On the night of January 21, 2025, Burundian soldiers intercepted a large illegal fuel shipment in the Rumonge region,

BURUNDI – The Burundian government will shift to a results-oriented budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, moving away from previous models that focused on annual revenue, Finance Minister Nestor Ntahontuye announced Monday. Ntahontuye said the new approach will center on a project-based framework. He acknowledged challenges in past government investments, noting that unclear project...

One of Burundi’s telecommunication company Econet- Leo is on the verge of collapsing after the country’s Revenue Authority (OBR) ordered banks to transfer its funds to the Communications Regulatory Authorities (ARCT) account as payment of tax arrears.  “This is to pay ECONET LEO's debt of 88,756,006 572 BIF and $44,344,346 representing the arrears owed...

Despite Burundi’s inflation rate to have decreased from 27 percent in 2023 to 20 percent in 2024, the International Monetary Fund projected the country’s inflation rate is set to rise to 25 percent next year (2025). The Burundian government has recently adopted policy adjustments, including fiscal consolidation under the revised 2023/24 budget, tightening of monetary policy, and...

BUJUMBURA, Burundi — The Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB) is moving ahead with its ambitious plan to fully digitize the country's financial system by November 2025, officials announced during a stakeholder workshop held this week in Bujumbura. The initiative, spearheaded by BRB’s Payment Systems Management Department, aims to modernize the nation’s payment...

BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Burundi's annual inflation rate rose to 40.9% in March 2025, up from 39.7% the previous month, driven largely by sharp increases in food prices and housing costs, according to new data released by the National Institute of Statistics of Burundi (INSBU). Food prices, which make up a significant portion of household...

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (July 8, 2025) — Leaders from East Africa have raised alarm over fragmented and incompatible digital payment systems that continue to stall the region’s economic potential, calling for urgent legal and regulatory reforms to enable seamless cross-border transactions. At a five-day workshop co-hosted by the East African Community (EAC) and the...

During the East African Community Agriculture Budget Summit last week, small scale farmers in member states expressed concerns over the agriculture sector that has remained under funded calling on the member states to meet the Malabo declaration. “I acknowledge so many challenges that our small scale farmers in the region face including inadequate access...

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (Burundi Times) — A high-level regional aviation workshop opened this week in Bujumbura, focusing on the implementation of the Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) concept—an initiative aimed at modernizing airspace management, cutting airline operating costs, and unlocking intra-African trade. Organized under the European Union-funded Support to Air Transport Sector Development (SATSD) programme,...

WASHINGTON — The global economy is on track for its weakest performance outside of recessions since 2008, as trade tensions and policy uncertainty drag down growth prospects across the board, the World Bank said Tuesday. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the bank projected worldwide growth will slow to 2.3% in 2025—nearly half a percentage...