Africa Business Radio

President Muhammadu has declined assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill over the direct primaries clause.  President Buhari in a letter sent to the National Assembly cited several issues with the clause. The President explained that direct primaries are expensive. Adding that it will put a financial burden on the country’s resources. He further noted that conducting direct primary elections will be tasking, explaining that since such mode of election means a large turnout of voters, the move would stretch the security agencies. The Nigerian leader equally fears that with direct primaries, citizens’ rights will be violated while smaller political parties may face marginalisation.

World powers have condemned a tightly-vetted legislature vote in Hong Kong, saying rules imposed by Beijing that reduced directly elected seats and controlled who could stand, has eroded democracy in the Chinese territory. China imposed a national security law, which introduced political rules that vet the loyalty of anyone standing for office and criminalises much dissent. The first public vote under this new order was held on Sunday for the city’s legislature, with a historic low turnout.

The UN’s refugee agency called for Thailand to allow them urgent access to more than 3,000 Myanmar refugees who fled to the kingdom to escape fighting in a conflict-wracked Karen state. The UNHCR says 700 refugees crossed the river into Thailand’s Tak province on Thursday, fleeing artillery shelling and small arms fire. UNHCR and NGOs have requested urgent access to the refugees to ascertain and deliver to them the necessary humanitarian and protection assistance. Provincial authorities say about 3,500 refugees remain in two locations on the Thai side, as dozens have gradually returned since fighting appeared to have ceased.

Moderna says giving a full dose of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine as a booster shot provides more antibody protection against the Omicron variant than currently authorised half-strength injections. Moderna says preliminary data show antibody response to Omicron at the 50 microgram dose increased 37-fold but when the dose was doubled, antibody levels increased 83-fold. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel called the results reassuring adding that the company is continuing to develop an Omicron-specific jab. The statement says clinical trials for a targeted vaccine are likely to begin in early 2022.

Tigrayan rebels announced they had withdrawn from northern Ethiopia’s Amhara and Afar regions and retreated to Tigray, marking a new turning point in the 13-month war which has left thousands of people dead. A spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Getachew Reda, told AFP that they decided to withdraw from these areas to Tigray and open the door to humanitarian aid. Getachew says the decision was made a few weeks ago Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum however says the rebels' announcement was a cover-up for military setbacks.

The World Health Organization says the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan says it would be unwise to conclude from early evidence that Omicron is a milder variant than previous ones. Soumya Swaminathan says that with the numbers going up, all health systems are going to be under strain. She warned that South Africa and other places reporting lower hospitalisation rates from Omicron had been hit hard in earlier waves, so many of the Omicron cases may have been reinfections.

South African scientists are investigating the highly plausible hypothesis that the emergence of new Covid-19 variants could be linked, in some cases, to mutations taking place inside infected people whose immune systems have already been weakened by other factors, including, though not limited to, untreated HIV. Researchers have already observed that Covid-19 can linger for many months in patients who are HIV positive but who have, for varying reasons, not been taking the medicines that would enable them to lead healthy lives. Professor Linda-Gayle Bekker says normally the immune system would kick a virus out fairly quickly, if fully functional.

The federal government has vowed not to relent in its efforts to ensure that 100 million Nigerians are lifted out of poverty. The Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, says the federal government would remain committed to ensuring that the vision of Job for all becomes a reality in no distant time.The Kogi State Coordinator of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Zakari assured that the training would certainly add value to the beneficiaries respective homes and society at large.

The Federal Government has fixed the National Sports Festival for November 2 to 15, 2022 in Delta State following the resolution of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Sports. The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare described Delta State as the incubator of talents for the nation’s sports development, noting that the successes of Nigeria in sports won’t be complete without the contribution of the oil-rich state and the giant strides of her athletes. He says the National Council on Sports meeting has become necessary in order to update the Council on developments, and deliberations on issues that concern the hosting of the 21st National Sports Festival.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu says the commission will require N305 billion to conduct the 2023 general elections. The INEC boss says that the amount will enable the commission to prepare for the election and purchase all the election materials needed and also cover several bye-elections across the country. He, however, stated that the commission has already received N100 billion out of the required amount for the elections.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says the country was now experiencing a fourth COVID-19 wave. The Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa says Nigeria has recorded a 500% increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks across the country caused by the Delta and Omicron variants. The NCDC says the response to the virus requires a collaborative approach. He added that individuals, families and institutions also need to play their part in protecting each other by ensuring adherence to COVID-19 public health and social measures.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission says that three neighbouring countries did not make any payment for the second quarter of 2021. The NERC revealed that Togo, Benin Republic, and Niger and some other special customers were issued a total bill of N770m by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company and the Market Operator of the Transmission Company of Nigeria. The report however stated that no payment was made, adding that it is hoped the outstanding will still be paid when things begin to look up for those economies, as the pandemic played a great role in the non-remittance experienced. The Commission further stated that it has through the applicable orders set a minimum remittance threshold for each Disco having adjusted for their tariff shortfall.

French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer says that the government has no plans to extend the Christmas school holidays because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Some European countries have brought Christmas holidays forward, and French conservative presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse has called for an extension of them in order to help ensure any infections caught over year-end holidays are discovered before children return to school.

Member nations of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are holding a special meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to discuss solutions to address the humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say a total of 70 delegations were taking part, including Taliban foreign minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi and delegates from the US, China, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The president of the Islamic Development Bank, Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, has offered to manage trusts that could be used to move money into Afghanistan, jumpstart businesses and help salvage the deeply troubled economy. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says fallout from the deepening crisis could mean mass hunger and a flood of refugees.

Iran’s health ministry has confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country. A ministry official says that the highly contagious variant was detected in a middle-aged Iranian man who had recently travelled back from neighbouring UAE. The news comes as Iran has, for weeks, experienced relative calm with low infection, hospitalisations and death figures amid a widespread vaccination campaign. More than 60 per cent of the eligible population has received two doses of a vaccine, and most people can now receive a booster shot.

The United Arab Emirates says it will no longer censor cinematic releases, introducing a 21 and above age rating for films it classifies for mature audiences. The UAE is considered one of the more liberal countries in the Gulf region, where movies with adult content are routinely cut or edited. The country’s Media Regulatory Office says that it had introduced a 21+ age category to its motion picture content rating system. It added that the international version of movies will be shown in cinemas, with an emphasis on the strict following of age classification standards for audience entry.

Israel’s health ministry recommended banning Israelis from travelling to the United States and added several European countries to its Covid red list, aimed at containing the Omicron variant’s spread.  Barring US travel for Israeli citizens and residents would mark a significant step for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government, given the hundreds of thousands of dual nationals and close ties between the countries. Bennett says Israel was in the midst of its fifth wave of Covid-19. Bennett reiterated that he would continue to restrict travel in order to avoid further lockdowns. He said Israel had gained precious time by curbing travel immediately after the Omicron variant was detected in South Africa last month.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is aiming to deepen economic and military ties in Africa and called for a seat representing the continent at the UN Security Council. Heads of state from 16 African nations, along with more than 102 ministers and representatives of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States are attending the summit in Istanbul. The Third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit by Turkey is aimed at boosting ties with the continent. Istanbul hosted business leaders and dozens of ministers from African states for a summit aimed specifically at increasing trade.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has ordered an international investigation into abuses carried out during the conflict in Ethiopia. The European Union had called for a special sitting of the council in Geneva after rights groups said violations committed during more than a year of conflict might amount to war crimes. The UN rights council again warned that all sides in the civil war were committing severe violations. It says there was a risk to the entire region and called on all parties to pull back.

South Africa says it will be donating around two million Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 jabs to other African countries. President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government wants to show solidarity with other countries on the continent.  He says the only way in which they can prevent Covid-19 transmission and protect economies and societies on our continent, is to successfully immunise a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines. He says the value of the donation is $18m and will be made available to other countries starting from 2022 through the African Medical Suppliers Platform.