Africa Business Radio

Former Director-General of the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf, has backed the removal of fuel subsidy, saying the move is necessary for the nation’s economy to stand. Yusuf condemned a situation, whereby the Federal Government spends N3 trillion annually on fuel subsidies. He says for this economy to continue to stand, subsidy removal has to happen. He added that they cannot continue with a situation whereby they will be spending close to N3 trillion annually on subsidies and not just because of that, because of the investment, macro-economic implication.

The Federal Government has condemned the recent murder of two policemen in the South-East, warning that those who carried out the killings will be apprehended and brought to justice. Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, described the abduction of three policemen and the killing of two of them as the most horrific and barbaric, saying it was an unacceptable attack against the state. The Minister says the two officers, Inspectors Akubo and Adamu, were killed in the most gruesome manner and their decapitated bodies videotaped and circulated widely.

The Senate has directed its Committee on Interior to commence an investigation to unravel circumstances behind incessant jailbreaks in the country. The lawmakers during plenary on Tuesday directed the committee to invite the Minister of Interior, the Comptroller General for the Nigeria Correctional Service and the Attorney General of the Federation to investigate the status of correctional centres nationwide. This according to the lawmakers is to also prevent future recurrence of jailbreaks. Senator Gyang says the attack is a setback to the relative peace in Plateau North and called for an efficient reinforcement and security management system to prevent attacks at correctional centers across the country.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed has vowed that the judiciary would not rest on its oars until corruption is stamped out of the country. The CJN says between 2020/2021, over 756 corrupt cases were handled in the country. He also added that from January to November this year, 1,144 suspects were convicted of various corruption offences and financial crimes including hundreds of millions of cash forfeitures, alongside eight aircraft, seven fuel stations among others. He further noted that for any nation to prosper, the judiciary must remain independent and insulated from interference. He said the judges must dispense justice without fear or favour and in line with the knowledge and understanding of the law.

Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court in Abuja declared as illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional, the banishment of the deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to Awe, a remote community in Nasarawa State. The court held that the restrictions placed on Sanusi after his deposition on March 9, 2020, on allegations of insubordination are a clear arbitrary violation of his right to freedom of movement and personal liberty granted by the Nigerian constitution. Justice Chikere further held that the right to freedom of liberty and personal dignity granted under Section 34 of Nigeria’s constitution cannot be taken away as done by the Kano Government, Police, Department of State Services and Attorney-General of the Federation except with express order of the court.

The Nigerian government has reassured the Republic of South Africa that it will continue to strengthen bilateral ties and work together to promote Africa’s development. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama says both countries have common interests which must be used to move Africa forward. He says the people of Southern Africa and West Africa are indeed brothers although separated by the distance they have the same outlook and aspiration. He is confident that the conclusion and the implementation of these agreements would cause a significant improvement in relations between the peoples of our two great countries.

Moderna says a new vaccine to fight the omicron strain of the coronavirus could be ready by early 2022 if required. The stock soared as much as 14% to the highest level in two months, after jumping 21% during Friday’s global risk-asset selloff, to reclaim its place as the top performer on the S&P 500 year-to-date. Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said the company mobilized hundreds of workers on Thanksgiving Day last Thursday in order to start work on omicron.

Barbados has become a republic, replacing the British monarch as its head of state and severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean island. The new republic was born to the cheers of hundreds of people lining Chamberlain Bridge in the capital, Bridgetown, at the stroke of midnight. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, stood somberly as the royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados declared, a step which republicans hope will spur discussion of similar proposals in other former British colonies where Queen Elizabeth II remains their sovereign. Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados’s first president in the shadow of Barbados’s parliament.

G7 health ministers called for urgent action to combat the highly transmissible new Omicron Covid-19 strain spreading across the world as the WHO warned of potentially severe consequences. Australia and Japan led the growing list of countries imposing fresh travel restrictions or slamming shut their borders as the new strain, first identified last week in southern Africa, spreads rapidly to Europe, Asia and North America. Many governments, particularly in western Europe, had already struggled with rapid rises in cases and have reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing, social-distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns.

Parag Agrawal will take over as the new Twitter Chief Executive Officer following Monday’s stepping down of co-founder Jack Dorsey from the position.  Dorsey in a statement says he decided to leave Twitter because the company is ready to move on from its founders. He says his trust in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is deep. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders.

The WHO says the world must study the wreckage of Covid-19 and say never again by striking a pandemic preparedness treaty, as countries gathered to build the foundations of a new accord. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says another disastrous pandemic was bound to happen unless countries showed the resolve to strengthen global defences. Nations are meeting in Geneva from Monday to Wednesday to discuss an international agreement setting out how to handle the next pandemic — which experts fear is only a matter of time. WHO member states reached a consensus Sunday on kick-starting the process towards a pandemic treaty.

President Joe Biden told Americans not to panic over the newly identified Covid variant Omicron and said he does not foresee new lockdowns or extending travel restrictions for now. Biden says the virus variant, is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. He stressed that the United States was in a good position to control Omicron’s spread without having to resort to lockdowns or more travel bans beyond restrictions already imposed on eight southern African countries. Biden promised a detailed strategy for the fight against Covid-19 this winter but signalled that Americans will not be subjected to burdensome measures.

More African countries joined the rush to suspend air links with the south of the continent after the emergence of a new Covid variant, sparking a cry of anguish from South Africa. The world’s widening travel bans also prompted the postponement of Africa’s biggest shop window for investment, as a glittering top-name gathering in Abidjan was postponed. South Africa says it is being made a scapegoat for discovering the Omicron variant. Foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela says It is quite regrettable, very unfortunate about travel restrictions imposed by a fellow African country. He noted that South Africa had recently made substantial donations of vaccines to some of the countries that were now imposing flight bans.

Rwanda’s health ministry has announced that it will start giving third doses to the elderly and those who have underlying conditions starting on Tuesday. The ministry says the implementation will be done in phases and will begin in the capital, Kigali. Rwanda’s minister of state in charge of primary healthcare says third doses will be given to those who are over the age of 50. The World Health Organization says this group should get an additional jab, as they are at higher risk of infections after their first vaccines.

President Xi Jinping has pledged that China will donate one billion additional coronavirus vaccine doses to Africa. Mr Xi says 600 million jabs would be sent directly, while the remainder would be delivered by other means, including through investing in vaccine production sites in Africa. President Xi made the promise during the triennial China-Africa forum which is underway in Senegal. He also said Beijing would encourage Chinese companies to invest $10bn in Africa over the next three years.

The office of the past ruler of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, His Royal Highness, Sheikh Hamdan bin Khalifa, has pledged the sum of $2 billion to Nigeria. The Khalifa and Global Peace Ambassador, United Nations, Zulfiquar Ghadiyali, says the donations was to further cement the close trade and bilateral relationship that exists between the two countries. The Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Mr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah noted that the Expo provided the opportunity to showcase the potentials of the Nigerian minerals sector on Dubai soil with special emphasis on gold and other precious minerals abundant in Nigeria.

The latest tally by the IATF Advisory Council shows that the recently concluded second Intra-African Trade Fair generated a record $42.1 billion in trade and trade-related investment deals The latest figures captured additional data submitted by trade promotion agencies of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa. It also included other verticals, such as the Creative Africa Nexus programme, the IATF Automotive Show and the African Union’s Youth Start-Up programme. IATF 2021 surpassed its pre-set target of $40 billion in trade and investment deals, going well beyond the $32 billion in transactions closed during the first edition in Cairo, Egypt in 2018.

Seplat Energy is attempting to purchase ExxonMobil’s Nigerian shallow water business. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr Emeka Onwuka says deliberations are ongoing and accordingly, there can be no certainty as to the outcome. He says a further announcement will be made as and when appropriate, in line with regulatory requirements.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Centre have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill recently passed by the two federal legislative chambers. Executive Director of PLAC, Mr Clement Nwankwo urged the president to sign the new Electoral Act without much delay so as to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission to plan well in advance for the next General Election in 2023. Nwankwo says there was enough time lag before the 2023 General Election if the president signs the bill now unlike in 2019 when his excuse was that it was too close to the election.

The Federal Government insisted Nigeria is yet to record a case of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19, despite Canadian authorities’ claims that two passengers from Nigeria had tested positive. Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Ifedayo Adetifa, says there was no need to give in to speculations. He says citizens should not waste energy on speculating and focus on what they actually know.