Africa Business Radio

Ghana's Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has says cyber security companies and professionals in the country will soon be licenced.She says Section 49 of the cybersecurity Act 2020 introduced the mandatory licensing of cybersecurity service providers.President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says professionals in the field would be certified and licenced as pertained in Law, Accounting and other professions and charged the Cyber Security Authority to work towards the certification, accreditation and licensing of cyber security institutions and professionals.The Minister stressed that section 59 further enjoined the Authority to enforce the adoption of cybersecurity standards and monitor compliance of public and private entities.

Chad has been readmitted to international football after Fifa ended a suspension, originally handed out for governmental interference in football, that had lasted six months.Fifa in a statement says the Bureau of the Fifa Council has decided to lift the suspension of the FTFA with immediate effect.Fifa added that following the lifting of the suspension, a joint Fifa-Caf mission will be deployed to N'Djamena without delay to follow up on discussions with the FTFA and the Chadian government.

The UN’s top court awarded Somalia control of most of a potential oil and gas-rich chunk of the Indian Ocean after a bitter legal battle with neighbouring Kenya over their sea border.Chief judge Joan Donoghue says the International Court of Justice ruled there was no agreed maritime boundary and drew a new border close to the one claimed by Somalia, although Kenya kept a part of the 100,000 square-kilometre area.The court’s decision could have far-reaching consequences for the future of relations between two key countries in one of the world’s most troubled regions.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Bello has made a case for a special revenue status to be accorded the FCT to enable it to meet up with its burgeoning infrastructure need.The minister called for a new revenue sharing formula that is fair and equitable, taken into consideration the role the territory was playing in national development.He says the FCT administration would be in a position to execute projects that are of the highest quality if there is a corresponding increase in revenue sharing formula.The minister says the FCT needs a special revenue package to do more projects that would have a direct impact on the residents.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says that he is not calling for the devaluation of the naira contrary to some reports that trailed his speech at the opening session of the mid-term ministerial performance review retreat at the presidential villa, Abuja.Osinbajo in a statement says he rather advocates a forex policy to curb corruption.The Vice President says those who have access to the dollars at N410 turn round to sell it were benefiting from the current exchange rate.He says the Naira exchange rate benefits only those who are able to obtain the dollar at N410, some of who simply turn round and sell to the parallel market at N570.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike says the electronic transmission of results if adopted by the Independent National Electoral Commission will reduce electoral fraud.Wike commended the National Assembly for empowering INEC to determine the mode of transmission of results.He says the process would be a trust in the nation’s electoral system that would also reduce election litigations.He however urged the National Assembly not to decide for political parties, the method to be adopted in the conduct of their primary election as been recommended in some clauses in the Electoral Act Repeal and Re-Enactment bill.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi says Nigerians may be required to take extra shots of the vaccine to stay safe despite being vaccinated against the coronavirus diseaseThe commissioner says people may require a booster which is the first, second and subsequent doses because they have also discovered that even though the vaccine stops may not necessarily stop people from catching Covid.Professor Abayomi explained that the state government plans to vaccinate 30 per cent of Lagos residents by the end of the year.

Nigerian Lawmakers gave the Independent National Electoral Commission the sole power to determine the mode of transmission of results.The Senate resolved that voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission, which may include electronic voting.Majority Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, say after a critical examination of the Bill by the Senate Committee on INEC, some fundamental issues were observed which required fresh legislative action.

Indian and Chinese say talks between both army commanders to disengage troops from key friction areas along their border have ended in a stalemate and failed to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes.India’s defence ministry in a statement, says it gave constructive suggestions but the Chinese side was not agreeable and could not provide any forward-looking proposals.A statement from a Chinese military spokesperson says the Indian side sticks to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations.

World Bank President David Malpass says the World Bank will keep pushing to help developing countries improve their business climates when asked about the bank’s decision to cancel its flagship “Doing Business” reports after a series of data irregularities and claims of data manipulation.Malpass says strong research products remained a high priority for the bank and said it had taken several steps to improve research integrity, including elevating chief economist Carmen Reinhart to a role in senior management.

Two dozen countries have joined a U.S. - and EU-led effort to slash methane emissions 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels, giving the emerging global partnership momentum ahead of its launch at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow later this month.The pledge will now cover 60% of global GDP and 30% of global methane emissions. If fulfilled, it would have a significant impact on the energy, agriculture and waste sectors responsible for the bulk of methane emissions.The U.S. State Department and EU confirmed that the new signatories include Canada, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Cote Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Micronesia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malta, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sweden and Togo.

Cryptocurrency analytics firm Elliptic says it had raised $60 million from investors including SoftBank and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, the latest blockchain analytics firm to attract mainstream investment.London-based Elliptic says the Series C round was led by Evolution Equity, with the SoftBank Vision Fund 2 investing for the first time. Other new investors include Japan’s SBI Group, Elliptic said in a statement, without disclosing its valuation.it says It plans to invest in its global network and team, as well as continuing research and development.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca says that its COVID-19 antibodies’ cocktail has helped cut the risk of severe disease or deaths in a late-stage study.The pharma company announced the results marking a boost in its effort to develop coronavirus medicines beyond vaccines.The drug, a mix of two antibodies called AZD7442, reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 or death by 50 per cent in non-hospitalised patients who have had symptoms for seven days or fewer, meeting the main goal of the study.The trial’s principal investigator, Hugh Montgomery, says these positive results show that a convenient intramuscular dose of AZD7442 could play an important role in helping combat this devastating pandemic.

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has approved a new government selected by newly-appointed Prime Minister Najla Bouden Romdhane.The development came 11 weeks after Saied sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and granted himself judicial powers in a July 25 power grab that opponents have termed a coup.The presidency in a statement says the president of the Republic has issued a decree naming the head of government and its members.She kept Othman Jerandi as the foreign minister and Sihem Boughdiri as finance minister – both had been appointed earlier by Saied.

The African Union says it wants to extend and expand its military operation in Somalia, where AU troops have been fighting Islamist militants for 14 years.The AU says the new mission would be run jointly with the United Nations. It says the expanded Amisom force would include soldiers from other African countries.The plan needs to be endorsed by the UN and the Somali government, which has previously rejected AU proposals. Ethiopia, which contributes thousands of soldiers to Amisom, is facing serious security challenges at home.

The head of the European Union in Liberia has apologised for saying that Liberia's capital Monrovia is a disgusting and dirty city, following a backlash.Laurent Delahousse says that his comments were meant to be a wake-up call to residents to change their practices of littering and to improve the city’s waste management system that receives funding from the EU.Mr Delahousse clarified that his remarks were not intended to disparage anyone or to affect the reputation of the beautiful capital city of Liberia.He apologised to the government and anyone feeling misrepresented by these remarks and willingly retract the exaggerated wording used.

The Founding Pastor and Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, launched Nigeria for Nigerians (N4N) movement.Pastor Bakare says the movement became imperative because it is time for Nigerians to take the reins and direct their nation’s destiny.Bakare says the time has come for the true progressives to arise, say enough is enough to political hypnosis; it is time to take our country back.

The police in Lagos State warned against planned protests in commemoration of last year’s #EndSARS protests.The #EndSARS protests were held across the country last year as a campaign against police brutality but came to a halting end after Nigerian security officials allegedly shot at unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll gate on October 20.A statement signed by police spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, says the planned protests may lead to a breakdown of law and order.The police statement added that credible intelligence at the disposal of the Command has revealed clandestine plans by some youths, individuals or groups to embark on protest today in commemoration of one year anniversary of ENDSARS.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, to recover a $62 billion debt owed by six international oil companies.Falana says the Supreme Court in 2018 had ordered the Federal Government to immediately recover the debt.Falana says however based on the posture of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, the Federal Government wasn’t committed to the recovery process.

Pastor Tunde Bakare has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to do away with the 1999 constitution, saying it is a great inhibitor of the nation’s progress.He says President Muhammadu Buhari should stop passing the buck to the National Assembly. Tear down this inhibiting concoction of a constitution; tear it down so they can build a truly great nation”.Bakare further argued that if President Buhari does thrash the 1999 constitution, then, present and unborn generations of Nigerians will remember him for it and write his name in gold when the history of the period is written.