Africa Business Radio

The French army says Algeria has banned French military planes from flying over its territory as the diplomatic row between the two countries intensifies.The move comes a day after Algeria recalled its ambassador from Paris, accusing France of unacceptable interference in its affairs.Algeria says it was responding to comments attributed to President Emmanuel Macron by a French newspaper.Macron says the former French colony was ruled by a political-military system with an official history that was based not on truth, but on hatred of France.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected to be inaugurated and form a new government on Monday, following controversial elections last June that saw a landslide win for his Prosperity Party.His party’s win, overshadowed by a deadly war in the northern Tigray region, means Mr Abiy will stay in power for the next five years.His administration is now accused of blocking aid to Tigray. June’s elections were marred with controversy, with some of the major opposition groups boycotting them.Mr Abiy will face old problems finding a solution to a deadly war being the most pressing one.

Ekiti State Government has procured a drone to monitor areas regarded as hot spots, where bandits use for kidnapping.The Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji, says the drone has been procured adding it has to be manufactured.He says they have to get the necessary certificates from the federal agencies.Oyebanji added that personalities regarded as the real architects of the creation of the state and its builders would be conferred with honours by the governor to mark the 25th anniversary of the state creation.

The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says teachers will begin to enjoy the new salary structure promised by President Muhammadu Buhari from January 2022. The minister noted that work was being concluded on the enhanced salary structure.He further disclosed work was also being concluded on other incentives promised by the president during the 2020 World Teachers’ Day.He stressed that the other incentives ranged from allowances, housing, training, to elongated service years from 35 to 40.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has postponed the official launch of its digital currency, the E-naira.The CBN spokesperson, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, says the decision to postpone the unveiling of the E-naira, scheduled for October the 1st, was made to avoid any distractions from the country’s 61st Independence Day celebration.The bank has assured Nigerians that the bank and other partners are working to ensure a seamless process for the benefit of all.

Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, says at no other time in Nigeria’s history had members of the armed forces been so engaged in addressing the myriad of security challenges confronting the country and threatening the very foundation of her unity, security and wellbeing.He however said that these notwithstanding, the armed forces remained proud of its critical role in project Nigeria as the nation marked her 61st independence anniversary celebration.Irabor says security forces were undaunted in spite of the challenges of insecurity and assured the citizens that the nation would be victorious.

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the media and Nigerians to stop branding terrorists as mere bandits.Mr Falana made the appeal in a statement while reacting to the Federal Government silence on the calls to declare bandits as terrorists.He made reference to the Chibok situation, as well as IPOB among others who the government was quick to proscribe as terrorists and yet has continued to treat banditry lightly.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently withdraw the impermissible conditions imposed on Twitter pending the final determination of the suit at the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja challenging the legality of suspending the microblogging platform.The Deputy Director, SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged the president to withdraw the clauses in a bid to allow the court to render a decision on the central issues in the case, and protect the plaintiffs’ rights and interests.The address also seems to suggest that even when the suspension is lifted, Nigerians will only be allowed to use Twitter for business and positive engagements.

The Nigerian government says it has suspended the passports of more than 2,000 Nigerians accused of violating Covid-prevention protocols after returning from abroad.Dr Mukhtar Mohammed says that the passports would remain suspended for a year.Nigeria has strengthened its surveillance system at airports, seaports and land borders.People arriving from places such as India, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey are expected to be in quarantine for 14 days at government-approved facilities.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he would unveil his new cabinet next month and bring back parliament by fall’s end to tackle climate change, Covid and economic recovery.Trudeau says his minority Liberal government has been given the mandate to move even stronger, even faster on the big things that Canadians really want.He also said to expect a decision in the coming weeks on whether to ban Huawei equipment from Canada’s 5G wireless networks, after the United States and other key allies did so.

The United Nations has said that 255 million full-time workers lost their jobs in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for accelerated action on jobs and social protection to avoid an uneven global recovery and prevent future crises.The UN chief will convene leaders today to mobilise action while worried about the situation and to avoid further loss of jobs. Guterres called for a global accelerator for jobs and social protection that would create at least 400 million jobs and extend social protection to 4 billion women, men and children currently without coverage.

The Taliban says they will temporarily adopt a 1964 constitution that granted women the right to vote but eliminate any elements they disagree with.The Taliban’s acting justice minister issued a statement saying the Islamists planned to introduce a constitution used during Afghanistan’s short-lived golden age of democracy, but only briefly and with amendments.Mawlavi Abdul Hakim Sharaee says the Islamic Emirate will adopt the constitution of the former King Mohammad Zahir Shah’s time for a temporary period.He added that anything in the text found to conflict with Sharia law and the principles of the Islamic Emirate would be discarded.

Four Tunisian political parties have demanded that President Kais Saied reverse his recent decision to expand his powers and rule by decree.One of the four left-leaning factions warned that the president's actions risked a slide into violence or even civil war.He was accused of having installed a one-man rule with a stroke of his pen.President Saied began gathering almost all power into his own hands in July when he suspended parliament. His opponents accuse him of carrying out a coup, but many Tunisians have supported Mr Saied.

Algeria's army chief has accused Morocco of conspiring against his country and promised a firm response.Gen Said Chanegriha says Morocco had gone too far with its conspiracies and subversive propaganda campaigns.Last month Algeria cut all diplomatic ties with its neighbour, accusing it of hostile actions.Morocco says that decision was unjustified and absurd.Algeria alleges that the Moroccans support the separatist MAK movement, which seeks independence for its Kabylie region.The two countries have also been at odds for decades over the fate of the territory of Western Sahara, which Morocco claims as its own.

Algeria will begin producing Chinese-developed Sinovac vaccines for its own use and export to other African countries.The production will be done in partnership with China and state pharmaceutical products company Saidal.The country plans to produce one million doses in October, two million in November and three million in December.The government plans to vaccinate 70% of the country's 45 million people.Algeria also plans to start producing Russia's Sputnik V vaccine by the end of this year.

A new estimate for the amount of money that Zambia owes Chinese lenders is nearly double what the Zambian government had previously admitted.The credit rating firm S&P Global says Zambia spends at least 30% of its income on interest payments, President, Hakainde Hichilema, says the debt situation had not been fully disclosed by the former government.A new paper from the China Africa Research Initiative, based at Johns Hopkins University in the US, estimates that the sum now amounts to $6.6bn.Zambia's finance ministry says these figures were broadly consistent with official government reporting.

The summary of the evidence of Mr Dieye Willie-Harry, an expert witness hired by the Lagos State Government to investigate the shooting incident at the tollgate shows that live military-grade ammunition was fired at some point by yet to be identified persons.The Executive Director of a UK-based forensic and ballistic company, Oxgene Consulting UK Ltd, Mr Willie-Harry says from the examination and research surrounding open-source imagery and news reporting along with the individual injuries and medical reports, live military-grade ammunition, may have been discharged at some point at the Lekki Toll Gate on 20th October 2020, after 21:00 hrs. He says it could possibly be aimed at the road surface in front of protesters, which ultimately caused the projectiles to ricochet resulting in the core breaking out of the jacket and hitting the majority of the victims in the lower limbs at much reduced kinetic energy but with enough energy to fracture the long bones without exiting the victims’

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has admitted that the Nigeria Police Force is not properly funded, attributing it as the major challenge facing the security agency.Osinbajo says the Federal Government worked with the National Assembly to enact the Police Trust Fund Act.Osinbajo, however, maintained that despite the challenges, the Federal Government is committed to improving the livelihood of police personnel.He explained that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been developing the Niger Delta region through the Niger Delta Development Commission.

The Nigerian Navy has called for concerted efforts to end the proliferation of small and medium arms in Nigeria.The Director of Legal Services, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Jemila Malafa, says Chadian soldiers sell guns for as low as $20 and this endangers Nigeria’s security.She says the developed countries in the name of assisting them fight are compounding the problems in Nigeria.She says they should either enact laws to govern the handling of these arms and ammunition or build an armoury for these countries.

Officials say Thailand is to cut the quarantine for vaccinated travellers to seven days starting in October, as it seeks to revive its battered tourism industry.Authorities say that starting on Friday, the quarantine period for fully jabbed visitors will be seven days, halved from the current 14-day period — provided they have a vaccination certificate.Visitors without certification will have to quarantine for 10 days if they enter by plane and 14 days if they come overland. All will require at least two negative Covid tests.Government deputy spokeswoman Rachada Dhanadirek waved off concerns about unvaccinated travellers entering the kingdom.