Africa Business Radio

People entering Ivory Coast will from Monday be required to present a health pass showing that they have been vaccinated, or taken a Covid-19 test in the last 72 hours.President Alassane Ouattara says that the validity of coronavirus PCR tests would be reduced from five to three days for travellers arriving in Ivory Coast by air.Ivorian authorities recently warned that they might ban unvaccinated people from accessing public places.

The World Health Organization and its partners have said they hope to provide Africa with about 30 per cent of the COVID-19 vaccines the continent needs by February, badly missing the 60 per cent vaccination coverage goal that African leaders had once hoped for this year.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the massive disparity in vaccination rates between rich and poor countries a solvable problem and urged pharmaceutical companies to prioritise the UN-backed COVAX initiative, which is designed to share vaccines globally and provide shots at no cost to lower-income countries.The African Union accused manufacturers of COVID-19 shots of denying African countries a fair chance to buy them and urged manufacturing countries – in particular India – to lift export restrictions on vaccines and their components.

The United Arab Emirates has released the names of six Nigerian financiers of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.The terror sponsors named by the UAE are Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad, all Nigerians.The six terror sponsors were reportedly placed on the Emirate’s watch list.A Nigerian government official was allegedly said to be involved in sponsorship of the dreaded sect that has killed over 100,000 civilians and security forces and inflicted untold economic damage on the country since its campaign began in 2009.The government official, it was gathered was yet to be publicly identified by the Emirati authorities, amidst claims that there was mounting diplomatic pressure not to publish the name.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Musa Nuhu says there is marked improvement in the safety of domestic airlines following strict compliance to safety regulations.He assured air travellers that Nigerian carriers have kept to the highest standard of safety in their operations.Nuhu also said Nigeria’s domestic aviation was growing as new entrants recently joined the sector, saying more operators were still processing their Air Operator’s Certificates with the authority.He noted that despite the devastating effects of Covid-19 on aviation globally, there has been a discernible growth in domestic flight service, which has prompted more entrepreneurs to invest in the airline business.

President Muhammadu Buhari urged the banking and financial services sector to play stronger roles in ensuring that small and medium-sized enterprises become fit for purpose as well as provide them full support to excel.He says such financial intermediation would be essential at a time like this when Nigerians are grappling with the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, also hinted that the Nigerian International Financial Centre which would act as an international gateway for capital and investments, driven by technology and payment system infrastructure, would also be established within the next 12 months.Buhari hailed the institute and the entire banking and finance industry for the commitment towards charting a practical path for economic recovery and transformation of the country and Africa in general.

The Edo State Government has announced that from Wednesday, September 15, all civil servants who are yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will be barred from entering their offices.The Head of the COVID-19 Enforcement Team in the state, Haruna Yusuf, says that special teams will be spread across the 18 local governments of Edo State.He says those who have the authentic vaccination card will have access to their government working places and those without, can go back and work from home and the government will know how to deal with that.This comes amid speculations that the state government is working towards making vaccination compulsory for all residents.

The Federal Government is willing to listen to repentant bandits and settle them without cost in a bid to find a lasting solution to the security threats in the northwest and north-central regions of the country.Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, says anybody willing to surrender and do it honourably and honestly; the government is ready to listen and see what they can do to settle them down without much cost.Dingyadi explained that the present administration intended to reintegrate repentant bandits into the larger society, saying the government would closely monitor those who have turned a new leaf to ensure they do not return to their old way of life.

The Rivers State government has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the Value Added Tax dispute between the state and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emmanuel Ukala, alongside three other senior lawyers filed a notice of appeal at the apex court.The state government informed the Supreme Court that it was dissatisfied with the decision of the appellate court delivered on Friday last week in which all parties were directed to maintain the status quo.It explained that the implication of the ruling of the appellate court was that parties were restored to their positions before a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt granted the Rivers State government the right to collect VAT, instead of the FIRS on August 9.

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the National Assembly, seeking approval to borrow the sum of $4,054,476,863 and €710 million.President Buhari explained that owing to emerging needs there is a need to raise more funds for some critical projects.He says the projects listed in the addendum to the 2018-2021 Federal Government External Borrowing Plan, are to be financed through sovereign loans from the World Bank, French Development Agency, China-Exim Bank, International Fund For Agriculture Development, Credit Suisse Group and Standard Chartered/China Export and Credit in the total sum of USD4 billion plus Euro 710 million grant component of USD 125,000,000.00.

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland, the US’s top law enforcement official, says the Department of Justice would improve its oversight of local police departments following criticism and pushback from police leaders.Garland acknowledged it is no secret that the Department of Justice monitoring of troubled police departments has led to frustrations.Garland announced he had accepted a recommendation for 19 steps the DOJ can take to improve its oversight and monitoring of local departments that have reached agreements with the DOJ to reform their racial patterns and use of force practices.

Justin Trudeau has promised that if re-elected his party would crackdown on protests outside healthcare facilities, as demonstrations denouncing coronavirus-related public health measures have taken place outside hospitals in recent weeks.Trudeau says that the Liberals would make it an offence to obstruct access to any building providing health services, such as hospitals, testing centres, pharmacies and abortion clinics.The party would also make it an offence to intimidate or threaten any healthcare worker doing their job and any patient receiving care.CBC News reported that series of rallies are expected to take place outside health facilities across Canada to denounce efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, including vaccine mandates.

Donors have pledged more than a billion dollars to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiralled since the Taliban took power, and foreign aid has dried up, raising the spectre of a mass exodus.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says it was impossible to say how much of the money had been promised in response to an emergency UN appeal for $606m to meet the most pressing needs of the country.Guterres says that after decades of war, suffering and insecurity, Afghans are facing adding that the people of Afghanistan need a lifeline.Guterres says the financial system at the moment is extremely limited, which means that a number of basic economic functions cannot be delivered.

A group of international scientists has said in a new report in a medical journal that additional COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are not needed for the general population.The report concluded that even with the threat of the more contagious Delta variant booster doses for the general population are not appropriate at this stage in the pandemic.”The scientists wrote that any decisions about the need for boosting or timing of boosting should be based on careful analyses of adequately controlled clinical or epidemiological data.The scientists say more evidence was needed to justify boosters, and that vaccines remain highly effective against severe symptoms of COVID-19, across all the main virus variants including Delta.

The World Bank warned that Reduced agricultural production, water scarcity, rising sea levels, and other adverse effects of climate change could cause up to 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050.The Washington-based development lender had released a report in 2018 covering climate change’s effects on migration in South Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, and projected 143 million people could move in those regions by 2050.The World Bank’s vice president for sustainable development, Juergen Voegele, says it’s important to note that this projection is not cast in stone.He says if countries start to reduce greenhouse gases, close development gaps, restore vital ecosystems and help people adapt, internal climate migration could be reduced by up to 80 per cent — to 44 million people by 2050.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has promised to provide financial support through its biosphere reserve fund, to address issues of environmental challenges on the African continent.Director-General of the organisation, Audrey Azoulay gave an assurance that that UNESCO’s projects on the Lake Chad basin would go a long way to restore the ecosystem which was fast experiencing degradation.Azoulay was hopeful that there was still time to make peace with the planet.She says Biodiversity is collapsing, at an unprecedented speed. But this collapse is not inevitable; there is still time to make peace with the planet.

Burkina Faso’s foreign minister Alpha Barry says West African foreign ministers will arrive in Guinea on Friday to evaluate the situation after a military coup in the country, The foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo will visit as representatives of the West Africa bloc ECOWAS.ECOWAS suspended Guinea from its ranks after the military coup on Sunday when special forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya seized power and arrested President Alpha Conde, sparking international condemnation.

The UN human rights chief says gross violations continue to be perpetrated by all sides in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict and has warned that the country risks being torn apart.Michelle Bachelet says civilian suffering was widespread.She accused the Ethiopian government forces and their allies of mass detentions, killings, sexual violence, systematic looting, forced displacement and detention of civilians.The UN rights chief also highlighted allegations that Tigrayan forces were recruiting child soldiers, attacking civilians in neighbouring regions and causing mass displacement.

The federal government has projected that it will receive about 55 million doses of vaccines by April 2022 to ensure that more Nigerians are vaccinated against the dreaded COVID-19.The Chairman Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha assured that with the delivery of doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson vaccines, in addition to the expected delivery of Pfizer vaccines, there would be enough vaccines to go across the country.Mustapha reiterated that the only way to survive the scourge was to be vaccinated, a fact he said had been reinforced by science and research.He noted that although the global cases recorded have continued to decline to about four million cases weekly, the situation, however, still calls for caution because the country and the world are not out of the woods yet.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, says he would no longer accept excuses for non-performance in the prosecution of the war against insurgency and armed banditry. Yahaya asked commanders in the various theatres of operation to seize the initiative and take decisive actions to defeat threats in their respective areas of responsibility.Yahaya stated that the Nigerian Army on his watch would remain resolute and continue to chart the progressive path towards tackling the security challenges confronting the country.The army chief acknowledged that there were logistic constraints affecting operations across the country and disclosed that efforts were in progress to provide combat enablers that would enhance and boost military operations.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries expanded its global oil demand forecast for 2022 by almost one million barrels per day to 100.83 million bpd. This was a 4.15 million bpd increase from the 2021 figure and a steep hike from the 3.28 million bpd growth projection it made last month.OPEC stated that vaccination rates had continued to rise, while the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to be better managed, with economic activities and mobility expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.The cartel further confirmed that though paltry compared to its pre-COVID production figure of nearly two million bpd, Nigeria was unable to meet its oil production quota for the month of August.