Africa Business Radio

Data released by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute has indicated that Global sovereign wealth fund assets, including Nigeria’s, have reached $9 trillion. The report revealed that Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management with $1.4 trillion in assets, is the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund.A breakdown of the sovereign wealth fund market share by region as of September 9, 2021, indicated that Asia accounts for 41.7 per cent of the assets, followed by the Middle East with 32.8 per cent and Europe with 18.1per cent.The SWFI noted that the key difference from 2000 to 2012 versus 2012 to 2021 was investment returns in the current period, especially in markets fueled by central bank quantitative easing action.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities asked Nigerians to hold the President Muhammadu Buhari administration responsible should the educational system at the ivory towers be engulfed in another crisis based on the alleged irresponsibility on the part of the federal government.ASUU says another strike by members of the union was imminent and a time bomb following the refusal of the federal government to honour the Memorandum of Action signed with it.The Coordinator, Ibadan Zone of the union, Prof. Oyebamiji Oyegoke says the only salary shortfall and setting up of visitation panels to federal government-owned universities had been addressed while the renegotiation of conditions of service, injection of revitalisation funds, payment of earned academic allowances which were all contained on December 22, 2020, Memorandum of Action have not been addressed.

The Federal Government has approved the National Policy on the fifth-generation network in Nigeria.The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, explained that the benefits that accrue from using the 5G network include larger capacity, higher data rates, among others.He says a memo that was presented before the Federal Executive Council has also been approved after deliberation.He says the policy has been approved by the Federal Executive Council.He added that the policy discusses the benefits to be attained through the deployment of 5G in Nigeria and in any part of the world which includes lower latency, larger capacity, and higher data rate.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has called for stricter measures taken against nations where the military takes over the government by force.He says one of such stricter measures that could be taken would be a suspension from the international community.Professor Osinbajo believes such a measure will prevent subsequent coups d’etat in the sub-region, and even on the continent.The meeting, attended by 10 of the ECOWAS leaders, alongside others, including representatives from the United Nations, comes after Guinean President, Alpha Conde, was ousted by a coup d’etat in the West African country on September 5.

The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed the Value Added Tax bill, along with a bill that prohibits the open grazing of cattle in the state.The two bills were passed after unanimous votes by the lawmakers during Thursday’s plenary after they were read for the third time.The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, commended his colleagues for their passion to see that the state continues to grow. Obasa also directed the Acting Clerk of the House, Mr Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit clean copies of the bills to the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for assent.

Iran has responded with defiance to a critical report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, signalling a difficult path ahead as world powers continue to try to restore the country’s 2015 nuclear deal.The International Atomic Energy Agency says in two confidential reports cited by Western media outlets, that Iran has continued to increase production of high-enriched uranium while failing to resume full cooperation with nuclear inspectors.It also said the watchdog is deeply concerned about the longstanding issue of the presence of nuclear materials at several undeclared locations, something it says Iran has yet to adequately explain.

Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to penalise abortion, a major victory for women’s health and reproductive rights that comes amid a green wave of abortion decriminalisation in Latin America.The Mexican court’s decision follows moves to decriminalise abortion at the state level, although most of the country still has tough laws in place against women terminating their pregnancy early.The court unanimously annulled several provisions of a law from Coahuila that had made abortion a criminal act, and its decision will immediately only affect the northern border state.

The Taliban has appointed Mohammad Hasan Akhund as head of Afghanistan’s new caretaker government, weeks after it took control of the country in a rapid offensive.The list of cabinet members announced by chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday was dominated by members of the group’s old guard, with no women included.Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the Taliban’s political office, will be the deputy leader while Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Haqqani Network, has been named as interior minister.Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Mullah Omar, has been named as defence minister. Hedayatullah Badri will be the acting minister of finance, while Amir Khan Muttaqi, a Taliban negotiator in Doha, was named foreign minister.

President Joe Biden flew to storm-ravaged New York and New Jersey, just days after inspecting the damage caused by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.Biden argues that extreme weather across the United States this summer is a harbinger of worse to come.Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden believes the latest devastation shows the average costs of extreme weather are getting bigger and no one is immune from climate change.

West Africa’s economic bloc ECOWAS will hold a virtual summit on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Guinea, where troops have arrested President Alpha Conde and declared a political transition.The Economic Community of West African States condemned the coup and demanded Conde’s unconditional release.The communications director for the ECOWAS Commission, Sandra Oulate, says the group will hold a virtual extraordinary summit of member states to discuss Guinea.A statement to journalists on an ECOWAS social media account said the meeting would be at 2 pm on Wednesday.

The UN mission in South Sudan has urged the unity government to urgently resolve a fresh conflict in the Tambura area of Western Equatoria state.The UN's peacekeeping mission, Unmiss, says this has endangered the lives of civilians and created the risk of further displacement.Unmiss head Nicholas Haysom says It is also vital that political leaders at the national and local levels take urgent action to resolve tensions and bring communities together to avoid further loss of life, homes, and livelihoods.Mr Haysom says insecurity had forced more than 40,000 people to flee their homes.He added that the situation had continued to increase the demand for humanitarian aid at a time when resources were already stretched.

The government in Zimbabwe is asking its employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or resign. It says the move is aimed at reducing the risk of spreading the virus.Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi says that employees who think they have a right to choose whether or not they can be vaccinated have it all wrong,The government previously introduced a new regulation for churches and restaurants to only allow people with a vaccination card inside their premises.No country in Africa has introduced legislation to make a Covid vaccine mandatory for the population.

Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have expressed their willingness to improve on their bilateral relationship and collaboration in international politics.Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama says both countries have a relationship that dates over a century.He says both countries are allies at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and are currently looking for ways of moving from total dependency on oil into other sectors.He said both countries are willing to improve the framework they already have for cooperation in the area of Joint Commission, explaining that one took place over six years ago and both countries would be having another one before the end of this year.

The federal government put the total number of eligible Nigerians that have so far received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at 3,600,858.The government has explained the reason Nigerians who have been fully vaccinated are still required to isolate upon arrival in the United Kingdom is that the country was yet to meet criteria such as the percentage of population immunised and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection.The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, says that as a mark of diplomatic reciprocity, Nigeria also requires fully vaccinated UK citizens to isolate for seven days.He says Nigeria alongside countries such as France and the Netherlands were listed as amber countries by the UK government based on criteria such as the number of population immunised and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection.

Governor Samuel Ortom says One hundred security operatives have so far lost their lives in the course of enforcing the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Establishment Law of 2017.He further stated that the perceived failure of the Federal Government to come down hard on foreign Fulani herdsmen bearing weapons poses security threats to the lives and safety of security forces and Nigerians in general.He says herdsmen have given unnecessary stress and risks to the security agencies in Nigeria.He says the affected victims include personnel of the army, police, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has dragged the Federal Government of Nigeria to an Abia State High Court, over what he described as violations of his human rights.The Federal Government, the Nigeria Army, the Department of State Service and the Nigeria police are respondents in the suit.Kanu is seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights and wants the court to, among other things, halt his trial currently in motion at the Federal High Court in Abuja.He also asked the court to mandate the respondents to pay the sum of five billion nairas for the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and other damages suffered as claimed by the applicant.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, says that contrary to what he described as propaganda by the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors, no doctor or health worker in Nigeria is owed their monthly salary.The minister says the fumes from the propaganda machine of NARD were obfuscating the reality of the Federal Government’s efforts to re-position the health sector.He says No doctor, nurse, pharmacist or any other health worker including the driver is owed a monthly salary, the government pays as and when due.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed security chiefs to find tactics to solve the security challenges in the country, particularly in the North-West and North Central. He reiterated the urgent need to deal with the bandits, who according to the security chiefs, are becoming a nuisance, killing and making reckless pronouncements to solicit attention.The Minister of Defense, General Bashir Magashi, told State House correspondents after the meeting that the government reviewed the situation in the country and concluded that it can resolve the security challenges, especially in Zamfara State and the North Central, which was of huge concern at the meeting, but with the cooperation of Nigerians.

Britain says it would do its utmost to rescue more than 300 Afghans who helped its armed forces but are now languishing under the new Taliban regime.Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to answer a question on how many British-Afghans remained after a hurried Western airlift was ended.He says thousands made it out from Kabul on packed Royal Air Force planes, but 311 people were left behind who are eligible for the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, such as interpreters.Johnson demanded the Taliban honour commitments to allow out those wishing to leave, and to respect women’s rights if the militia wants to gain access to billions of dollars in Afghan funds frozen overseas.

Qatar aid envoy says Qatar will soon resume funding for civil servants and poor families in the besieged Gaza Strip under a new mechanism involving the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations.Envoy Mohammed al-Emadi after meeting leaders from Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, that Qatari stipends for civil servants and poor families, suspended since May, would resume in the coming days.Doha has underwritten Gaza rebuilding and infrastructure projects since the 2014 Israeli offensive on the coastal enclave, but another round of fighting in May prompted Israeli and the US demands to revise the payouts.