Africa Business Radio

Iran’s foreign ministry says the country is still some time away from officially recognising the Taliban as the government of neighbouring Afghanistan after a meeting with the group in Tehran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh says the high-level talks with Taliban representatives were positive but Iran is still not at the point of officially recognising the Taliban. He added that the current condition of Afghanistan is a major concern for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the visit of the Afghan delegation was within the framework of these concerns.

Somali leaders have agreed to conclude the long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections by February 25. The spokesman of the prime minister, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, says all involved in the electoral process should respect the rules in order to move forward. He says in order to safeguard the close coordination of the electoral body, the national consultative council calls upon various levels of the poll management agency to respect the rules and regulations as per the existing electoral agreements. He added the council reiterates respect for the 30 per cent quota of seats to be held for women in the ongoing process.

Malawi's Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has issued out a 60-day amnesty to all alleged crooked companies and individuals who have defrauded the public purse in their business dealings or illegally acquired wealth through procurement fraud and corruption to voluntarily pay back the said wealth or face the long arm of the law. The government's chief legal advisor, Chakaka Nyirenda, urged procurement entities in the country to produce copies of contracts with entities owned by or connected with, Mr Zuneith Sattar. The Attorney General has been decided to terminate all the contracts owned by or connected with Zuneith Sattar's business entities with immediate effect.

The Kenyan central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its next rate-setting meeting on Jan. 26. The committee earlier held the benchmark lending rate at 7.0%, citing anchored price increases and early indications of the economy benefiting from an accommodative stance.

The Economic Community of West African States will impose sanctions on the military junta in Mali, while member states will withdraw all their ambassadors as well as close land and air borders with the country. The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, stated that after reviewing the situation in Mali at the summit, the sub-regional leaders rejected the transition schedule proposed by the Malian military junta which they said was totally unacceptable. The body also imposed additional sanctions on the junta, including the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS states and Mali. It, however, exempted some products such as essential consumer goods, pharmaceutical products, as well as medical supplies and equipment, especially materials for electricity and the control of COVID-19.

Human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, says that his legal team will establish the ‘massive cover-up’ in the controversy trailing the death of Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr). Falana, who is the counsel to the Oromoni family, stated that they are going to establish evidence of a massive cover-up. Falana insisted that the state government did not have a Director of Public Prosecution on January 4 when the report was issued.

Greece has donated about one million doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to Nigeria as the Federal Government moves to ensure more citizens are vaccinated against the disease. A delegation from the European country led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolaos Dendias, says Nigeria and Greece have enjoyed a favourable bond over the years and that his country was even willing to expand the relationship. The Greek minister explained that such an expansion would culminate in the signing of Memoranda of Understanding on various issues affecting both countries.

Manila’s Department of Energy says the Philippines’ energy secretary Alfonso Cusi has appealed to Indonesia to lift its coal export ban, saying the policy will be detrimental to economies heavily reliant on the fuel for power generation, The Philippines’ move follows similar requests from other Asian governments such as Japan and South Korea. Cusi had asked the foreign affairs department to intercede and appeal on behalf of the Philippines through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ cooperation mechanism. The ban drove coal prices in China and Australia higher last week, while scores of vessels slated to carry coal to major buyers such as Japan, China, South Korea and India have been in limbo off Kalimantan, home to Indonesia’s main coal ports

An Australian judge has reinstated tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa and ruled that he be released from immigration detention. Judge Anthony Kelly ordered that Djokovic be released within 30 minutes and his passport and other travel documents returned to him, rekindling the world number one’s chance to win a record 21st Grand Slam title at the upcoming Australian Open. Lawyers for the federal government told the court the country’s immigration minister was reserving the right to exercise his personal power to again revoke Djokovic’s visa. Judge Kelly noted that Djokovic had provided officials at Melbourne’s airport with a medical exemption given him by Tennis Australia, which is organising the tournament, and two medical panels.

Somali leaders have announced they struck a deal to complete parliamentary elections by February 25, after repeated delays that have threatened the stability of the country. The agreement was reached after several days of talks hosted by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble with state leaders aimed at ending an impasse over the polls. Roble and Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed have long been at loggerheads over the long-delayed elections, with fears their squabbling could erupt into violence. The international community has voiced its alarm over the crisis, fearing for the stability of the country as it continues to battle a deadly armed uprising by the al-Shabab armed group.

The UN has warned that it will have to suspend operations by its aid agencies if no supplies are allowed into Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray soon. No humanitarian aid has reached the region since mid-December and a spokesperson for the UN chief says the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN's secretary-general says several UN and non-governmental organisations will be forced to cease operations if humanitarian supplies, fuel and cash are not delivered to Tigray very soon. He says aid agencies were short of cash to buy local supplies and pay local staff and were also running out of fuel to transport aid and staff.

The authorities in Egypt are planning to demolish another area in Cairo to make way for new residential developments. The Nasr City district in the east of the Egyptian capital contains apartment blocks built in the 1960s. Residents have been asked to leave their homes to allow the project to go ahead and have been offered alternative housing or financial compensation. The plans have triggered anger and concern online - there have been a number of similar development projects as part of what is seen as a government-backed gentrification programme.

An external audit by an international firm began at the Tunisian Ministry of Public Works. It targets the revision of the certificate of compliance with international quality standards ISO 9001obtained by the department on February 16, 2021. The department says the Tunisian Ministry of Public Works is the first in Africa to obtain international recognition for its system of quality and management of projects and services offered to real estate developers, contractors and engineering firms. Saoussen Hajri, a representative for the MENA region of the French Institute of Standardisation, says the agency has given the certificate to the department, and the officer in charge of the audit operation.

West African leaders have imposed sanctions on Mali after the country’s military government announced a long delay to elections originally planned for next month. The West African regional bloc, Ecowas agreed to close borders with Mali as well as implement a range of economic sanctions. Mali's military government in response says that it was closing its land and air borders with Ecowas and recalling its ambassadors from member states. The junta says it strongly condemned illegal sanctions imposed on the country. Mali’s military rulers now say elections could take place in five years - a delay the West African bloc deems unacceptable.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission generated approximately N938.5 million from fees collected from importers of generators and other internal revenue sources from June 2020 to June 2021, an analysis of the data for the four quarters provided by the industry regulator, has shown. NERC had in 2013 introduced an N25,000 charge per unit of 100KVA generator imported into the country in its guidelines for obtaining clearance certificate for the importation of generating sets and related matters. It also fixed a charge of N3,500 per unit of between 25kva and 100kva generators imported into the country, while generators between 5kva and 25kva attract a charge of N1,000 per unit. The amount collected by NERC is exclusive of duties and other taxes paid by the importers in the country.

President General Jam’iyyatu Ansariddeen, Nigeria and former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Muhammad Sanusi ll, has advised eligible voters in Nigeria to get their permanent voters’ card and ensure that they vote in only the best and competent candidates in all positions in the 2023 general elections. Sanusi urged the group to vote for the best and only competent persons in every position irrespective of the political party or religious affiliations. He commended Governor Yahaya Bello for hosting the conference, and for accepting their request for the provision of land in the state to build an International Islamic Centre to honour Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Niass. He stressed the need to continue to promote peace, pray and eschew extremism, saying no matter the difficult situation, Allah was able to see the country through.

The federal government says Nigeria’s 2050 Long-term Low Emission Vision document was a demonstration of the nation’s commitment to play a leading role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Minister of State for the Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, described the document as a landmark for actualising Nigeria’s quest for mitigating the negative effects of climate change and a road path to meeting its decarbonisation targets. Ikeazor explained that the LTV 2050 was the initial step towards the development of the Long-Term Strategies which explores options to lower GHG emissions and contribute to the objective of reaching net-zero GHG emissions globally around the middle of the century.

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, declared 19 individuals wanted for operating illegal crude oil refining sites which are responsible for the black soot menace in Rivers State. The governor directed the Rivers State Head of Service to query Mr Temple Amakiri, a Director in the Ministry of Energy, for abetting bunkering activities and hand him over to the police for investigation and possible prosecution. He assured the people of Rivers State that his government is determined to effectively tackle the soot menace by destroying and closing down all identified illegal crude oil refining sites and activities across the state.

The Philippines on Thursday passed a law banning child marriage as the practice took effect in a country where one in six girls enters wedlock before the age of 18. A new law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte and released to the public on Thursday, lays out prison terms of up to 12 years for marrying or cohabiting with anyone under 18. People arranging or solemnising underage unions face the same penalty. The government says the law is consistent with international conventions on the rights of women and children.

President Joe Biden will mark the anniversary of the January 6 storming of Congress by Donald Trump’s supporters with a plea to save the United States from becoming a country where political violence is the norm. The president will warn of a dark future unless Americans defend democratic elections. He urged Americans to recognize the truth and not live in the shadow of lies. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Biden will call out Trump’s lies in propagating the conspiracy theory that he was the real winner of the election and will recall his horror at the events on that dark day.