Africa Business Radio

The leaders of Australia and Japan have signed a historic defence treaty that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says would contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific as China expands its military and economic clout in the region. The treaty called the Reciprocal Access Agreement was signed during a virtual summit between Morrison and his Australian counterpart, Fumio Kishida on Thursday. Morrison called the signing of the RAA a pivotal moment for Australia and Japan that will form an important part of the two countries’ response to the uncertainty they now face.

The Dutch government says it will no longer fund one of the six major civil society and human rights organisations in Palestine which Israel banned as terrorist groups in October 2021. The Ramallah-based Union of Agricultural Work Committees says this is the first time a government ends its funding for Palestinian civil society based on political conditionality. The group says it would consider legal steps to challenge the Dutch government’s harmful and unfair decision which, it warned, was likely to resonate far beyond our organisation.

Tanzania's parliament speaker Job Ndugai has resigned days after clashing with the president over the government's external loans. The speaker says his resignation was a personal and voluntary decision taken in the interest of the nation. President Samia Suluhu had accused him of planning to sabotage her for political reasons after he commented about the country's loans. Mr Ndugai issued a public apology to President Samia, which she rejected. She says everything that was happening had to do with political interests in the 2025 general elections.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected suggestions that Beijing was luring African countries into debt traps by offering them massive loans, dismissing the idea as a narrative pushed by opponents to poverty reduction. Wang says China’s considerable lending to Africa was mutually benefiting and not a strategy to extract diplomatic and commercial concessions. He says the narrative was been created by those who do not want to see development in Africa.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says China will appoint a special envoy for the Horn of Africa to help tackle security challenges in the region. He says they will continue to play even a bigger role for peace and stability in the region. The minister is on a tour of three countries in eastern Africa which began in Eritrea and concludes in the Indian Ocean island of Comoros. The Chinese minister's tour to the region coincides with the visit by the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, who is due to arrive in Ethiopia on Thursday to discuss the 14-month civil war in the northern part of the country.

South Africa's Telkom is seeking an urgent court order to prevent telecoms regulator ICASA from holding a spectrum auction in March, which would further delay the country's rollout of 5G and expansion of 4G capacity already held back by legal action. Telkom says it had filed an application asking the Gauteng High Court to review and set aside the invitation to apply, which outlines the auction rules, spectrum bands and licence obligations, published by ICASA last month. It says the application includes an urgent interdict to prevent ICASA from processing any applications until the review is heard.Telkom called the contemplated auction process unlawful, illegal, irrational and unreasonable given that the invite is tainted by a number of reviewable errors.

Senior lawyer, Femi Falana has faulted the legal advice issued by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of Lagos State on the case of Sylvester Oromoni’s alleged murder. He says the Authorities are aware of the fact that the Chief Coroner of the State has ordered that an inquest be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the unnatural death of Sylvester Oromoni. Mr Falana insists that the report has not laid the allegations surrounding the gruesome murder of Sylvester Oromoni to rest.

President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to assist Mali in every way possible within the ambits of the Economic Community of West African States. The president made the promise when he received a special envoy from Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga at the State House. Buhari says that every country has its issues and even Nigeria had fought her own civil war, it is impossible to know the totality of the internal politics within Mali. He also met with the head of the ECOWAS Mediation Team and former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan in a parley, at the statehouse.

Canada has reached an agreement-in-principle to compensate Indigenous children who were discriminated against and placed in the welfare system, the government has announced after Indigenous advocates waged a years-long fight for justice and reform. The federal government says $15.75bn would be allocated to First Nations children who were removed from their homes, as well as those who did not receive or faced delays in accessing services. Canada’s Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu says for too long, the Government of Canada did not adequately fund or support the wellness of First Nations families and children.

Hong Kong announced a two-week ban on incoming flights from eight countries and tightened restrictions as authorities feared the fifth wave of COVID-19 infections. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says Incoming flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the United States, including interchanges, would be banned from Jan. 8 to Jan 21. Lam says the government would ban indoor dining after 6.00 pm from Friday, and close swimming pools, sports centres, bars and clubs, museums, and other venues for at least two weeks. Future cruise journeys would be cancelled.

The French parliament approved the government’s latest measures to tackle the COVID-19 virus, including a COVID vaccine pass, offering some respite to President Emmanuel Macron after criticism of Macron’s attack on the unvaccinated. The measures will then go up to the Senate, which will examine them before any further approval. Macron said he wanted to piss off unvaccinated people by making their lives so complicated they would end up getting the COVID vaccine. He also called unvaccinated people irresponsible and unworthy of being considered citizens.

Australia has cancelled Novak Djokovic’s visa and denied entry to the men’s number one tennis player saying the sportsman failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet entry requirements. The Australian Border Force said Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled”. Djokovic is expected to be flown out later on Thursday, although Djokovic’s lawyers have filed an injunction, which is scheduled to be heard at 4 pm

The United States condemned North Korea’s firing of a suspected ballistic missile and urged Pyongyang to sit down for talks. A State Department spokesperson says the launch is in violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to the DPRK’s neighbours and the international community while referring to the North by its official name. The spokesperson also said that the US commitment to defend both South Korea and Japan, two treaty-bound allies, was ironclad. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are already set to meet virtually Thursday for regular security talks with their Japanese counterparts.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has condemned sanctions imposed on Eritrea, as he concluded a visit to the one-party state long been regarded as a pariah by Western powers. Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Meskel says Mr Wang held talks with President Isaias Afwerki and invited him to China to strengthen their strategic partnership. The foreign ministers of the two nations issued a joint statement after the meeting, condemning interferences in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of democracy and human rights.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli held a meeting to discuss the proposed amendments to the law on taxes on capital gains. The premier pointed out that the meeting aimed to review steps agreed upon at the previous meeting and reach an agreement on these amendments in a prelude to taking the necessary procedures on this score. The finance minister noted that they are related to tax files, costs on shareholding and share acquisition, investment funds and profits. A spokesman for Cabinet Nader Saad says that the respective legislative procedures will be taken through referring the proposed amendments to the cabinet and the parliament.

A night curfew has been declared in parts of Lamu County as security forces kicked off a major operation following the killings of 7 people. The curfew was declared Wednesday by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi who listed affected areas as Mukunumbi, Witu, Mpeketoni, and Hindi. Inspector-General of Police Hilary Mutyambai has since said the attack was linked to land disputes and other motives. Police said the assailants stabbed and beheaded a local elder and razed his home, and shot dead another man whose body was found on a roadside nearby.

The South-West Governors’ Forum has frowned at the disrespect displayed by a Chief Superintendent of Police who publicly defied the order of the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which required he and his men to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of the state. Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu described the content of the video as disconcerting and unacceptable. He says the content of the video is very disconcerting, and this is being charitable. He says the utter disrespect, which underlines the responsibility of the officer to the Governor establishes, beyond doubt, the impracticability of the current system, dubiously christened Federalism.

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated his readiness to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill after the National Assembly makes the necessary adjustments. He, however, said such changes must include the addition of consensus candidates, indirect primary options to the mode of selecting a candidate for an election, as against the initial direct mode as the only option to conduct primaries by political parties.

The Federal Government has formally declared bandit groups operating in the country as terrorists. The declaration is contained in Volume 108 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette. The Activities of Yan Bindiga Group, Yan Ta’adda Group and other similar groups in Nigeria are declared to be terrorism and illegal in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North West and North-Central Regions of Nigeria and are proscribed, pursuant to sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011. The general public is also warned that any person or group of persons participating in any manner whatsoever in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intentions will be violating the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 and liable to prosecution.

The Lagos State Government has cleared five students and five employees of Dowen College accused of complicity in the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni. The state cleared them as well as the school following the Legal Advice of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Ms Adetutu Oshinusi. The advice says the interim and final autopsy reports issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and toxicology report of post mortem samples and that of the Central Hospital, Warri was in agreement as to the cause of death namely: Septicaemia, Lobar Pneumonia with Acute Pyelonephritis, Pyomyositis of the right ankle and Acute Bacteria Pneumonia due to severe Sepsis.