Africa Business News

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a bill allowing land seizures by the state without compensation - a move that has put him at odds with some members of his government. While Ramaphosa's ANC party hailed the law as a "significant milestone" in the country's transformation, some members of the coalition government say they may challenge it in court. The government says the law outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis by the state It replaces the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975, which placed an obligation on the state to pay owners it wanted to take land from, under the principle of "willing seller, willing buyer.

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The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is under fire for raising its minimum energy credit purchase requirement for Band A customers to N5,000. The Disco also capped the minimum energy credit for customers on other bands at N2,000, sparking outrage and condemnation from various consumer groups. The IBEDC says the recent update regarding IBEDC electricity recharge. Users on Band A must now make a minimum recharge purchase of N5,000. Users in other bands must make a minimum purchase of N2,000. The spokesperson of the Ibadan Disco, Busolami Tunwase, says this new policy was to curb energy theft, but she did not give further details about how this will be achieved. The National Coordinator of All Electricity Consumers Forum, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, noted that the policy has to be reversed to avoid backslashes.

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The Japanese city of Osaka on Monday imposed a smoking ban on public streets as part of efforts to become more visitor-friendly ahead of this year’s World Expo. Around 160 countries and regions are participating in Expo 2025, the latest edition of an event held every five years in different global locations. Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama says the World Expo begins in April and will welcome many people from all over the world, so Osaka has to be a city where people feel safe with smoke-free streets. Local regulations already ban smoking while walking in most places in Japan, but opposition from some lawmakers has prevented strict national laws.

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The Senate and the House of Representatives have postponed their plenary resumption, previously scheduled for Tuesday, January 28, 2025, to Tuesday, February 4, 2025. The two legislative chambers announced the development in separate statements on Friday. The Clerk of the Senate, Andrew Nwoba, who informed senators of the shift in resumption date, said the postponement was due to the ongoing defence of the 2025 budget proposal by ministries, departments, and agencies.

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Syria’s new defence minister says it would not be right for US-backed Kurdish fighters based in the country’s northeast to retain their own bloc within the broader integrated Syrian armed forces. Murhaf Abu Qasra says that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was procrastinating in its handling of the complex issue. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) says one of their central demands is a decentralised administration, that the SDF was open to integrating with the Ministry of Defence but as “a military bloc”, and without dissolving.

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TikTok restored service in the United States after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. TikTok credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible — though the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban. Trump called for the United States to take part-ownership in TikTok having a 50% ownership position in a joint venture adding that the app’s value could surge to “hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions. TikTok, which was back online in the United States did not address Trump’s call for part American ownership of the app.

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Tanzania has dismissed a World Health Organisation report of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in the north-west of the country. Tanzania's Health Minister Jenista Mhagama says after samples were analysed, all suspected cases were found negative for Marburg virus. Tanzania experienced its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023 in the Bukoba district. It killed six people and lasted for nearly two months. The highly infectious disease is similar to Ebola, with symptoms including fever, muscle pains, diarrhoea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.

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The FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says Vandals who damaged and stole transmission cables throwing the Federal Capital Territory into darkness will learn their lessons. He says the arrested persons would not be charged with stealing but economic sabotage. The minister says the vandals are threatening the stability of the nation’s capital city and would be punished severely for the crime. Wike urged FCT residents to be involved in the policing of the nation’s capital by reporting suspicious activities.

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The World Bank has pledged $500 million to Nigeria’s ambitious 90,000km fibre optic project by Q3 2025. This contribution, while significant, covers only part of the $3.2 billion required for the project. A coalition of development finance institutions (DFIs), including the Islamic Development Bank and the African Development Bank, have also expressed financial commitment. Minister of Communications, Technology, and Innovation Bosun Tijani has continued attracting financial backers, showing growing confidence in the ambitious fibre project. However, these pledges remain theoretical. Without solid proof-of-work, it could stall momentum.

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European foreign ministers have agreed to meet at the end of January to discuss lifting sanctions on Syria as foreign ministers and top diplomats from Western countries and the Middle East convened in Saudi Arabia in the first such regional meeting since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last month. Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, says that the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on January 27 to probe how the 27-member bloc might approach the issue. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria while stressing the importance of lifting unilateral and international sanctions imposed on Syria, as their continuation hinders the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction.

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