Africa Business News

Brazil's Supreme Court will vote on whether or not to uphold a ruling to ban social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Justice Alexandre Moraes called for the vote after the platform was suspended in the country in the early hours of Saturday. It came after X failed to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil before a court-imposed deadline. Justice Moraes gave companies, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from its app stores and block its use on iOS and Android devices. He added that individuals or businesses that are found to still be accessing X by using virtual private networks could be fined $8,910.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

S & P Global Ratings has downgraded Kenya’s credit rating from “B to B-”, meaning that Kenya has now been deemed credit-risky by all three of the biggest credit rating agencies. Due to being credit-risky, raising money from debt instruments will become problematic for Kenya because the borrowing cost becomes expensive. The ratings tell investors that Kenya is not a debt-sustainable country. So, they will be wary now of providing Kenya with loans. After Kenya’s president, William Ruto withdrew the Finance Bill in June, he mentioned that the country will look at alternatives to raise money. Borrowing more money at high interest rates to meet its debt obligations remains one bleak option for Kenya.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Amazon Web Services hosted a summit in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the advancements of Generative Artificial Intelligence and committed to making a follow-on investment of $1.7 billion by 2029 to increase renewable energy supply to its data centres. AWS has two of its three data centres located in South Africa. At least one of them consumes about 1,000 megawatts of electricity. AWS will use that investment to generate more electricity to sustain the high demand for storage for data points and also use AWS Bedrock which allows companies to build on existing Gen AI models, and scale their operations.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Global Environment Facility has approved $3.28m to tackle land degradation in Kebbi State under the National Agency for the Great Green Wall initiative. The Operational Focal Point for GEF, Jonah Stanley, says GEF is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, and land degradation, among others. Stanley noted that GEF was a funding mechanism that supported more than 185 countries around the world, including Nigeria, in dealing with environmental issues.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited says the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply. There have been reports that a $6 billion debt the NNPCL owes petrol suppliers has worsened petrol scarcity in Nigeria, a perennial feature since the beginning of 2024. NNPCL spokesman Olufemi Soneye says the financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply. He says they are actively collaborating with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to maintain a consistent supply of petroleum products nationwide.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that Nigeria’s Letter of Credit payments dropped by 57 per cent in the first seven months of 2024. The CBN’s weekly International Payments Data shows that the country’s Letter of Credit payments dropped to $391.91m from $912.35m within the same period in 2023. An analysis of the CBN data showed that the highest LC payments this year were recorded in February at $102.59m, followed by July at $79.65m and $58.33m in January. In March, LCs payments stood at $43.53m compared to $269m in the same month in 2023, rose to $54.02m in April 2024 and dropped to $21.48m in May before rising to $32.26m in June.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has called on judges to urgently rule on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the war on Gaza. Prosecutor Karim Khan says that any unjustified delay in these proceedings detrimentally affects the rights of victims. Khan had applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders in May for alleged crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza. Khan stressed that the ICC had jurisdiction over Israeli nationals who commit atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory and asked the judges to dismiss legal challenges filed by several governments and other parties.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

A "right to disconnect" rule has come into effect in Australia, offering relief to people who feel forced to take calls or read messages from employers after they finish their day’s work. The new law allows employees to ignore communications after hours if they choose to, without fear of being punished by their bosses. More than 20 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, have similar rules. The law does not ban employers from contacting workers after hours. Instead, it gives staff the right not to reply unless their refusal is deemed unreasonable. Under the rules, employers and employees should try to resolve disputes among themselves. If that is unsuccessful in finding a resolution Australia's Fair Work Commission can step in.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Gabon's interim president who seized power in a coup a year ago has barred members of his transitional government from holidaying abroad. Gen Oligui Nguema has also limited government officials to a maximum of one week of holiday leave. These new restrictions were announced on state television, after he toured the country to listen to people's concerns. There is speculation that Gen Nguema may be softening the ground to run for president in next year's election - the first since he seized power in the Central African state. News of the holiday restrictions comes days before the first anniversary of the coup - when the junta's record will inevitably be scrutinised.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Federal Government has declared that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited does not have the funds required to rebuild old pipelines. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, stated emphasised that Nigeria also needs to repair its pipelines, which he said are old, corroded, and expired. He noted that even if the country can produce more than 1.7 million barrels of crude oil, the problem is how to evacuate it to the terminal. He says the pipelines have all expired and are completely corroded but there are better technologies which are more expensive, there are better pipelines that other people are using in other countries, but they are not cheap.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.