Africa Business News

The Federal Government will spend an average of N36bn to convert 30,000 petrol or diesel-powered vehicles to start running on Compressed Natural Gas in the next 90 days. The government says it had acquired 30,000 CNG conversion kits for distribution free of charge nationwide within the period. The Project Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, says President Bola Tinubu is taking steps to ensure transporters use CNG to replace high-priced petrol and diesel, believing this would reduce the cost of transportation and by extension, the rising cost of food items. The PCNGi boss says the President is interested in distributing one million CNG kits to commercial drivers across Nigeria as palliatives.

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Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wrote to the senate to demand a 50% tax on foreign exchange gains made by banks. The federal government and the National Insurance Commission are developing a bill that demands new information requirements from e-commerce platforms In a new bid to regulate and protect trading on Nigerian e-commerce platforms. The proposed bill requires e-commerce platforms like Jumia and Konga to provide crucial information about themselves, including their legal names, addresses, and phone numbers. The information will be used to communicate with the seller and used in cases of legal proceedings.

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The House of Representatives has expressed readiness to investigate allegations that products being produced at the Dangote Refinery are inferior to imported ones, and will also test the refinery’s products as part of its investigation. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, had expressed concern over the controversy surrounding the quality of imported refined products into Nigeria and stated that the Green Chamber would establish a committee to investigate the matter thoroughly. He emphasised that sampled products from various sources would undergo testing as part of this initiative.

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Finland’s parliament has passed a controversial bill granting border guards the power to block asylum seekers crossing from Russia. Finland has accused neighbouring Russia of weaponising migration by encouraging many people from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border, an assertion the Kremlin has denied. Helsinki has accused Moscow of promoting the crossings in retaliation for Finland joining NATO, which backs Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has said the bill is vital to stop future arrivals. Opponents, including several academics, legal experts and human rights groups, say it clashes with the Constitution of Finland, international rights commitments set by the United Nations and pledges by the EU and international treaties signed by Finland.

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Telecommunications giant AT&T reports that data of nearly all customers was downloaded to a third-party platform in a security breach. The breach took place largely over five months in 2022. It hit customers of AT&T’s mobile customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as its landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers. AT&T says the data does not contain the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information. AT&T, however, said that there are often ways using publicly available online tools to find the name associated with a specific telephone number.

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Kenya’s police chief has resigned after criticism of officers’ conduct during recent antigovernment demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed. The presidency says that President William Ruto has accepted the resignation of Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, who has served in the role since November 2022. Deputy Inspector-General Douglas Kanja has been appointed acting police chief with immediate effect. The announcement came a day after Ruto sacked nearly his entire cabinet, bowing to the demands of protesters. Some of the young people behind the demonstrations had called for Koome to go, with police accused of using excessive force during the protests, the most serious crisis of Ruto’s near two-year presidency.

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Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, feared and admired in equal measure, is seeking to extend his 24-year rule in an election analysts say he will win by a landslide. He has dominated every election since becoming president in 2000, with over 90% of the vote. In 2017 he won with a staggering 99%. President Kagame has been at the helm of Rwandan politics since his rebel forces took power at the end of the 1994 genocide which killed some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Mr Kagame has always fiercely defended Rwanda's record on human rights, saying his country respects political freedoms.

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Dangote Group has announced that the group intends to list its multibillion-dollar companies – Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and Dangote Fertiliser Limited, on the Nigerian Exchange Group in the first quarter of 2025. The move will allow Nigerians to participate in the ownership of these companies, for the benefit of all. Dangote says that this transformation was driven by the overarching goal of achieving self-sufficiency in key sectors and bolstering Nigeria’s economy. Dangote confirmed that the refinery will commence petrol processing in July and underscored government assurances on compliance with the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations under the Petroleum Industry Act.

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A Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom dismissed the Process & Industrial Development appeal on a previous judgment halting the enforcement of its $11 billion award against Nigeria. In a unanimous decision, the Lead Judge, Lord Justice Snowden, permitted P&ID to appeal the judgment but dismissed the appeal. The company argued that Nigeria funded its legal services by exchanging naira from its consolidated revenue fund. Snowden, the lead judge, accepted the arguments of Nigeria that since the legal cost was paid in sterling, the cost order should be paid in the same currency.

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Aliko Dangote says the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited now owns a 7.2% stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, and not a 20% stake as initially announced before the facility's inauguration at the Lekki Free Trade Zone. Dangote says NNPC’s stake dropped to 7.2% over the company’s failure to pay the balance of their share, which was due in June. The NNPC had acquired a 20 per cent interest in the $20bn Dangote refinery for $2.76 billion. The NNPC confirmed the development in a statement saying NNPC Limited periodically assesses its investment portfolio to ensure alignment with the company’s strategic goals.

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