Africa Business News

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has held talks with Rwanda-backed rebels about protecting civilians in areas under their control in the east. Bintou Keita, the UN secretary general's special representative, says the rebels spoke of wanting a peaceful solution to the crisis, which escalated in January with their capture of the major city of Goma. Ms Kieta says it formed part of ongoing "joint efforts begun several months ago for the benefit of the population", and that it came at a critical moment.

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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has summoned the management of Air Peace Limited following multiple complaints from passengers regarding non-refunded ticket fares, even in cases where the airline cancelled scheduled flights. The Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, stated that the airline’s actions contravene Sections 130(1)(a) and (b), and 130(2)(b) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which guarantee consumers the right to prompt refunds when bookings or reservations are not honoured due to a service provider’s failure. He explained that the summons was issued pursuant to Sections 32 and 33 of the Act, requiring Air Peace to provide specific documentary evidence. This includes a complaint log of refund-related issues over the past 12 months, records of all processed refunds to date, a list of all cancelled flights on all routes within the same period, and measures taken to alleviate hardship caused to affected passengers.

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The United Nations’ humanitarian agency says that it was seeking $29 billion in funding compared to $44 billion requested in December, in a “hyper-prioritised” appeal. Areport says the UN was drastically scaling back its global humanitarian aid plans due to the “deepest funding cuts ever”. Tom Fletcher, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says Brutal funding cuts leaves themwith brutal choices. The UN says it has received only $5.6 billion out of the $44 billion, a mere 13 per cent, that it had requested while facing surging crises in Sudan, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, among others.

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Justice Yusuf granted the bail after Emefiele was arraigned on an eight-count charge in which he is accused of among others, unlawfully acquiring a housing estate comprising 753 units, allegedly stealing and taking control of billions of naira in proxy accounts. Justice Yusuf in the ruling, noted that Emefiele had been granted bail in three other criminal cases pending against him and that there was no evidence that he had jumped bail. He then proceeded to admit him to bail on the condition that he must produce two sureties, who must own property worth ₦ 2 billion in either Asokoro, Maitama or Wuse 2 within the jurisdiction of the court. Justice Yusuf ordered Emefiele to submit his travel documents to the court and directed that he must perfect the bail by Wednesday, failing which he would be remanded in custody.

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Dangote petroleum refinery has announced the free distribution of petrol and diesel to marketers, dealers, and other large users across the country. The Refinery says the initiative would commence on august 15, 2025. The refinery also says it has procured 4,000 brand-new compressed natural gas (cng)-powered tankers for take-off of the initiative. The refinery says it has also invested in compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, commonly referred to as daughter booster stations, supported by a fleet of over 100 CNG tankers across the country to ensure seamless product distribution.

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The US and China say they have agreed in principle to a framework for de-escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says the deal should result in restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets being resolved. Both sides say they would now take the plan to their presidents - Donald Trump and Xi Jinping - for approval. The US says China has been slow to release exports of rare earth metals and magnets which are essential for manufacturing everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. The new round of negotiations followed a phone call between Donald Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping last week which the US President described as a very good talk.

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A senior US health official admitted President Donald Trump’s administration had gone too far in slashing biomedical research grants worth billions of dollars, and said efforts were underway to restore some of the funding. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health says he had created an appeals process for scientists and laboratories whose research was impacted, and that the NIH had already “reversed many” of the cuts. He says he didn’t take this job to terminate grants but to make sure the research advances the health needs of the American people.

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The World Bank says it is lifting a ban on loans to Uganda that it had put in place two years ago when the country passed a draconian new law against LGBTQ people. The World Bank however, says it is confident that new mitigation measures will allow it to roll out funding in such a way that does not harm or discriminate against LGBTQ people. Analysts say the World Bank is one of Uganda's biggest sources of external financing, playing an important role in infrastructure development. Road upgrades and widened electricity access are among the projects the organisation is backing in the East African country.

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Rwanda says it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a diplomatic row over its involvement in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was supposed to take up the chairman role of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), which rotates between its 11 members. Rwanda says its right to take up the "chairmanship… was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat". The Eccas leaders at the summit "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil". It added that until the dispute was resolved, it was decided that Equatorial Guinea would remain in the chairman role to the detriment of Rwanda.

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The World Bank has reiterated its projection that the Nigerian economy would grow by 3.6 percent in 2025 despite the shift in the global trade dynamics. The World Bank also slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 percentage points to 2.3 percent, saying that higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a “significant headwind” for nearly all economies. It warned that global growth could be weaker than projected if global trade tensions were to escalate further. The bank further stated that the direct impact on SSA growth of further escalation in global trade tensions may be contained owing to the limited direct exposure to export markets in China and the United States, apart from commodity demand.”

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