Africa Business News

The Federal Government has announced that Nigeria has exited the Maritime Organisation for West and Central Africa.
Eric Ojiekwe, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, explained that the decision followed the disregard for Rules of Procedure regarding the eligibility of candidates nominated for the position of the Secretary-General of the organisation.
He noted that Nigeria as a nation must take a stand against the promotion of illegality, disrespect for the rule of law, and contravention of the rules regarding the election of the Secretary-General of MOWCA.
This position followed the presentation for election for the position of Secretary-General of overaged candidates by Guinea and the Republic of Benin, leading Nigeria to further observe.

Germany health Ministry says it will start offering COVID booster shots to the elderly and at-risk from September, citing concerns over a reduced or rapidly declining immune response among some groups.
The health ministry says the booster shot either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna will also be offered to anyone who received the two-dose Astrazeneca or single-dose Johnson & Johnson jabs in the interests of preventative healthcare.

The presidency in a statement says Tunisian President Kais Saied relieved both the finance and economy minister and the communications and technologies minister who is also acting agriculture and water resources minister from their positions.
The statement added that Saied named Sihem Boughdiri to run the finance and economy ministry and Nizar ben Najy to run the communications and technologies ministry.

Morocco government says it will lengthen its night curfew, starting two hours earlier at 9 p.m. from Tuesday, as it tightens restrictions to counter a surge in coronavirus infections.
The government in a statement says the business and tourist hubs of Casablanca, Agadir and Marakech will be closed except to holders of the vaccine pass or those on necessary travel.
The move is expected to hurt tourism business which pinned hopes on the summer season to attract national tourists after travel receipts dropped 70% in the first half this year.
Morocco has administering 24 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines.

Tunisian President Kais Saied says that his country has received 6 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine as donations from friendly countries, as Tunisia struggles to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Saied says that Tunisia’s vaccination rate will be accelerated.
The number of deaths due to the pandemic has exceeded 20,000 in Tunisia.

The federal government has warned that House Officers on mandatory two-year housemanship training that embarks on strike would be made to repeat the posting without remuneration.
Registrar, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, says the law regulating the housemanship programme does not condone strike action by House Officers.
He says anyone found to be disobeying the rule should be reported to the Chief Medical Director, Medical Director or Medical Superintendent of the affected housemanship training Institution.
He says any interruption for any reason, including embarking on strike actions, during any of the postings will not be condoned and should be reported immediately to the Chief Medical Director, Medical Director or Medical Superintendent of the housemanship training Institution.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation assured that it would protect the interest of Nigeria in any transaction involving international oil companies interested in divesting from the country.
Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Mele Kyari, says the NNPC cannot stop any of the oil concerns from deciding to sell off any of their assets as far as the rules are followed.
The NNPC boss noted that having learnt from previous experiences, the corporation was developing requisite divestment policies that will provide clear guidelines and criteria for exiting of partners’ interest in all its Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contracts arrangements.

The federal government will commence cash payment to 200,000 urban poor senior citizens that do not have access to regular income and were severely impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Coordinator, National Social Safety Net Programme, Iorwa Apera, say the cash transfer for the 200,000 senior citizens would roll off after the data of the intended beneficiaries were authenticated by their respective communities.
He says four per cent of the 35 million poor and vulnerable persons drawn from 8.5 million in the national register across 36 states and the FCT was made up of elderly persons.
He says two million individuals, who were categorised as senior citizens were aggregated by location, education, age grade, status, disability and sex.

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has appointed a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tunji Disu, as the new Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, announced Disu’s appointment in a statement on Monday in Abuja, saying it was with immediate effect.
Kyari is being investigated following his indictment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over his alleged relationship with the fraudster Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
Mba explained that Disu’s appointment would fill the leadership gap within the IRT and refocus the Unit for better service delivery.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has raised an alarm over the increasing figure of coronavirus in the state and warned foreigners who violate guidelines that they risk deportation.
The governor called on residents to adhere strictly to the guidelines put in place to curb the spread of the virus.
The Governor says the positivity rate in Lagos is 8.9 per cent adding that it is an eight-fold increase over the recorded figure a month ago, and it should rightly be alarming.
Governor Sanwo-Olu believes everyone should be concerned about the rising cases, but he does not want people to panic.