Africa Business News

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that the UK is available to assist Nigeria in its war against terrorism.
Johnson stated this while holding bilateral talks at the sidelines of the Global Education Summit in London on Thursday.
President Buhari had earlier reviewed the security situation in the country's different regions, while PM Johnson pledged Britain’s preparedness to lend a helping hand.
The two leaders equally discussed how to increase trade between the two countries, develop solar and wind power, the leadership of the Commonwealth going forward, and other matters of mutual interest.

German drugmaker BioNTech plans to develop its first malaria vaccine and begin clinical trials by next year.
The ambitious turnaround time is thanks to the mRNA technology used to develop the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines in under a year.
The only approved malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, took scientists at GlaxoSmithKline more than 30 years to develop.
Apart from vaccines and pills, countries - including Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya - use drones to find mosquito breeding grounds and kill the larvae before they hatch.

The African Union has joined the European Union and the US in calling for dialogue and calm in Tunisia after the president suspended parliament and sacked government officials.
The union urged Tunisia to respect its constitution and reject violence.
The AU in a statement says Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat had a phone conversation with Tunisia's foreign minister in which he reiterated the need for government to respond to the aspirations of its people.
A spokesperson of the EU Commission urged all actors to respect Tunisia's constitution and called for calm.
The US state department spokesperson Ned Price urged Tunisia not to squander its democratic gains and to avoid taking any actions that could stifle democratic discourse or lead to violence.

The International Monetary Fund has revised upward its growth forecast for the Nigerian economy in 2022 by 0.3 per cent to 2.6 per cent compared to its earlier projection in its April edition while it retained its growth forecast for 2021.
Division Chief, Research Department, IMF, Malhar Nabar, stated that the reemergence of fuel subsidy and rise in security was hindering growth.
Nabar says they have maintained an unchanged forecast of 2.5 per cent and we have upgraded slightly for 2022 to 2.6 per cent. The reason for the unchanged forecast for this year is because it is a product of opposing developments.

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, says the private sector was responsible for over 60 per cent illegal movement of funds from Africa to foreign countries.
The ICPC boss says perpetrators of illicit financial flows channel such funds through commercial activities enabled by the private sector.
He says about 60 per cent of funds taken or stolen away from Africa through illicit financial flows are being done by the private sector, basically, through commercial transactions, seemingly harmless transactions that are put together by accountants, auditors and bankers.
The ICPC chairman also commented on attacks on staff of the commission and other anti-corruption agencies by suspects under investigation.

The Chief Of Army Staff, Lt Gen Farouk Yahaya has urged troops to be professional and competent in discharging their duties.
General Yahaya enjoined the troops to learn from their superiors in order to be proficient as he encouraged Senior Non-Commissioned Officers and Regimented Sergeant Major to uphold the professionalism of the Nigerian Army.
The COAS charged the RSMs as custodians of regimentation to endeavour to bring back the glory of the Nigerian Army by being role models to the young ones.

The Federal Government has vowed to sanction returning passengers who abscond from quarantine facilities, including possible prosecution of such individuals.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, believed such persons constitute a major risk to the country’s health system.
He raised concerns over reports from port health officials that some passengers from high risks countries have continued to abscond from facilities where they were quarantined.
Osagie noted that the world has witnessed an increase in reported cases of COVID-19 across a significant number of countries, due to the high transmissibility of the Delta Variant.
He explained that the threat included importation from countries that were popular travel destinations for Nigerians, including the United Kingdom, United States, UAE, France, and Turkey, which have a high incidence of virulent strain.

The Presidency issued an oath of secrecy to staff, warning them against divulging state secrets to the public.
State House Permanent Secretary, Tijjani Umar noted that alerting staff of the penalties that accrue to a breach of classified documents without authorization, has become fundamental, particularly to retired staff.
He disclosed that there has been no record of any breach of information yet, neither is their anticipation of any, but the exercise will continue to put civil servants in check.
The Director of Special Services Department, Office of the Government of the Federation, Tukur Yahaya, explained to the staff that underwent the sensitization program, that the safety and security of government information, documents and facilities is critical to guarantee continuous delivery of national service.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced an end to the weekly allocation and sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators in the country.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele says they have continued to observe that stakeholders in some of the sub-sectors have not been helpful in maintaining the country’s foreign exchange reserves to safeguard the value of the naira.
Emefiele says that the Bureau De Change operators have abandoned the original objective of their establishment which was to serve retail end users who need $5,000 or less.
He accused the BDC operators of facilitating grafts, illicit financial flows, and money laundering in the country.
He also accused international organisations, development finance organisations, and embassies of patronising BDC operators to fund local operations contravening Nigeria’s foreign exchange regulations.

The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for the National Identification Number - SIM data verification to October 31.
They said the decision to extend the deadline was made following a request by stakeholders to accommodate registration in hard-to-reach remote areas, foreigners and diplomatic missions, diaspora and address low enrolments in schools and hospitals, as evidenced by enrolment statistics.
It also followed a review of the progress of the exercise which indicated significant progress hence the need to consolidate the gains of the enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process across the country.
They added that there are over 5,500 enrolment systems within and outside the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.
Socio-Economic Rights Group Sues President Over Gag Order On Reporting Of Terrorist Attacks
The Socio-Economic Rights and AccountabilityProject and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development have filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, over the order to stop journalists and broadcast stations from reporting details of terrorist attacks and victims.
They are also seeking an order to compel and direct the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed to withdraw the directive asking journalists and broadcast stations to stop reporting details on terrorist attacks and victims, as the directive is unlawful and inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 and the country’s international human rights obligations.
Nigerians Spent N2.07tn on Petrol in 12 Months
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has revealed that it sold a total of N2.106 trillion of refined products to Nigerians between February 2020 and February 2021, with petrol taking a huge chunk of N2.070 trillion of the entire sales.
The corporation also disclosed that in terms of quantity, 17.215 billion litres of fuel, accounting for 99.37 of total refined products were imported during the period under review.
The NNPC noted that N188.15 billion was made on the sale of white products in the month of February 2021, lower than N190.72 billion sales recorded in January 2021.
The NNPC stated that 1.414 billion litres of white products were sold and distributed, compared with 1.436.40 billion litres in the month of January 2021.
The national oil company says this comprised 1.414 billion litres of petrol and 0.17 billion litres of diesel, consumed by Nigerians during the period.
Okonjo-Iweala Decries Low Rate of COVID-19 Vaccination in Nigeria
Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has lamented the low rate of COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria and Africa, in general.
Okonjo-Iweala says to fill the wide immunisation gap, WTO was ramping up vaccines’ production, with a target of 11 billion doses by the end of this year, way beyond the present output level of 3.8 billion.
Okonjo-Iweala says the production of the vaccine volume had been increasing, with the figure in June growing by 1.1 billion, representing a 45 per cent increase from May production.
She however says most doses end up in the developed countries and the vaccine inequity continues and vaccines producers need to change the story.
Tunisian President Suspends Parliament
Tunisian President Kais Saied announced the suspension of the country’s parliament and the dismissal of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi following a day of protests against the ruling party.
He says the constitution does not allow for the dissolution of parliament, but it does allow for its work to be suspended citing Article 80 which permits such a measure in case of imminent danger.
Saved says he would take over executive power with the help of a government headed by a new chief appointed by the president himself.
He also said that...