Africa Business News

The federal government has appealed to Nigerians not to leave firefighting in the hands of professional firefighters alone, calling on all to contribute their quota towards guaranteeing fire safety and avert the spate of fire incidents across the country.
A statement on Thursday by the Director of Press in the Ministry of Interior, Mrs Blessing Lere-Adams, says fire safety management is the collective responsibility of the people and professional firefighters.
He added that the best approach of fire safety management would eventually lead to the protection of lives and property by averting the outbreak of preventable fire incidents.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has stated that the collaborators of the now arrested leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu will face the full wrath of the law for their activities that challenged the nation’s sovereignty and threatened its unity.
Mohammed asserted the government’s planned course on the arrested leader of the proscribed separatist group, who is now standing trial for an 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms, among others, at a media briefing Thursday.
The minister says that forensic investigation carried out so far had revealed a treasure trove of information on Kanu and his collaborators.
He vowed that the IPOB leader’s financiers will be exposed no matter how highly placed, saying no one is bigger than the country.

The House of Representatives has upheld the federal government’s decision to suspend the operation of micro-blogging company, Twitter in the country indefinitely.
The federal government had announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter because it allowed its platform to be used for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
The House rejected the lifting of the ban during the consideration of the report submitted by the joint committee constituted to investigate the ban.

The Senate has passed the Petroleum Industry Bill known as PIB. The bill was passed during the plenary on Thursday after careful consideration of each of the clauses.
The Bill seeks to introduce changes to the governance, administrative, regulatory, and fiscal framework of the Nigerian oil and gas industry to ensure transparency, strengthen the governing institutions, and attract investment capital, among other objectives.
Senate President Ahmed Lawan says the Senate expects President Buhari to sign the bill as soon as it is transmitted.

The Federal Government says it has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to July 26.
A statement signed jointly by spokespersons of the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Nigeria Identity Management Commission says at least 57.3 million Nigerians have enrolled for the NIN, with an average of three to four SIMs per NIN, according to the agencies.
The agencies also noted that as of June 28, a total of 5,410 enrollment systems have been made available nationwide to significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says that his Starlink venture was growing quickly as he forecast total investment costs in the satellite internet business at between $20bn and $30bn.
He says Starlink has two quite significant partnerships with major country telcos that could help the SpaceX division plug the gaps in fifth-generation mobile and cellular networks.
The Tesla Inc CEO and founder of SpaceX, a rocket ship venture that seeks to colonise Mars, says investment costs before Starlink achieves fully positive cash flow would be $5bn to $10bn.

The prime minister’s office says Somalia’s political leaders have agreed to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 10, following months of deadlock that turned violent at times.
The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble unveiled the timetable for indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in a statement on Twitter, saying stakeholders had agreed to a roadmap for a vote following two days of talks in the capital Mogadishu.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and the leaders of Somalia’s five states had been unable to agree on the terms of a vote before his term lapsed in February, triggering an unprecedented constitutional crisis.

Health authorities in Uganda have approved a locally manufactured herbal medicine to treat Covid-19 patients and other viral infections.
The country’s drug regulator, the National Drug Authority says the product is formulated from herbal plants that have been traditionally used to alleviate symptoms of several diseases.
It is however not a cure for Covid-19.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology, where the developer Prof Patrick Ogwang teaches, also claimed the product as its own and said it had been leaked to the market before going through the right procedure.
The NDA says the approval was based on initial assessment, published literature, and safety studies and that its innovator had also withdrawn unsubstantiated claims that the product treats and prevents Covid-19.

The United States says Ethiopia's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in the Tigray region could be a positive step if it results in moves to end the conflict.
The State Department urged all parties to allow humanitarian access and speed up the delivery of food assistance.
United Nations officials say the rebels entered the town of Shire on Tuesday, after seizing the regional capital Mekelle the day before.
The United States also called for the immediate, verifiable withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who've been supporting Ethiopian federal forces.
The Tigrayans have said they will not stop fighting until they have degraded the capabilities of their enemies.

The Niger State House of Assembly has passed a bill imposing capital punishment on kidnappers, bandits, and their informants.
The bill, if assented to by the Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, will check the increasing wave of kidnapping and banditry in the state and strengthen the fight against criminalities by the state government.
The bill states that anyone found guilty of the offence of banditry, kidnapping, or giving out information that results in kidnapping and banditry will be sentenced to death by hanging in public.
The bill amends the Kidnapping and Cattle Rustling (Special Provision) Law 2021.
The recommendation was made by the House Committees on Security and Intelligence and Judicial Matters when it presented its report to the House.
The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Bello Ahmad, representing Agwara Constituency, said informants were included in the bill because the information given to criminals contribute to the increasing spate of banditry and kidnapping in the state.