Africa Business News

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered that the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS).
Justice Binta Nyako gave the order while granting the application by the prosecution who had applied to remand Kanu.
The court ordered that Kanu be remanded in the DSS facility and adjourned his matter to July 26 and 27.
Mr Kanu’s re-arraignment comes after he was re-arrested by Nigerian authorities and brought back to the country. He is expected to face charges of treason in court.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari explained why the national oil company is purchasing a stake in the Dangote oil refinery.
The refinery is expected to begin production in 2022 with an installed 650,000 barrels per day capacity. It has been touted as a groundbreaking project for energy security in the country and for the African continent.
He argued that the decision was also driven by the profit potential of the refinery business. He says the net effect is that Nigeria will become the hub of petroleum products and supplies.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio says he wants to set up an international task force to counter the threat posed by the spread of ISIL affiliated groups across the African continent.
Di Maio says there are fears that the group can regain strength. He also warned against the alliance letting down its guard, despite the fact the ISIL fighters had lost much of their territories in Iraq and Syria.
Di Maio told reporters that with the support of the USA and many other partners, he proposed the establishment of an Africa task force to identify and stop ISIL related terrorist threats on the continent.

The European Commission says it had adopted decisions allowing Europeans’ data to keep flowing to Britain, satisfied that protections had so far not been affected by Brexit.
The commission vice president in charge of transparency, Vera Jourova, says London’s legal regime of protecting personal data is as it was.
She says they have significant safeguards and if anything changes on the UK side, they will intervene.
The decisions will notably ensure that British-based companies reliant on EU citizens’ data can continue to operate.
A post-Brexit transition period leaving rules on data flows unchanged was to run out at the end of June.

The eastern DR Congo city of Beni closed its schools, markets and churches for 48 hours after three bomb attacks over the weekend sparked fears of further violence.
The attacks included the first targeting a Catholic Church building and the first suicide bombing in the region, which has declared a state of siege after a string of massacres carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces militia.
Beni Mayor Narcisse Muteba announced a curfew saying that everyone should go inside because we have information that something else is being planned.
Muteba also asked that anyone wanting to enter Beni carry their identity papers.
The army asked Beni residents to report any suspicious movement, to dissociate themselves from the armed groups and to rally behind the armed forces.

Rights group Amnesty International has expressed concern over Zambia’s deteriorating human rights record ahead of the 12 August election.
The organisation’s director for East and South Africa, Deprose Muchena, says the past five years have seen an increasingly brutal crackdown on human rights, characterised by brazen attacks on any form of dissent.
He says protests were being stopped with unlawful and lethal force amid intimidation against those who spoke about corruption allegations facing the regime.
Amnesty says the last five years under President Edgar Lungu have been marked by media censorship, use of excessive force by the police, arrests and detention, which have created fear.

Egypt has used the opportunity of a meeting of foreign ministers in Rome to talk to the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the controversial dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile.
A tweet from Egypt's foreign ministry says that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was a major issue of concern
Ethiopia says the hydroelectric dam is vital to its development and could provide 65 million people with electricity.
AU-mediated talks aimed at negotiating an agreement between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, which is also affected, have stalled.
Egypt and Sudan appear to want commitments about the volume of water that Ethiopia will release.

There are concerns that the European Union's vaccine passport programme could exclude people who have been given a version of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine that was made in India.
The head of the African Union's vaccine delivery programme, Dr Ayoade Alakija, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that she hoped the EU exclusion was an administrative error.
She however says she was concerned that what it feels like here is there's a two-tier vaccine system.
The EU is set to introduce its Digital Covid Certificate on Thursday, but only four vaccines have been approved for inclusion.

The AFP news agency reports that the United States, Ireland and Britain have called for an emergency UN Security Council public meeting over the conflict-hit northern Tigray region.
Residents told the BBC that the forces had taken control of the streets and the airport. They also said they saw the Ethiopian military leaving the city during the day.
The Ethiopian government has not confirmed the loss of Mekelle but has declared a unilateral ceasefire.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had spoken to the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, and was hopeful that a cessation of hostilities would take place.

Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku has called for constitutional review as it concerns mining rights.
Mining is currently mostly under the Federal Government’s control under the law, but the Governor believes the exclusivity is worrisome and should be reviewed to promote the development of the sector.
He says Governors across the country have proffered solutions to the Federal government in order to have a win-win situation, but the Federal Government has paid deaf ears to their suggestions.
He says the mineral that is below the ground belongs to the Federal Government but they cannot go under the ground without calling on the landowner to access it