Africa Business News

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the National Steering Committee of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy to be chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
President Buhari was confident that the program would address the underlying causes of poverty on the basis of which it developed programmes that would deal with the multi-dimensional nature of poverty within the practical context of comparative advantage of human and natural resources in the various geo-political zones.
He says the major challenge before the committee is to translate the good intention of the government into a positive impact on the average Nigerian in order to create an appreciative impact on the poverty situation in the country.

The United States, the European Union, Canada and The United Kingdom have imposed sweeping sanctions on Belarusian entities and officials and called on Minsk to end its repressive practices against its own people.
The allies also told the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko to cooperate with investigations into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight there in May and the arrest of the journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who were on board.
They said they are committed to supporting the long-suppressed democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and stand together to impose costs on the regime for its blatant disregard of international commitments.

The US Supreme Court ruled that America’s top university athletics body cannot block student-athletes from getting extra benefits, eroding its power over the multi-billion-dollar college sports industry.
The high court sided unanimously with student-athletes in a narrow case focused on whether they can receive limited cash or non-cash benefits from their schools related to their education, which the National Collegiate Athletic Association currently forbids.
The Supreme Court made it clear it did not accept the NCAA’s claim that its strict ban on their earning any money, to retain “amateur” status, was important to the business.
The court called the NCAA an effective monopoly in its control over the lucrative industry of college sports.

The World Health Organization says it is setting up a hub in South Africa to give companies from poor and middle-income countries the know-how and licences to produce COVID-19 vaccines, in what President Cyril Ramaphosa called a historic step to spread lifesaving technology.
The WHO says the tech transfer hub could make it possible for African companies to begin manufacturing mRNA vaccines in as little as nine to 12 months.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement aimed at boosting access to vaccines across the African continent, where coronavirus infections and deaths increased by almost 40 per cent over the past week.

The UN's human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has highlighted ethnic tensions in Ethiopia as voting continues in regional and parliamentary elections.
Nearly a fifth of the constituencies is not taking part in the poll because of insecurity and irregularities.
Ms Bachelet says the volatile situation needed to be addressed and called for a political dialogue.
She says in many other parts of Ethiopia alarming incidents of deadly ethnic and inter-communal violence and displacement are linked to increasing polarisation about longstanding grievances.
She added that the ongoing deployment of military forces is not a durable solution and encouraged comprehensive and multi-dimensional dialogue throughout the country to address the real grievances held.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, is confident that Nigeria will remain united as a strong nation to the frustration of those waiting to see the country broken into pieces.
He made the remark on Monday in Abuja at the maiden edition of the All Progressives Congress.
The Vice President acknowledged the need for all Nigerians to be guaranteed a fair chance at improving their human condition and urged the youth to be a part of conversations that will ensure this.
He asked the young generation not just to say it was time for them and for the older people to give way, stressing that such was unlikely to happen.
Professor Osinbajo, however, stated that it was the strength of the ideas and the depth of the youths’ organisation and not age that would retire those ahead of them.

The Senate dismissed insinuations that the ongoing efforts by the National Assembly to amend the National Broadcasting Commission Act and other media laws are a ploy to gag the media and stifle freedom of expression.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru says that the current efforts to amend the NBC Act and other relevant laws should not be misinterpreted as an attempt to stifle freedom of speech and free press.
He, however, said there is the need to ensure that some regulations are put in place to prevent abuse of such rights as exhibited by a few media establishments and individuals in recent times.
He stated that the current attempt to amend the NBC Act and the Press Council Act is to improve and sanitise the media industry and not to stifle the civic space.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has listed Nigeria and South Africa among nations being considered by Africa, in conjunction with the European Union and other partners, to create regional vaccine manufacturing hubs on the continent.
Okonjo-Iweala stated that regional production hubs would offer a more promising path to preparedness for a future health crisis.
Rwandan President, Mr Paul Kagame, also confirmed at the Qatar Economic Forum that Senegal, Rwanda, and South Africa were in talks with investors to start the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.
The continent of 1.3 billion people has fully vaccinated only about one per cent of its people against COVID-19 even as some wealthier countries have inoculated enough of their citizens to begin reopening their economies.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr George Ekpungu as the secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Dr Umar Gwandu, the spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice noted that the appointment by the President was for a fresh tenure of five years.
He says President Buhari also appointed four other persons as Board Members of the anti-graft agency.
They are Luqman Muhammad, Anumba Adaeze, Kola Adesina and Yahya Muhammad.
Gwandu stated that the appointment was in line with Section 2 (1) and Section 4 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004.
He says the EFCC has been operating without board members since 2015 and President Buhari has already directed that the names of the appointees be forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.

The Federal Government has announced the development of a National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework.
Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development explained that the National Humanitarian Coordination Technical Working Group, as directed by the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee came up with the initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability in Nigeria.
Farouq noted that the framework developed with the support of UNOCHA and other critical international and national humanitarian stakeholders would address root causes of conflict, by coherently addressing socio-economic vulnerabilities, to ensure sustainable peace, stability, and development in the country when launched.