Africa Business News

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has shut down schools and suspended public gatherings as the country faces a surge of infections in a second Covid-19 wave.Public transport between districts will be banned starting Thursday to allow students who are in schools to return home.Bars, cinemas and theatres have also been closed.The suspension of schools and gatherings takes effect from Monday and will be in place for 42 days.A rise in coronavirus cases was reported two weeks ago and officials mulled over a lockdown to prevent health facilities from being overwhelmed.

Colonel Assimi Goïta is being sworn in as Mali’s interim president on Monday.It’s a fortnight since he removed the transitional president and prime minister in a coup - the second he’s engineered in nine months.Ecowas, joined the African Union in suspending Mali's membership, calling on the military government to adhere to an 18-month transition towards presidential elections in February.France and other Western powers also want a return to civilian rule.Mali is key to the stability of the Sahel region that’s beset by a jihadist insurgency.

A former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, kicked against the growing discussions and tensions surrounding the zoning of the presidency to any part of the country, describing it as ill-timed.Bafarawa says that the agitations were getting increasingly strident, noting that it is a misplaced priority given the problems besetting the country.He stated that it was high time politicians toned down such political issues and concentrated on good governance so that the country would eventually have peace.He advised all politicians across the political, tribal and regional divides to come together for the common good of the country.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is been affected by the under-recovery of petroleum-price and it may have begun to affect its operations as the national oil company failed to fund six of its scheduled projects in April.NNPC is also to team up with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Department of Petroleum Resources to sign an agreement on a framework to ensure greater transparency in the oil and gas industry.The funding performance from January to April, contained in the corporation’s presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee in May, showed that the gas infrastructure development, frontier exploration services and renewable energy development received zero allocation for the month.The data indicated that with the underfunding of the projects, variance in terms of actual budget and actual funding for five of the projects stood at N26.236 billion.

Transactions across various electronic payment channels rose marginally by 0.38 per cent to N21.27 trillion in May 2021, up from the N21.19 trillion recorded in April 2021.The report showed that the value of transactions was flat due to the slow level of economic activities recorded last month.It showed that while point of sale transactions declined marginally to N503.96 billion in May, down from N507.86 billion the previous month; transactions via NIBSS Instant Payment climbed to N21.246 trillion, as against N21.191 trillion recorded the previous month.It stated that the Q1 2021 data confirmed a slow growth and fragile economy, even as inflation showed a slight moderation to 18.12 per cent with food inflation down to 22.72 per cent.

The Central Bank of Nigeria announced the increase of foreign exchange allocations to banks to meet the requests of customers, particularly travellers, seeking forex for travel allowances, payment of tuition and medical fees, among other invisible.The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele cautioning them to desist from denying customers, particularly travellers, the opportunity to purchase forex for Personal Travel Allowance, Basic Travel Allowance, tuition fees, and medical payments as well as Small and Medium Enterprises transactions or for the repatriation of Foreign Direct Investment proceeds.The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, says that the CBN remained committed to ensuring liquidity in the forex market to meet genuine and legitimate demands of customers.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Sierra Leone Henry Omaku has restated President Muhammadu Buhari’s firm commitment to assisting Sierra Leone.He restated the commitment when he presented his letter of credence to President Julius Maada Bio on Saturday in the Country’s capital, Freetown.Mr Omaku reiterated the relationship that both countries have and assured to sustain it in their interest.Nigeria’s high commissioner who felicitated with President Julius over his country’s 60th anniversary, offered himself to be a part of its nation-building policies.President Julius says his country remains indebted to Nigeria for its support which centres on peacebuilding, health and Education.

Algerian President Abdelamdjid Tebboune says France should now fully recognise the colonial crimes it committed in his country.Mr Tebboune told the French magazine Le Point that this would be a form of apology.He referred to the massacre of 8 May 1945 when the French authorities killed thousands of Algerians during a peaceful demonstration. The Algerians were celebrating the end of World War Two and demanding independence.The Algerian leader says that the generation of President Emmanuel Macron and the French intellectuals today did not blame those crimes.

The parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo has voted to extend martial law in Ituri and North Kivu provinces that have been rocked by insecurity.The state of emergency imposed on 6 May has been extended for 15 days.Military administrations have replaced civilian authorities in the two provinces to curb insecurity.President Félix Tshisekedi gave extra powers to the military to address the insecurity, which has seen numerous attacks every week despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers.Some of the attacks in the areas have been blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces.

The Independent National Electoral Commission says it is already working on a project to allow the electorate to cast their votes online and decongest crowds at polling stations across the country.Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information, however, did not give a specific timeframe as to when online voting would be implemented.He says people voting online or using the internet to vote is a project that the commission is working on and at the appropriate time, the commission will unveil what it is doing.