Africa Business News

A court in Egypt has denied a request made by the owner of the ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March to have it released.The Ever Given ship owner wanted his vessel to be released pending the determination of another case in which the Suez Canal Authority is seeking compensation for the six days blockage.The authority wants the ship to be detained until a deposit of the compensation is paid.The authority says the compensation covers the costs of freeing the ship, damage caused and diversion of ships away from the canal.

The organised labour cautioned the National Economic Council against approving a recommendation by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum seeking an N385 pump price for petrol.Their warning came ahead of a National Executive Committee meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress, scheduled for Abuja tomorrow, to deliberate on the issue.The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, had however fears of an increase in petrol price, the various states’ chapters of the labour unions vowed to resist the proposed price regime if approved.

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product has recorded a growth of 0.51 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2021.The National Bureau of Statistics in the latest Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report noted that the new figure represented two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.The rate of growth recorded in the first quarter of 2021 was slower than the 1.87 per cent rate recorded in the first quarter of 2020.The figure was however higher than the 0.11 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020, indicative of a slow but continuous recovery.

The Presidential Steering Committee has published the names of 90 returning travellers who evaded the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.A statement by the PSC Chairman, Boss Mustapha, revealed that the erring persons comprised 63 Nigerians.Mustapha noted that the committee had issued a travel advisory on May 1 for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India, and Turkey, saying the measures were necessary to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of concern and break the chain of transmission to the population.The erring persons, according to the SGF, arrived in Nigeria between May 8 and 15 through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast in all public buildings, facilities, and official residences across the country.The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, explained that the presidential directive was to honour the memory and services of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, as well as the senior military officers and service members who died in a plane crash on Friday last week.Mustapha added that the President has approved Monday as a work-free day for members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu says the decision of the Southern Governors to ban open grazing is irreversible and will be enforced.Akeredolu, says they are ready to defend the legality of their decision in court.He is reacting to the statement by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami who faulted the ban on open grazing and said the governors do not have the right to do so.Ondo Governor in reaction said Malami’s comparison of open grazing to auto parts trading is not only strange but also annoyingly and ‘betrays a terrible mindset.He stressed that the Southern Governors are most willing to meet him in Court.

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to stop the proposed increase of the electricity tariff for June.They stressed that it was important to direct the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to rescind its decision on the proposed increment in view of the hard times Nigerians were going through.The lawmakers also mandated the House Committees on Power, Poverty Alleviation, as well as Labour, Employment and Productivity to ensure compliance with the directive.

President Joe Biden signed a hate crimes law on Thursday aimed at protecting Asian Americans who have suffered a surge in attacks during the Covid-19 pandemic.Biden told Asian American politicians and senior members of Congress in a packed room at the White House that racism is an ugly poison that has long plagued our nation.”Biden says the Asian American community had been made a scapegoat.

Zimbabwe has imposed a mandatory quarantine on travellers arriving from India, after a localised outbreak of a variant of Covid-19 first identified in India in central Zimbabwe.Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga says genomic sequencing tests revealed its presence in the country.All travellers from or transiting through India will now be quarantined at designated centres at their own cost.They will also be subject to a local coronavirus test.Zimbabwe’s Covid numbers remain low with 17 new cases and no deaths recorded in the latest daily update.

Ethiopia’s electoral board has announced that country’s general election will now take place on 21 June, 16 days later than planned.The country was supposed to hold nationwide elections last year but they were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.The delay contributed to the escalation of political tensions as some groups accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration of using the pandemic as a pretext to stay in power illegally.The electoral board says that logistical and operational difficulties, including belated voter registration in some areas due to recurring violence, meant it wouldn’t be possible to conduct the polls on time.