Africa Business News

The head of the Suez Canal Authority says that it plans to expand and deepen the stretch of the canal where the container ship Ever Given became stuck for six days in March.Osama Rabie made the remarks at an event attended by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, where a variety of infrastructure products were inaugurated.The blockage of the Suez Canal caused a huge disruption to global trading networks.The Ever Given is still being held as the Suez Canal Authority seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation from its owner.

The acting Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, Dr Sunday Soyemi testified before the judicial panel on restitution for victims of SARS-related abuses.He showed the panel a bullet he extracted from a victim of an extrajudicial killing, Charles Otoo.Dr Soyemi, a lecturer in the college of medicine, Lasuth and a pathologist of 17 years, testified that the cause of death was a severe injury to the brain following a gunshot to the skull.He said the bullet would still need to undergo ballistic examination before the coroner’s court.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved new security measures for the South-east and South-south regions of the country.The acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, refused to disclose the new measures, saying a decision was reached at the meeting not to, henceforth, publicise measures to be deployed to tackle insecurity in the country.He says the Security Council meeting which has taken place three times within the past 11 days has assessed the security situation in the country, particularly in the South-East, South-South as it affects law and order.

The Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism in the country.The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in tackling the menace of insurgency, banditry and other security threats across the country.He says the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has announced that the Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism.The Minister also appealed to Nigerians to support security agencies, who face the added task of having to watch their backs while working to protect others.

Nigerian Southern Governors have banned open grazing of cattle across states in the region and urged the President to address Nigerians on the state of the nation.The Governors also called for the restructuring of the country to address increasing agitations in different parts of the nation, while restating their commitment to the unity of the country.The ban on open grazing comes as herdsmen violence continues to be reported across the country.

Government data released shows that China's population grew at its slowest pace in decades.The average annual growth rate was 0.53% over the past 10 years, down from a rate of 0.57% between 2000 and 2010 - bringing the population to 1.41bn.The results add to pressure on Beijing to boost measures for couples to have more babies and avert a population decline.The results were announced in a once-a-decade census, which was originally expected to be released in April.The census was conducted in late 2020 where some seven million census takers had gone door-to-door to collect information from Chinese households.

An emergency legal challenge to Australia’s contentious ban on citizens returning from Covid-struck India failed dashing stranded travellers’ hopes of an immediate return.Federal Justice Thomas Thawley ruled the government had not overstepped its biosecurity powers in banning Australians from returning home temporarily.Thawley ruled that Morrison acted within the law, dashing the hopes of a 73-year-old Australian man who brought the case as he tries to return from Bangalore.The judge did not rule on the more complex question of whether the decision was unconstitutional, an issue that is set to be taken up at a later date.After widespread public outcry, Morrison indicated that the ban will not be extended beyond May 15.

The World Health Organization says a Covid-19 variant spreading in India, which is facing an explosive outbreak, appears to be more contagious and has been classified as being of concern.The UN health agency says the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India last October seemed to be transmitting more easily.The WHO’s lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove also pointed to early studies suggesting that there is some reduced neutralization meaning that antibodies appeared to have less impact on the variant in small-sample lab studies.The WHO insisted though that it was far too early to interpret this to mean that the variant might have more resistance to vaccine protections.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex says that France was emerging on a long-term basis from the Covid-19 crisis as he gave new details about shop and restaurant openings.Castex told Le Parisien newspaper that restaurant and bar terraces would open nationwide on May 19, but would be limited to half their normal capacity, while eating inside would be possible from June 9, also with half capacity.Shops will reopen on May 19, but with restrictions on the number of people they can admit based on their size, with limits set to be lifted on June 30.France is currently in a third lockdown, which is more limited than previous episodes from March-April and October-November last year.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has reconstituted the national parliament after dissolving it on Saturday, to pave way for the appointment of new MPs.The names of the appointed MPs were announced on the national broadcaster, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.The expanded parliament now includes legislators from the former rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) which is led by First Vice-President Riek Machar and other political parties.The Transitional National Legislative Assembly which was expanded on Monday from 400 to 550 MPs, consists of 332 lawmakers from President Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and 128 from Mr Machar's SPLM-IO.