Africa Business News

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the EU's decision to procure coronavirus vaccines jointly as the bloc struggles with delays in the rollout.EU leaders are to hold virtual talks shortly to discuss ways of boosting vaccine supplies and improving distribution across the 27 nations.Pressure is mounting upon them to deliver after other countries, like the UK, achieved much faster vaccination.The European Commission is seeking added controls on vaccine exports.Such controls could affect supply to the UK, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned against imposing blockades.The virtual summit comes as the third wave of coronavirus infections sweeps across much of mainland Europe.

Google announced that it has signed licensing deals with numerous Italian media publishers to pay for news content, in the US tech giant’s latest move to tamp down media anger over lost advertising revenue.The deal will give the Italian publishers access to the Google News Showcase programme, which sees its pay outlets for a selection of enriched content.Google News Showcase will be available in Italy in the coming months, it added.Fabio Vaccarono, CEO of Google Italy, says these agreements represent an important step forward and confirm Google’s commitment to Italian publishers.

The Hong Kong government tells foreign consulates to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia.The government informed about a dozen foreign consulates in a letter that it no longer considered the British National Overseas passport a valid travel document as of Jan. 31.A diplomatic row broke out over the BNO in January after Britain introduced a new visa scheme offering a pathway to full citizenship for Hongkongers who want to leave the Chinese-ruled territory.Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday agreed to oppose any interference in the internal affairs of other countries and defend the interests of developing countries.

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says that his Home Affairs department is working on a number of tech-focused features, with plans to take some services digitally.Motsoaledi says that the department will also introduce a number of changes that are aimed at increased identity security for citizens.He says this will curb identity theft from the onset as an ID number gets allocated and remains with the child for life.Motsoaledi said with live capture the department is able to identify applicants through online verification which has a direct interface with the Home Affairs National Identification System to identify persons through biometrics.Motsoaledi says that the South African Smart ID card and passport also have enhanced security features.

The State Capture Commission is set to appear at the Constitutional Court on where its application to have former president Jacob Zuma arrested, will be heard.Chairman of the commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, approached the apex court seeking a contempt of court order against Zuma and have him sentenced to two years in prison for his refusal to appear.The matter stems from the former president’s defiance of a January order by the Constitutional Court, compelling him to appear before the commission, following several delays on his end. Zuma however replied that the laws of this country are politicized even at the highest court in the land.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamilas says lawless officers must be made to feel the full weight of the law if faith in the Nigeria Police Force is to be totally restored. Hon. Gbajabiamila says that there are many good officers and men of the NPF, that there are erring officers that must be cropped off if the nation’s police force is to maintain its dignity.The PSC Act amendment bill was developed following the recent nationwide #EndSARS protests. It enabled the House of Reps to propose various reforms concerning police affairs in the country.The Speaker says reforming the Nigerian security architecture, with specific emphasis on the nation’s policing system and law enforcement, is one of the cardinal commitments of the 9th House of Representatives.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva says the National Assembly will pass the Petroleum Industry Bill which is currently before it by April 2021.He told reporters that the bill would not suffer a setback, going by all indications from the leadership of the National Assembly.The minister stated that if the nation must diversify from petroleum, it must go in the direction of the gas.He stressed the importance for Nigeria to steer away from oil to gas, adding that the 20-year-old PIB would attract a lot of investments to the gas sector.Sylva faulted Senator Dino Melaye’s analysis of the proposed rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. The minister said the Federal Government remained committed to its promise to deliver a functional refinery to Nigerians in due time.

The University of Aberdeen says it would return a Benin Bronze to Nigeria within weeks, one of the first public institutions to do so more than a century after Britain looted the sculptures and auctioned them to Western museums and collectors.The university says the sculpture of an Oba, or ruler, of the Kingdom of Benin, had left Nigeria in an extremely immoral fashion, leading it to reach out to authorities in 2019 to negotiate its return.Neil Curtis, Aberdeen’s head of museums and special collections, says the Bronze, purchased in 1957, had been blatantly looted.Professor Abba Isa Tijani, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments says the importance of displaying the Bronze inside Nigeria for the first time in more than 120 years was inexpressible.

India’s Oil Minister, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan says Nigeria and other African nations could play a central role in efforts by India to diversify its sources of oil and gas as the nation strives to reduce its energy reliance on the Middle East.India has asked state refiners to speed up the diversification of oil imports to gradually cut their dependence on the Middle East after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided earlier this month to continue production cuts in April.He says as India seeks to further diversify sourcing of crude oil and LNG, Africa has a central role largely due to its proximity and absence of any choke points in trans-shipments.Reuters reported that India imports over 80 per cent of its oil and has a huge oil import bill.

The House of Representatives has mandated its committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream to organise an investigative hearing to ascertain the true state of the Port Harcourt refinery which the Federal Government has approved the sum of $1.5billion for the rehabilitation.The House also mandated the committee to carry out a comprehensive audit of funds previously spent on the Port Harcourt refinery and other refineries across the country.The lawmakers expressed worry that so much had been spent on maintaining and rehabilitating the refineries but the outputs have barely improved.They also asked the Federal Government to grant licenses and provide incentives for the construction of modular refineries.The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who made the announcement after the FEC meeting says the rehabilitation will be carried out in three phases.