Africa Business News

Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State says Nigeria has become economically attractive to kidnappers and bandits within the Sahel region of the continent. The governor in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today strongly opposed the idea of granting blanket amnesty to the bandits, stating that the idea is enabling the miscreants to continue with their crimes.Masari argued that the security situation in the country has improved since the All Progressives Congress took the reigns.Masari also kicked against the intervention of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in quelling the banditry activities in the northwest.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged the federal government to restart the Safe Schools Initiative launched at the World Economic Forum in Abuja in May 2014 to protect schoolchildren from abductions.Okonjo-Iweala says that she had discussed the programme with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.She also expressed concerns that the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, as well as women-owned businesses, have been relegated in the country’s export drive.Okonjo-Iweala expressed optimism that a former British Prime Minister and United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Global Education, Mr Gordon and the UN would be willing to support Nigeria to restart the programme.

The federal government unveiled plans to spend $1.5 billion to revamp the Port Harcourt refinery.The FEC also approved N3.07 billion for the procurement of laboratory equipment for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control centres nationwide as well as the increase in the cost of the repair of the Enugu-Onitsha highway to N8.649 billion.Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the contract for the rehabilitation of the refinery was awarded to an Italian company, Tecnimont spa, which is an expert in refinery maintenance, while the funding will be sourced from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Internally Generated Revenue, budgetary allocations provisions and Afreximbank.He added that local content would be fully involved in the final execution of the project.

President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Minister of Health to ensure effective utilisation of Global Fund’s generous provision of $890 million, over the next three years, to support Nigeria’s fight against HIV-AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.President Buhari issued the directive for the period of 2021-2023, which will also support the establishment of resilient and sustainable systems for health in the country.The President, says the funding would complement investments in the health sector, help curb new infections, and reduce HIV-AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria-related morbidity and mortality.The President also applauded the Global Fund for their contribution of the sum of $51 million during the early stages of Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to procure Personal Protective Equipment, test kits, and scale up diagnostic capacity.

Taiwan’s newly-appointed defence minister says it has strengthened deployments in the disputed South China Sea and that the United States has approved the export of sensitive technology to equip Taiwan’s new submarine fleet.China has increased its military activity near the island in recent months seeking to pressure Taipei to accept Beijing’s sovereignty. Taiwan has vowed to defend itself.Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, says Taiwan has increased personnel and armaments on Itu Aba, the main island Taiwan occupies in the South China Sea.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that China was acting aggressively and repressively, citing its actions in the East and South China Seas where it has territorial disputes with Japan and other Asian nations.Blinken says Beijing was raising tensions not diminishing them in the region by its maritime actions and posturing over Taiwan.China’s extensive territorial claims in the East and South China Seas have become a priority issue in an increasingly testy Sino-U.S. relationship and are an important security concern for Japan.Blinken says Beijing was acting both more repressively at home and more aggressively abroad, including in the East China Sea, including with regard to the Senkakus, as well the South China sea and also with regard to Taiwan.

Lithuania on Tuesday followed more than a dozen other countries in suspending AstraZeneca vaccinations pending checks by the European Medicines Agency.Health Minister Arunas Dulkys says the vaccine will not be used as a precaution until the European Medicines Agency provides its final conclusions over its safety.Lithuania’s medicines control agency says three people have developed blood clots in the Baltic state of 2.8 million people after taking the vaccine but said it has no indications that the vaccine has caused them.The EU’s medicines regulator says it is looking at any serious side effects of all coronavirus vaccines and is expected to publish its conclusions on Thursday.

A senior World Health Organization official has urged African governments not to lose faith in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after several European countries suspended the use of the jab. The WHO's head of immunisation in Africa, Dr Richard Mihigo says the product had so far proved to be safe.The European Medicines Agency had earlier reaffirmed its conviction that the benefits of the jab outweighed the risks.African nations are relying on the AstraZeneca jab, as it's cheaper and easier to store than other vaccines.Many have already received doses under the Covax global sharing initiative.

A senior World Health Organization official has urged African governments not to lose faith in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after several European countries suspended the use of the jab. The WHO's head of immunisation in Africa, Dr Richard Mihigo says the product had so far proved to be safe.The European Medicines Agency had earlier reaffirmed its conviction that the benefits of the jab outweighed the risks.African nations are relying on the AstraZeneca jab, as it's cheaper and easier to store than other vaccines.Many have already received doses under the Covax global sharing initiative.

The High Court in Kenya is due to rule today on whether to decriminalise female genital mutilation for adult women.The case is in response to a 2017 petition by a doctor who argued that banning the practice was unconstitutional as women had the right to choose what to do with their bodies.Dr Tatu Kamau says women should be able to undergo the traditional practice in hospital, without fearing arrest.Campaigners fear the case may set back their attempts to eradicate the procedure.