Africa Business News

The National Orientation Agency says the Federal Government’s first quarter 2025 savings following the removal of petrol subsidies increased by more than 500% compared to the previous period. The Agency noted that the subsidy removal has led to a significant increase in government revenue as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited began transferring savings to the Federation Account Allocation Committee. The savings from the declaration that stopped the subsidy freed vast resources, boosting government revenue from ₦154 billion to ₦836 billion in Q1. States saw FAAC allocations jump to ₦15.26 trillion in 2024, allowing salary payments and ₦1.85 trillion debt reduction. The report added that the savings have helped finance 40 critical road projects across the country in the two years of President Tinubu’s administration.

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned the United Kingdom must be prepared to confront and defeat hostile states with modern military capabilities, as his government unveils a 1.5-billion-pound plan to build at least six new weapons and explosives factories. Starmer says they are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, so we must be ready to fight and win. He added that they will restore Britain’s war-fighting readiness as the central purpose of our armed forces.” European nations have rushed to strengthen their armed forces in recent months, following Trump’s comments that Europe must shoulder more responsibility for its security.

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Australia's defence minister Richard Marles has called on China to explain why it needs to have "such an extraordinary military build-up". He says Beijing needs to provide greater transparency and reassurance as it is the "fundamental issue" for the region. The Philippines defence minister Gilberto Teodoro Jr has called China "absolutely irresponsible and reckless" in its actions in the South China Sea. Marles asserted that China has the single biggest increase in military capability and build up in conventional sense, by any country since the end of the Second World War".

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Equity Group, Kenya’s second-biggest bank by assets, has fired more than 1,200 employees in a sweeping internal purge to crack down on fraud. CEO James Mwangi says the probe found that staff across multiple departments had either facilitated or ignored suspicious transactions involving bank clients. While Equity’s new zero-tolerance stance will likely get regulators and public backing, it reveals deeper governance challenges within Kenya’s banking sector, which has been plagued by high-profile fraud cases. Few financial institutions have taken such a public and far-reaching approach to addressing internal fraud. The cleanup began quietly on May 20 when Equity dismissed an initial group of 200 employees, according to Mwangi.

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Nigerian Officials says the death toll after deadly floods hit the Nigerian town of Mokwa on Thursday has risen to more than 200. There are still 500 people missing in the town in north-central Niger State, as a search mission continues. The deputy chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Musa Kimboku, says that rescue efforts have ceased because authorities no longer believe anyone could still be alive. The floods, said to be worst in the area for 60 years, swept through the towns of Tiffin Maza and AnguwanHausawa after a bout of torrential rain.

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The Ebonyi State government launched EBOCAB, a ride-hailing platform to provide smart and affordable transportation alternatives for its people. The state government says EBOCAB was launched to cut down on crime, generate revenue, and provide new streams of employment for the youth. The service will be accessed through a mobile app, connects users with drivers round the clock. With its corporate headquarters in Abakiliki , this platform will serve commuters within and around Ebonyi’s airport, international market, and other corners of the state.

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The Federal Government has announced a landmark initiative under the Renewed Hope Agenda to deliver 77,400 social housing units across Nigeria and launch new Renewed Hope Cities in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano in a move to tackle the country’s housing deficit. The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Ata,says, “The primary mandate of the ministry is to provide mass housing for Nigerians, and welcomed potential collaboration with Ms Allen Le and Partners International Investment Consulting Joint Company in achieving this goal.” He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to solving housing challenges through major investments and partnerships.

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The Trump administration and congressional officials are scrutinizing a deal between Apple and Alibaba that would bring Alibaba-powered AI features to iPhones sold in China. The New York Times says White House officials and members of the House Select Committee on China have asked Apple executives directly about the deal, with questions focused on what data would be shared with Alibaba and whether the company was making any commitments to Chinese regulators. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi described Alibaba as a poster child for the Chinese Communist Party’s military-civil fusion strategy and says it was extremely disturbing that Apple had not been transparent about its agreement.

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OpenAI is poised to help develop a staggering 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi, positioning the company as a primary anchor tenant in what could become one of the world’s largest AI infrastructure projects. The UAE project, developed in partnership with G42 — an Abu Dhabi-based tech conglomerate — is part of OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project, a joint venture announced in January that could see OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle build massive data centers around the globe stocked with powerful computer chips to support AI development. The project is emerging amid broader AI ties between the U.S. and UAE that have been years in the making, and have made some lawmakers nervous.

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Ethiopia's main opposition party has condemned a ban on its activities, saying it posed a serious threat to the 2022 peace deal that ended two years of conflict in the northern Tigray region. The Tigray People's Liberation Front has called for the African Union to mediate with the federal government after the electoral agency revoked its legal status as a party. The decision follows months of political tensions in Tigray and comes ahead of nationwide elections that are due to take place by June next year at the latest. The National Election Board of Ethiopia, which supervises the conduct of political parties, resolved to formally deregister the TPLF on the grounds that it had failed to hold a general assembly.

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