Africa Business News

A fuel emissions levy has taken effect in Ghana, sparking mixed reactions. The government now requires Ghanaians to pay an annual levy for the carbon emissions produced by their petrol or diesel-powered vehicles. Several citizens are opposing the charge, which they see as an added burden amid an ongoing economic crisis. The tax agency, the Ghana Revenue Authority says that the levy aligns with the government's plans to promote the use of eco-friendly technology and green energy. The GRA will begin immediately collecting the annual levy, approved by parliament in December.

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Namibia has a new president in the shape of Nangolo Mbumba just hours after, as vice-president, he had announced the death of his predecessor. Hage Geingob, 82, died early on Sunday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek. Mr Mbumba has since been sworn in as Mr Geingob's replacement and will serve in the role until elections due later this year. Paying tribute to his predecessor, he says the nation remains calm and stable owing to the leadership of President Geingob who was the chief architect of the constitution.

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Namibia has a new president in the shape of Nangolo Mbumba just hours after, as vice-president, he had announced the death of his predecessor. Hage Geingob, 82, died early on Sunday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek. Mr Mbumba has since been sworn in as Mr Geingob's replacement and will serve in the role until elections due later this year. Paying tribute to his predecessor, he says the nation remains calm and stable owing to the leadership of President Geingob who was the chief architect of the constitution.

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France says Senegal should end uncertainty created by President Macky Sall’s announcement that an election scheduled for February 25 would be postponed indefinitely calling for a vote as soon as possible. The intervention from Paris, the former colonial power in Senegal, came as opposition presidential candidates called for a Sunday afternoon demonstration in Dakar. Washington and West African bloc ECOWAS both expressed concern and called for a swift new vote following Sall’s Saturday announcement. The president says a conflict between the Constitutional Council and parliament over approvals of presidential candidacies had led to the suspension of the vote.

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France says Senegal should end uncertainty created by President Macky Sall’s announcement that an election scheduled for February 25 would be postponed indefinitely calling for a vote as soon as possible. The intervention from Paris, the former colonial power in Senegal, came as opposition presidential candidates called for a Sunday afternoon demonstration in Dakar. Washington and West African bloc ECOWAS both expressed concern and called for a swift new vote following Sall’s Saturday announcement. The president says a conflict between the Constitutional Council and parliament over approvals of presidential candidacies had led to the suspension of the vote.

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The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun has reactivated the Police Smartforce DataBase System as part of his digitalization drive for the Police Force. Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, says the main objective of the database is to tremendously enhance the competence and effective service delivery in all areas of policing, most especially in the smooth administrative management of the Nigeria Police Force as a whole. The IGP reiterated his vision for police driven by the integration of cutting-edge technology and Artificial Intelligence. He also ordered the immediate commencement of the digitalization process across all Commands and Formations of the Force for timeous upgrade and operation of the system and charged all officers to enrol for the process at their various command formations across the country.

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The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun has reactivated the Police Smartforce DataBase System as part of his digitalization drive for the Police Force. Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, says the main objective of the database is to tremendously enhance the competence and effective service delivery in all areas of policing, most especially in the smooth administrative management of the Nigeria Police Force as a whole. The IGP reiterated his vision for police driven by the integration of cutting-edge technology and Artificial Intelligence. He also ordered the immediate commencement of the digitalization process across all Commands and Formations of the Force for timeous upgrade and operation of the system and charged all officers to enrol for the process at their various command formations across the country.

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The central bank will no longer allow banks to carry out international money transfer operations. The bank also increased the application fees for International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) approval to N10 million. The rules are a revision of earlier guidelines released in 2014. The new rules also set a minimum operating capital of $1 million for foreign IMTOs and its naira equivalent for their indigenous counterparts. Nigeria’s apex financial regulator had previously granted international money transfer licences to fintech companies including Flutterwave, LemFi, PagaTech, VFD, and Interswitch among others. The revised guidelines didn’t state whether the existing licences would be revoked.

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The central bank will no longer allow banks to carry out international money transfer operations. The bank also increased the application fees for International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) approval to N10 million. The rules are a revision of earlier guidelines released in 2014. The new rules also set a minimum operating capital of $1 million for foreign IMTOs and its naira equivalent for their indigenous counterparts. Nigeria’s apex financial regulator had previously granted international money transfer licences to fintech companies including Flutterwave, LemFi, PagaTech, VFD, and Interswitch among others. The revised guidelines didn’t state whether the existing licences would be revoked.

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The US has approved plans for a series of strikes on Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq. The strikes will take place over a number of days and weather conditions will likely dictate when they are launched. It comes after a drone attack killed three US soldiers in Jordan, close to the Syrian border, on Sunday. The US blamed an Iranian-backed militia group for that attack. That group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, is believed to contain multiple militias that have been armed, funded and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards force. It has said it was responsible for Sunday's strike. Iran, meanwhile, has denied any role in the attack which injured 41 other US troops at the military base, known as Tower 22.

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