Newscast - Africa

Ghana and Uganda have banned the export of grains and other farm produce with the latter imposing high taxes to prevent food exports to neighbouring countries.
The Ghanian government has extended a ban on grain exports.
A temporary ban on exporting maize, rice, soybeans, and other grains which took effect in September last year will now run until September 2022.
The extension of the ban comes as grain prices soar, partly because of Russia's war on Ukraine.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will appoint a council this week to advise on a broad-based economic empowerment programme for black people.
He noted that while the empowerment programme that has been ongoing for 20 years has been significant, there has been inadequate progress in some areas.
He noted that at the end of the apartheid regime in 1994, black ownership of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was less than 1%.
He says more work was needed to address the challenges that businesses owned by black people face, including getting capital to start and expand their businesses, as well as finding markets for their products.

The United Nations Human Rights Office has urged the transitional authorities in Guinea to revoke a ban on public protests.
Earlier this month the country's military rulers issued a statement prohibiting gatherings in public places.
Opposition parties and civil society activists had expressed concern about the measures.
The UN's human rights spokesperson for Africa, Seif Magango, says the restrictions violated international norms and constituted a setback for democracy.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called for global solidarity in responding to crises facing the world, especially the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The DG underlined the important role the global trade body could play in helping to tackle pressing issues such as growing food insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, supply chain disruptions and dwindling fisheries resources.
The DG reminded participants that world leaders created a set of institutions after the Second World War based on the idea of solidifying international interdependence and solidarity and using these institutions to help solve problems of the global commons.

The International Monetary Fund warned that with Nigeria’s fuel subsidy payout averaging N500 billion monthly, total expenditure on subsidy could hit a record N6 trillion mark by year-end.
IMF’s Resident Representative for Nigeria, Mr Ari Aisen revealed that Nigeria received a total of $6.8 billion in facilities from the IMF following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The IMF chief expressed worry that many African countries, including Nigeria risk sliding into critical debt servicing problems unless urgent actions were explored to significantly raise revenue.
Aisen noted that over 80 per cent of the federal government’s revenue was committed to debt service, a situation he described as an existential problem

The Lagos State Government has commenced enforcement of its ban on commercial motorcycles, also known as Okada, in six local governments.
The local governments include Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa,
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced the ban on May 18 during a meeting with police chiefs in the state, saying it is total and indefinite.
The state’s Police Commissioner Abiodun Alabi has described most Okada riders as criminals who must be taken off the road.
The State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso noted that recent increases in accident rates have prompted the government to act again.

The head of the African Union, President Macky Sall of Senegal, has expressed grave concern at rising tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Mr Sall appealed for calm and urged both sides to resolve their dispute through dialogue.
Rwanda says two of its soldiers - Élysée Nkundabagenzi and Ntwari Gad - were being held captive in eastern DR Congo by the Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia, which it says gets support from Kinshasa.
DR Congo earlier suspended flights to Rwanda and summoned Kigali's ambassador - accusing its neighbour of backing M23 rebels, who it now officially designates as terrorists.

The US Justice Department will review the law enforcement response to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 school children and two teachers dead, as President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden met families who lost loved ones in America’s worst school shooting in nearly a decade.
The review comes amid mounting pressure and questions about the shifting and at times contradictory, information about what happened at Robb Elementary School.
Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley says that the review would be conducted in a fair, impartial and independent manner and that the findings would be made public.
Coley says the goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events.

South Korea’s National Assembly approved a 62 trillion won supplementary budget aimed at supporting businesses hit by pandemic-related restrictions.
The amount approved was 2.6 trillion won more than the 59.4 trillion won announced last month and will mostly be used for cash handouts for small businesses and self-employed people to make up for losses incurred due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The additional spending comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to compensate 5.5 million owners of small businesses for pandemic losses shortly before taking office on May 10.
The ministry says that it would not issue any bonds to fund the budget but instead would use tax revenue from existing spending plans.

Violence ensued at Taiwan’s parliament as lawmakers clashed over a bill that critics say could be used to overturn former President Chen Shui-bian’s conviction on corruption charges.
The ruckus occurred after dozens of legislators from the opposition Kuomintang, armed with signs and loudspeakers, took to the podium of the legislative chamber in the early morning to prevent a third reading of the bill.
The disorder subsided after an hour but as of midday, KMT legislators were still occupying a portion of the chamber with placards in tow.