Newscast - Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari says efforts to get debt relief for African countries and Special Drawing Rights of about $650bn, especially with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have reached an advanced stage.
Buhari says over 30 million jobs had been lost since the pandemic, with about 26 to 40 million people going into extreme poverty.
The President pointed out that the post-pandemic stimulus package for Africa must go beyond individual efforts by the countries.
He added that there is a need for increased collaboration and integration of efforts to drive sustainable economic growth and recovery across the continent.
He says African parliaments have a particular role to play aside from the fact that they have been charged to make laws.

Nigerian authorities have been accused of failing to ensure justice for the killing of #EndSars protesters in 2020, six months after a judicial panel implicated security forces.
Human Rights Watch has tasked the government to act on the panel’s recommendations and hold those responsible to account.
It says failure to act on the panel’s recommendations will send a painful message to victims and risk encouraging more violence by security officers.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has refused the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele’s request to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami preventing him from his Presidential Ambition.
The CBN Governor through his Counsel, Mike Ozekhome, told the court that Section 84 ((12) of the Electoral Act as amended, 2022 does not affect him, being a public servant and not a political appointee.
The Judge also ordered the defendants to appear before him on May 12 to show cause why the CBN Governor’s request should not be granted.

Prof Emmanuel Osodeke says the Academic Staff Union of Universities has extended the ongoing strike by twelve weeks.
The president of the union, says the decision was to give the government enough time to resolve all outstanding issues with the lecturers.
He says the Government’s failure to live up to its responsibilities and speedily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action within the additional eight-week roll–over strike period declared on 14th March 2022.
He added that the NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for twelve weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

The Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange says the value of Bitcoin continued to fall over the weekend as it dropped below $34,000.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value has now fallen by 50% since its peak in November last year.
Bitcoin accounts for about a third of the cryptocurrency market with a total value of $636bn.
Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world, has also fallen in value, down by more than 10% in the last week.

Leaders of the Group of Seven have committed to phasing out their countries’ dependency on Russian energy.
The G7 says Putin has brought shame on his country and the historic sacrifices of its people by invading Ukraine, 77 years after the end of World War II.
They also reassured Zelenskyy of their commitment to helping Ukraine secure its free and democratic future and said they will continue to impose severe and immediate economic costs on Putin for his unjustifiable war.
The G7 added that it will phase out dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil.

Finance Minister Agak Achuil says output up until 2027 had been sold in order to pay the salaries of civil servants, who have not been paid since around September 2021.
A professor of economics at the University of Juba, Ahmed Morgan Yanga, says it was akin to pronouncing the country economically dead.
Dr Yanga says the government should not just rely on oil revenues, recommending it look to minerals and the tourism sector to raise money.
He says corruption was also an issue that needed to be addressed as he suspected vast amounts were being lost to graft.

President Uhuru Kenyatta says the Nairobi Expressway will be opened next Saturday to motorists on a trial basis.
President Kenyatta pointed out that the opening of the Highway will reduce the rampant traffic jam that is often witnessed on the roads.
He says this will give us the opportunity to see what can be improved as the government puts the final touches on the expressway.
Motorists using the Nairobi Expressway will be required to move at a speed of 80km/h once opened to the public.

The African Union condemned the attack that killed 11 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt says the attack targeted a water pumping station.
Egypt has battled militants in Sinai for years. The Islamic State group says it carried out Sunday's attack.
AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Sinai.

The United Nations warns that more Syrian children are in need than at any time since a devastating civil war erupted over a decade ago, but funding for them is dwindling.
UNICEF spokesperson Juliette Touma says a total of 9.3 million Syrian children are in need of aid both inside the country and in the wider region where they have fled.
UNICEF’s Middle East chief, Adele Khodr, says Children’s needs, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, are growing.