Newscast - Africa

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé has agreed to act as a mediator in the Malian political crisis, both countries’ foreign ministers have confirmed.
The West African regional bloc, Ecowas, has imposed sanctions on the country, including freezing its assets.
Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop met his Togolese counterpart Robert Dussey in Lomé to seek Togo’s support in discussions with the international community.
Mr Dussey says his president and the Togolese government are ready to facilitate a fruitful dialogue between Mali and the international community.

Mozambique is planning a new law that will regulate churches' activities, impose taxes on them, and require them to have a minimum number of 200 signatures in order to register.
Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs Minister Helena Kida says a government analysis had revealed warning signs amid a runaway proliferation of churches.
The Christian Council of Mozambique is backing most of the provisions of the proposed law, saying it recognises that the government wants to bring order.
The provision to tax churches however worries the churches.

The militants say that more than 170 AU soldiers had died - mostly Burundian nationals - but this number has not been independently verified.
The AU mission in Somalia has however confirmed that the base in the Middle Shabelle region was staffed by Burundian peacekeepers.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric wished a speedy recovery to the injured and called for the international community to provide all necessary support to Atmis and to the Somali security forces in their fight against Al-Shabab.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has reminded political parties that they have one month to conduct their primaries and present candidates for the 2023 general elections.
The electoral body says political parties are expected to follow the timetable and schedule of activities as released by the commission ahead of the polls.
It explained that parties are to conduct their primaries for the nomination of candidates from 4th April to 3rd June 2022.
INEC reiterated that the nominations for the presidential and National Assembly elections should be submitted to it between 10th to 17th June 2022 while that of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly are expected between 1st and 15th July 2022.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr Simbi Wabote, stated that African countries must leverage the robust platform and opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.
Wabote says the agreement is key to driving home the local content narrative to achieve sustainable growth and development in Africa.
He noted that the AfCFTA is Africa’s move to harmonize its markets for economic integration across all 55 member states with the objective of tapping into the Gross Domestic Product of over $3 trillion.

Germany’s anti-cartel watchdog says it has placed Meta, the company which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, under close watch for any possible abuse.
The Federal Cartel Office says it has determined Meta to be a company of paramount significance for competition against potential competition infringements.
Federal Cartel Office chief Andreas Mundt says the digital ecosystem created by Meta has a very large user base and makes the company the key player in social media.
He says Meta has also waived its right to appeal the German office’s decision.

European Council President Charles Michel pledged to increase EU military aid to Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbour that has seen a series of attacks in a pro-Moscow separatist region.
Michel says the EU will up support in the field of logistics, and cyber defence and will seek to provide more military-building capacities to Moldova, without going into further detail.
Michel added that the bloc will help Moldova cope with the consequences of the spillover from the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Beijing closed dozens of subway stations and expanded Covid restrictions constricting movement around the Chinese capital despite logging only dozens of daily cases.
Beijing reported 51 local infections, five of them asymptomatic, while Shanghai reported nearly 5,000.
Municipal government spokesman Xu Hejian told reporters that the capital would temporarily extend its tightened Covid curbs including a ban on restaurant dine-ins and suspension of entertainment venues and gyms.
Officials initially said the ramped-up curbs would apply to the traditionally busy Labour Day break ending Thursday.

The European Commission proposed a gradual ban on Russian oil imports to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, as Russian forces pounded sites to the east of the country and hit targets in the far west near the EU border.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the bloc would phase out the Russian supply of crude oil within six months, and refined products by the end of the year.
The proposed new sanctions also include moves against Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, and the targeting of Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Federal Reserve made its biggest rate hike since 2000 with a half percentage point increase meant to crush soaring inflation in the United States.
The US central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee pushed the rate above 0.75 per cent as it works to cool the economy while noting more increases will be appropriate.
Inflation has become an overriding concern after the world’s largest economy saw annual consumer prices jump 8.5 per cent over the 12 months to March — the biggest jump since December 1981.
The committee noted the highly uncertain impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow, which are creating additional upward pressure on inflation and are likely to weigh on economic activity.