Newscast - Africa

The International Monetary Fund has revised its projections for Egypt's real GDP growth in 2022 to reach 5.9 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent expected in January.
The IMF also expected Egypt's GDP to register 5 per cent in 2023.
The IMF expected Egypt's real GDP growth to reach 5.6 per cent, compared to growth projections of 5.2 per cent in its previous report in October.
IMF's Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath says Egypt was the only country among the oil-importing nations to record a positive growth rate thanks to its good management of the Covid-19 pandemic's fallout.

Senegal's President Macky Sall says he plans to regulate social media in the West African nation, describing it as a real cancer of modern societies.
Journalists also spoke out about receiving online and physical abuse for reporting the rape allegations.
There are fears that legal measures could be used to crack down on youths using social media to mobilise demonstrations against Mr Sall's administration.

Germany says it will no longer take part in a European Union military training mission in Mali because of concerns that the soldiers it helps could then fight alongside Russian forces who are suspected of atrocities.
Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht says the country's troops would continue to take part in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, so long as more troops were deployed to replace French soldiers who are pulling out.
Relations between the military rulers in Bamako and Western countries deteriorated after two recent coups and as a result of a decision by the authorities in Mali to work with Russian forces.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appealed to international donors not to divert resources from other humanitarian activities around the world to Ukraine.
He says the war in Ukraine was making things worse across the world, particularly in areas of food and energy.
Some humanitarian agencies are already complaining of a huge funding shortfall as countries focus more on what's happening in Ukraine.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said the visit by the UN chief was an assurance that Africa had not been forgotten despite the global attention on what he called the unfortunate situation in Ukraine.

The Nigerian Communications Commission has confirmed the issuance of final letters of award of the Fifth Generation Spectrum Licences to MTN and Mafab Communications, winners of the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum auction conducted by the Commission on December 13, 2021.
The CEO of MTN, Mr Karl Toriola, says the telecoms company had commenced 5G infrastructure rollout on its existing network nationwide and would roll out 5G services by the next quarter of the year.
He says the licensees are expected to commence the rollout of 5G services, effective from August 24, 2022.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill for an Act to proscribe ransom for kidnap victims.
The executive bills were speedily passed through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reading after lawmakers convened an emergency session on Wednesday.
The first bill is to repeal the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 and Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013, and enact the Terrorism (Prohibition and Prevention) Bill, 2022 to provide for an effective, unified, and comprehensive legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the detection, prevention, prohibition, prosecution and punishment of acts of terrorism, terrorism financing, proliferation and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Nigeria.

Hong Kong’s economy contracted last quarter for the first time in more than a year as local restrictions to curb Covid hit activity and China’s own omicron outbreak disrupted trade.
The advance estimates released by the government show that Gross domestic product fell 4% in the January-to-March period from a year earlier.
The government spokesperson says the city’s fifth coronavirus wave, along with moderating global demand growth and epidemic-induced cross-boundary transportation disruptions, all dragged on the economy.

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed the extreme gravity of the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine and called on the Russian leader to allow evacuations from the Mariupol steel plant to resume.
Macron asked Putin to restart evacuations at the besieged Azovstal plant in coordination with humanitarian units while allowing evacuees to choose their destinations, as called for under international law.
He also restated his willingness to work on conditions for a negotiated solution to the war, for peace and for full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and reiterated his oft-stated demand for a ceasefire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the West must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and accused Kyiv of not taking talks to end the conflict seriously.
Putin told Macron that the West could help stop these atrocities by putting relevant pressure on the Kyiv authorities, as well as halting the supply of weapons to Ukraine,
Putin also said Kyiv was not consistent or ready for serious work on ending the conflict.
Putin linked the food situation to Western sanctions against Russia and noted the importance of the unimpeded functioning of the global logistics and transport infrastructure.

Hong Kong has plummeted to 148th place in Reporters Without Borders’ annual index on press freedom, a drop of nearly 70 places in a single year.
The sharp descent is the result of new national security legislation imposed in 2020 and the revival of colonial-era anti-sedition laws dating back to the 1930s.
The Chinese territory now ranks just below the Philippines and Sri Lanka, and slightly above Turkey and India.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says that Hong Kong’s press freedom was as vibrant as ever citing the large number of regional and international institutions operating in Hong Kong alongside local media.