Newscast - Africa

Nigerian State governments have asked the Federal Government to refrain from deducting from funds accruing to them and all local government councils as liquidation for the alleged $418 million London/Paris Club loan refund-related judgment debts.
The state governments say they were not parties to any suit on the London/Paris Club refund and were thus not liable to any person or entity in any judgment debt being relied on by the federal government.
The document was signed by leaders of the body of attorneys-general of the federation on behalf of all the state attorneys-general.

French prosecutors say they are examining a report by the European Union’s anti-fraud agency that accuses far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and members of her party of misappropriating European Parliament funds.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed it was studying a report it received from the European Anti-Fraud Office on March 11.
The French news platform Mediapart,says the report alleges that Le Pen personally misappropriated about 137,000 euros of public money from the Strasbourg-based European Parliament during her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017.

Russia has banned entry to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top officials after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the step was taken as a response to London’s unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy.
Russia’s entry blacklist includes UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, former PM Theresa May and the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.

China says it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves for the first time this year, releasing about 530 billion yuan in long-term liquidity to cushion a sharp slowdown in economic growth.
The People’s Bank of China says it would cut the reserve requirement ratio for all banks by 25 basis points effective from April 25, but analysts said it might not yet be enough to reverse the slowdown.
The PBOC says the latest RRR cut would boost the long-term funds for banks, enabling them to step up support for industries and firms affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, and lower costs for banks.

Britain has agreed to a deal with Rwanda to relocate some asylum seekers to the central African country.
The Rwandan government will receive an initial payment of over $150m to take part in the scheme.
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been giving details of the scheme which would see single men applying for refugee status sent 6,000km away to be resettled in Rwanda.
He says he was taking action to deter people smuggling.

President Museveni says he is going to take action against Uganda Airlines officials for the delay in the national carrier taking direct flights to the UK.
Museveni says he would push Civil Aviation Authority and Uganda Airlines to have the paperwork done soon to ensure direct flights begin but insisted the officials are lazy.
Lord Popat asked the Ugandan government to work on the issue of starting direct flights to UK by Uganda Airlines to promote tourism and investments.

The Kenyan government has confirmed the deportation of the French chief executive of one of the biggest oil marketers in Kenya amid a fuel shortage crisis.
Kenya's energy regulator says it would act against oil marketers creating what it says is an artificial shortage of fuel in the country.
The Energy Ministry says Kenya has sufficient stocks of petroleum products and the scarcity is a result of some oil marketers hoarding and prioritising exports to neighbouring countries.
The government says $295million owed to oil marketers had been paid, while the remaining $121m would be paid later.

The IMF says it plans to raise at least $45 billion for a new trust to help low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries cope with protracted challenges like pandemics and climate change.
The World Bank collection of development indicators says Nigeria is among lower-middle-income countries with a gross national income per capita of $2,157 in 2019.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says they must not lose sight of the critical actions needed today to ensure longer-term resilience and sustainability.
She added that the goal of the trust is to redistribute funds from wealthier countries to more vulnerable ones as members look to support global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Buhari says the deficiencies in the country's Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism regime make it imperative for the passage of both bills.
President Muhammadu Buhari has transmitted Money Laundering and Terrorism Prevention bills to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
The amended Act makes it mandatory for banks and other financial institutions to report any single transaction or lodgment in excess of N5 million for an individual, and N10 million in the case of a corporate body.
The president warned that the non-passage of both bills poses a risk that may lead to the eventual blacklisting of Nigeria by the Financial Action Task Force.

The United States has approved the sale of military equipment to Nigeria worth $997 million after US lawmakers lifted objections over human rights concerns.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which announced the sale of the helicopters and related defence systems to the Nigerian military says the weapons include 12 attack helicopters, 2,000 advanced precisions kill weapon system guidance sections, and a night vision imaging system.
The United States says the sale of weapons is part of efforts to boost security for Nigeria.