Newscast - Africa

Rebels from the M23 group have announced their retreat from villages captured in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo last week following clashes with government troops in the Rutshuru region.
The group says the M23 took the decision to withdraw, once more, from its newly-won positions to allow for its concerns to be addressed through open and fruitful dialogue with the government of DR Congo.
The M23 also says it intended to hand over all soldiers from the national army captured on the frontline to the International Committee of the Red Cross for proper care.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken out against the harassment of migrants in the country.
He compared the behaviour of vigilante groups to the apartheid regime's treatment of black South Africans.
He says frequent demonstrations have been held in recent months against undocumented migrants who are often accused of taking jobs from locals and committing crimes.
Mr Ramaphosa criticised the fact that vigilante groups have been stopping people on the streets and forcing them to produce identification to verify their immigration status.

The European Union says it is stopping its military training missions in Mali but will keep a presence in the Sahel region where jihadist attacks have been spreading in recent years.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says ministers had cited the presence of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group as one of the reasons for the decision not to continue training Malian troops.
France had earlier in February pulled troops out of Mali after a breakdown in relations with the ruling military junta that seized power last year.

The Chairman of the Presidential Vaccine Manufacturing Committee, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, says the construction of Ghana's first vaccine manufacturing plant is expected to begin in July this year.
Prof.Frimpong-Boateng says that the establishment of the plant was part of a 10-year roadmap to make Ghana self-sufficient in vaccine production to meet national and regional needs.
He says the government intends to upgrade the Food and Drugs Authority to a Maturity Four Level Regulator, establish the National Vaccine Institute, develop a bilateral and multilateral partnership in key areas and strengthen research in the development of vaccines for other diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.

NNPC spokesperson, Garba Deen Muhammad says European Union Ambassadors in Nigeria paid a courtesy call to the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company seeking to strengthen its partnership with Nigeria in the energy sector.
The EU Ambassador in Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, says Europe was interested in strengthening its cooperation with Nigeria, particularly in the area of a possible increase in the supplies of liquified Natural Gas.
The CEO of NNPC, Mele Kyari, assured the European delegation that the company would continue to deepen its historical relationship with EU companies in Nigeria in order to add more value towards increasing gas supply to the global market and enhancing domestic gas utilisation.

The Nigerian government has received 3.2 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, from the Italian government in Abuja.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, says Nigeria has fully vaccinated a little above 13.5 million people with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, representing 12.2 per cent of the eligible population in the country.
He says over 23 million people who have received their first doses are yet to take their second jab, a situation the Nigerian government hopes to improve with the rollout of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is a single shot.

Telecommunication giant, MTN, has received the final approval to operate as Momo Payment Service Bank Limited.
MTN Secretary, Uro Ukpanah in a statement says the date of commencement will be communicated to the CBN in accordance with its requirements.
PSB operators provide financial services through digital means to low-income earners and people that do not use banks or banking institutions for transactions.
They are expected to operate in rural regions and areas where Nigerians do not have bank accounts and should have at least 50 percent physical access points in rural areas.

Sri Lankan officials say that the crisis-hit country will temporarily suspend foreign debt payments to avoid a hard default, with its limited foreign reserves required for imports of essential items such as fuel.
Central Bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe says it has come to a point that making debt payments are challenging and impossible. The best action that can be taken is to restructure debt and avoid a hard default.

Telecoms equipment maker Nokia is pulling out of the Russian market going a step further than rival Ericsson to indefinitely suspend its business in the country.
Nokia says it had decided that quitting Russia was the only option while several sectors, including telecoms, have been exempted from some sanctions on humanitarian or related grounds.
CEO Pekka Lundmark says they just simply do not see any possibilities to continue in the country under the current circumstances.
He added Nokia would continue to support customers during its exit, and it was not possible to say at this stage how long the withdrawal would take.

Nepal has restricted imports of non-essential goods including cars, cosmetics and gold after its foreign currency reserves dropped.
The country's central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank, says foreign currency reserves fell by more than 16% to 1.17tn Nepali rupees in the seven months to the middle of February.
Narayan Prasad Pokharel, the deputy spokesperson at the central bank, told the Reuters news agency that the institution believed the country's foreign currency reserves were under pressure.
He added that importers were allowed to bring in 50 luxurious goods if they paid for them in full.