Newscast - Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed the establishment of the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Trust fund, a private sector investment window through which Nigerians in the diaspora can invest in the country.
President Buhari says that Nigeria is open to embracing the diaspora direct investment by compatriots abroad.
The President noted that the foreign exchange remittances by Nigerians in the diaspora have not only helped families but enhanced the development index of Nigeria while pledging support for the establishment of the diaspora intervention fund to support the commission to fulfil its mandate.

Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed will continue in her role as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, made the assertion to formalise his prior announcement that the former Minister of the Environment would continue in her role during his second term.
The UN scribe set in motion the most ambitious reform in the history of the organisation’s development system.
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for the Deputy Secretary-General’s leadership of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group and her determination to reinforce collective results and maximise the impact of the United Nations development’s system on the ground

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast, effective from the 12th to 14th of January, 2022, as a mark of respect for the former Head of State Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan, who died on Tuesday, January 11.
Chief Ernest Shonekan, who headed the Interim National Government that succeeded the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, died on Tuesday at the age of 85.
He was the interim head of the Nigerian Government between August 26, 1993, and November 17, 1993, but was ousted in a coup led by late General Sani Abacha.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain along with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef bin Falah al-Hajrah have arrived in Beijing for a five-day visit.
The visit follows a flurry of diplomatic activity by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, including a tour of Africa as well as visits to the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
The officials are expected to discuss strengthening energy ties with Beijing.
China has sought to bolster its ties with the Gulf states, with President Xi Jinping in 2014 aiming to more than double trade with the region by 2023.

Iran’s foreign ministry says the country is still some time away from officially recognising the Taliban as the government of neighbouring Afghanistan after a meeting with the group in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh says the high-level talks with Taliban representatives were positive but Iran is still not at the point of officially recognising the Taliban.
He added that the current condition of Afghanistan is a major concern for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the visit of the Afghan delegation was within the framework of these concerns.

Somali leaders have agreed to conclude the long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections by February 25.
The spokesman of the prime minister, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, says all involved in the electoral process should respect the rules in order to move forward.
He says in order to safeguard the close coordination of the electoral body, the national consultative council calls upon various levels of the poll management agency to respect the rules and regulations as per the existing electoral agreements.
He added the council reiterates respect for the 30 per cent quota of seats to be held for women in the ongoing process.

Malawi's Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has issued out a 60-day amnesty to all alleged crooked companies and individuals who have defrauded the public purse in their business dealings or illegally acquired wealth through procurement fraud and corruption to voluntarily pay back the said wealth or face the long arm of the law.
The government's chief legal advisor, Chakaka Nyirenda, urged procurement entities in the country to produce copies of contracts with entities owned by or connected with, Mr Zuneith Sattar.
The Attorney General has been decided to terminate all the contracts owned by or connected with Zuneith Sattar's business entities with immediate effect.

The Kenyan central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its next rate-setting meeting on Jan. 26.
The committee earlier held the benchmark lending rate at 7.0%, citing anchored price increases and early indications of the economy benefiting from an accommodative stance.

The Economic Community of West African States will impose sanctions on the military junta in Mali, while member states will withdraw all their ambassadors as well as close land and air borders with the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, stated that after reviewing the situation in Mali at the summit, the sub-regional leaders rejected the transition schedule proposed by the Malian military junta which they said was totally unacceptable.
The body also imposed additional sanctions on the junta, including the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS states and Mali.
It, however, exempted some products such as essential consumer goods, pharmaceutical products, as well as medical supplies and equipment, especially materials for electricity and the control of COVID-19.

Human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, says that his legal team will establish the ‘massive cover-up’ in the controversy trailing the death of Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr).
Falana, who is the counsel to the Oromoni family, stated that they are going to establish evidence of a massive cover-up.
Falana insisted that the state government did not have a Director of Public Prosecution on January 4 when the report was issued.