Newscast - Africa

The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, says President Muhammadu Buhari will not hamper the implementation of the 2022 budget despite the numerous changes made by the National Assembly.
The presidential spokesman dismissed reports of a crisis between his principal and the federal lawmakers.
He noted that while it is true that the President expressed disagreement with these and many of the other alterations, including the reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce Empowerment Projects, innumerable lies are being spread about the President being angry at, had blasted or lashed out at the Parliament.

Seychelles took a step forward toward introducing electronic biometric passports after signing a contract with the French company IN Groupe.
The contract was signed by the Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka, and the Vice-President for Internal Sales of IN Groupe, Walter Groppi.
Fonseka says that the introduction of an electronic biometric passport in Seychelles is expected to raise the level of security at borders.
Fonseka says it will help in ensuring visitors and ourselves, movement of people through our border is enhanced, is faster and sleeker, but above all the security element of the biometric passport allows us to enhance our border control

China will impose new restrictions on offshore listings by firms in sectors that are off-limits to foreign investment, a move that could plug a loophole long used by the country’s technology industry to raise capital overseas.
the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce in a statement says Chinese firms in industries banned from foreign investment will need to seek a waiver from a negative list before proceeding for share sales, .
Overseas investors in such companies would be forbidden from participating in management and their total ownership would be capped at 30%, with a single investor holding no more than 10%, according to the updated list effective Jan. 1.

President Joe Biden has signed into law a $777.7bn US annual military budget weeks after Congress overwhelmingly passed the bill amid protests from progressives and anti-war groups who had advocated for cutting military spending.
The White House announced that Biden signed the piece of legislation, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on Monday, noting that the bill includes a pay increase for the US armed forces.
The US Senate passed the bill in an 89-10 vote on December 15, days after the House of Representatives had approved it in a vote of 363-70.
The White House expressed gratitude for the leading members of the armed services panels in the House and the Senate from both major parties. Congress allocated about $24bn more than the Biden administration had requested for the military.

France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country because of the radical nature of its imam’s preaching.
The mosque in Beauvais will remain shut for six months, according to the prefecture of the Oise region where Beauvais is located.
It says the sermons there incite hatred, violence and “defend jihad”.
Local authorities were legally bound to launch a 10-day period of information-gathering before taking action but told AFP that the mosque would now be shut within two days.

Hundreds of thousands more people were confined to their homes in northern China Tuesday as the country battled its worst Covid surge in 21 months and locked-down residents took to social media to complain about food shortages.
China has followed a zero-Covid strategy of tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns as Beijing prepares to welcome thousands of overseas visitors to February’s Winter Olympics.
The surge has prompted authorities to impose what they have called the strictest possible curbs in the northern city of Xi’an, whose 13 million residents are entering the sixth day of home confinement.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the Egyptian state's firm tendency to give political priority to advancing and developing relations with African countries, in light of historical ties, common strategic interests, mutual respect and joint benefit.
The top diplomat called for coordinating and boosting national efforts to continue the active movement in the African arena and promote bilateral relations with the various countries and continental regions in areas of common priority.
He also stressed Egypt's commitment to continuing training and capacity-building courses offered to African cadres in the various fields within the framework of solidarity and desired integration.

Data from the revenue service showed that South Africa’s trade surplus widened to 35.83 billion rands in November from a revised surplus of 27.68 billion rands in October.
The South African Revenue Service says exports rose 4.5% on a month-on-month basis to 162.79 billion rands, while imports fell 0.9% to 126.96 billion rands.

A South African court has halted oil giant Shell's seismic testing for oil and gas along the country's eastern coastline, pending a final ruling.
Shell says it had paused operations while it reviewed the judgement.
South Africa's Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe had condemned the project's critics, saying they wanted to deprive Africa of energy resources.
High Court Judge Gerald Bloem says that Shell's right to explore the waters near the Wild Coast was awarded on the basis of a substantially flawed consultation process.

President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2022 Appropriation Bill on Friday.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, says the 2022 budget has been transmitted by the National Assembly and the President will sign the bill into law by 10am.
This comes barely a week after lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers of the National Assembly passed a budget of N17.126 trillion, increasing the benchmark price of crude from $57 to $62 per barrel.