Newscast - Africa

Statistics from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control revealed that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria increased to 220,020 with 1,424 additional cases confirmed on Wednesday.
The NCDC says that the new infections were recorded from 15 states in the country.
The number of confirmed cases of the virus in the country currently stands at 220, 020 cases while 211,292 cases have been discharged and 2,983 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory

Ecuador declared force majeure on all oil contracts, including exports and imports, as the threat of soil erosion forced the shutdown of the country’s two pipelines that transport crude across the Andes.
A statement by state-owned oil producer Petroecuador says the clause, which is invoked to remove liability from failing to honour contracts in the event of disasters, went into effect on Sunday.
It added that the country’s Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System and Heavy Crude Pipeline, as well as the Shushufindi-Quito petroleum products pipeline, had to be shut.
Ecuador’s third force majeure on oil contracts aims to overcome years of stagnant production in the former OPEC member and more than double output to near 1 million barrels a day.

The Asian Development Bank has cut its economic growth forecast for developing Asia for this year and next due to the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The Manila-based development bank forecast the region’s emerging economies would grow 7 per cent in 2021 and 5.3 per cent in 2022, down 0.1 per cent from its previous estimate.
The bank cited a resurgence of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant as the biggest risk to the region’s recovery, with other dangers including a prolonged slowdown in China’s housing market, rising inflation and global supply chain disruptions.
The bank cut India’s growth estimate to 9.7 per cent for 2021, compared with 10 per cent in September, with its 2022 estimate of 7.5 per cent growth remaining unchanged.

Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk says the electric carmaker will accept dogecoin as payment for merchandise on a test basis, sending the meme-based cryptocurrency up over 20%.
Dogecoin, popular among retail investors, raced up to $0.20 after the tweet. Chris Kline, co-founder of Bitcoin IRA says Elon Musk has been an advocate for the crypto community for many years.
His latest announcement will usher in a new era of commerce and trailblaze a path for altcoins to expand their use case.
Musk did not specify what merchandise, whose prices start from $50 and go as high as $1,900, could be bought with dogecoin.

The EU and Britain failed to reach an agreement on how to divvy up post-Brexit fish quotas in shared waters from next year meaning provisional quotas will apply.
EU fishing commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius says despite their best efforts to conclude in a timely manner, consultations with the UK on fishing opportunities for 2022 are still ongoing.
He announced that the European Union fishing ministers had approved quotas from January 1, 2022, in EU waters extending into the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the North Sea and the Black Sea.
Slovenian Fishing Minister Joze Podgorsek says they haven’t reached an agreement with the UK and remain optimistic that it will be possible to reach it by the 20th of December.
He says that provisional quotas with the UK on shared fishing stocks would remain in force until a new agreement was hammered out.

Tunisian President Kais Saied has announced that parliament will remain suspended until fresh elections are held a year from now.
Mr Saied also laid out plans for a referendum on the constitution next year.
Tunisian President Kais Saied has continued to cement his hold on power while stressing that his actions have been necessary to shake a corrupt political status quo and reinvigorate the failing economy.
The president has set the date for a referendum on the constitution to take place next 25 July a year from the day he staged his dramatic seizure of full executive power.

Ethiopia has rejected a plan by the UN's top human rights body to hold a special session on Friday to discuss the human rights situation in the country.
Ethiopia's foreign ministry says that it was perplexing and saddened by the UN Human Rights Council's decision to hold the session at the request of the European Union.
The Ethiopian government called on member states of the UN rights body to reject and vote against the special session.
The government says carrying out an investigation into the violations of human rights and atrocities committed by the TPLF terrorist group in Afar and Amhara regional states should be the priority at the moment.
The UN rights council says the session will discuss the grave human rights situation in Ethiopia.

A Kenyan court suspended a government order to prevent those who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from accessing services and entering public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants.
High Court judge Antony Mrima however suspended the order pending a hearing of the case filed by a businessman who termed the directive tyrannical and a gross violation of the constitution.
Campaigners including Human Rights Watch have criticised the directive as discriminatory and urged the government to abandon the plan, which also requires visitors from Europe to provide proof of full vaccination.
The health minister Mutahi Kagwe however defended the order saying it was the government’s duty to protect the rights of the vaccinated from exposure to infection.

The US State Department says the United States has targeted eight people from the Democratic Republic of Congo with visa restrictions for their suspected role in illegal wildlife or timber trafficking.
The State Department says the eight Congolese nationals had been sanctioned under Washington’s Immigration and Nationality Act, which means they could be barred entry to the United States.
It says the act targets wildlife and timber traffickers who are believed to be, or have been, complicit in or involved in trafficking in wildlife, wildlife parts, or products.

The African Development Bank says it will lend Nigeria $210 million to support smallholder farmers producing strategic crops and livestock.
AfDB says the funding is the first loan under an AfDB programme designed to reduce logistics costs. The programme is targeting seven states in Nigeria initially before being extended to 17 other African nations.
The bank says the project will support Nigeria’s efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity.