Newscast - Africa

Nigerian authorities say Islamic State of West Africa Province and Boko Haram terrorists are planning to establish a camp in Niger State.
The Secretary to the State Government, Ahmed Matane, raised the alarm on Tuesday while briefing reporters in Minna, the state capital.
He decried the escalated rate of attacks by bandits on innocent residents in recent weeks, saying they were now collaborating with insurgents to worsen the security situation in the state.
He was worried that the state was in such a situation despite the effort of the government to protect its citizens, including spending a sum of N5 billion to combat the security challenges in Niger.

President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the inauguration of the newly constituted Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, revealed that the inauguration of the Board, initially scheduled to hold on Wednesday, was suspended indefinitely.
Mustapha says President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate suspension of the inauguration of the newly constituted Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited scheduled for Wednesday 24th November 2021 until further notice.
He says a new date for the inauguration of the Board will be announced in due course.

The International Monetary Fund says it had agreed with Pakistan on measures needed to revive a stalled $6bn funding programme for the South Asian country, which faces growing economic challenges.
The IMF in a statement says the Pakistani authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on policies and reforms needed to complete the sixth review.
Pakistan had been in talks with the IMF for several months to seek relaxation in the terms and conditions of the package. Its government bonds jumped between 1.3 and 2.8 cents on the news of an agreement.
The IMF added that the agreement is subject to approval by the Executive Board, following the implementation of prior actions, notably on fiscal and institutional reforms.

The state news agencies of both the Gulf states said Oman and Qatar have signed agreements on military cooperation, taxation, tourism, ports, labour and investment as Oman seeks to invigorate its debt-burdened economy.
Oman is among the weakest financially of the Gulf oil producers.
The agreements were signed during a two-day state visit by Oman’s Sultan Haitham to the small but wealthy state of Qatar, one of the world’s top producers of liquefied natural gas.

The Kremlin says it is alarmed by a Western push to supply Ukraine with high-tech weapons that it claims are being used by Kyiv to provoke Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s comments come amid weeks of escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides accusing one another of mobilising military units along their shared border.
Peskov says Kyiv is itself building up its forces and being helped to build up its forces by being supplied with a significant amount of weapons, including modern high-tech weapons.
He added that the number of provocations is growing significantly and these provocations are being carried out with weapons being supplied by NATO countries.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says he will now lead his troops from the battlefront as the year-long conflict moves closer to the capital, Addis Ababa.
Mr Abiy in a statement says he will mobilise to the front to lead the defence forces.
It came after the ruling Prosperity Party's executive committee met on Monday to discuss the war.
The defence minister told local media after the meeting that security forces would be embarking on a different action over the conflict.
Special envoys from the African Union and the US have been trying to broker a ceasefire in recent days but there has been little progress so far.

Covid cases in South Africa are on the rise ahead of a predicted fourth wave.
The country has recorded 1,886 new virus cases since Saturday and 22 deaths from coronavirus.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla has urged more people to get vaccinated. Mr Phaahla says the uptake of vaccines has gone down in recent days.
The government says it has no plans to enforce a hard lockdown during the wave. The fourth wave was predicted to start next month through January.

The panel of inquiry set up by the Lagos State government to unravel the immediate and remote causes that led to the collapse of a 21-storey high-rise building at Ikoyi has given tomorrow as the deadline for the submission of memoranda by members of the public and relevant stakeholders.
The Chairman of the panel, Mr Toyin Ayinde, explained that the panel was given 30 days to complete its task.
He says the panel has been holding formal interviews with witnesses in order to identify the roles played in the activities that led to the collapse of the building.
He says the panel also received the report from the consultants who conducted verticality tests on the remaining structures standing in the premises of the collapsed building, saying results of the tests on the construction materials were still being awaited.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission pledged to support the Nigerian Gas Expansion programme of the federal government to improve domestic utilisation of gas for power, industrialisation in order to deepen Liquefied Petroleum Gas penetration in the country.
The federal government had said that the programme was envisioned to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty through the establishment of gas-related outlets that would serve the public when fully realised.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, explained that natural gas presents an opportunity for the nation to use gas as a catalyst for its socio-economic renaissance.
The Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, stressed that the NUPRC being a product of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 responsible for technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum business was fully prepared to ensure that Nigeria’s gas resources are fully harnessed.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it was working with key stakeholders in the payment system ecosystem to boost the adoption of its digital currency known as the eNaira.
The CBN Director, Information Technology Department, Mrs Rakiya Mohammed, explained that the apex bank was neither competing with the Deposit Money Banks nor other actors in the Nigerian payment system environment.
She says the CBN remained open to suggestions and innovation aimed at adding value to the eNaira and improving the user experience.
The CBN director urged the payment service providers to find more innovative ways to support members of the public in the onboarding process and use of eNaira.