Newscast - Africa

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he has decided to repeal three controversial farm laws against which farmers have protested for more than a year.
Modi says In the Parliament session starting later in the month, they will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three agricultural laws.”
Small farmers say the changes make them vulnerable to competition from big business, and that they could eventually lose price support for staples such as wheat and rice.
The government says reform of the sector, which accounts for about 15 per cent of the $2.7 trillion economies, means new opportunities and better prices for farmers.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a new refugee bill that allows asylum seekers easier access to education, and opportunities to integrate and earn a living.
The authorities say the camps have been used as breeding grounds for terrorists blamed for some of the worst attacks on Kenyan soil.
Kenya has been in a protracted struggle with the UN refugee agency over plans to shut down the Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps that for decades, have been home to half a million refugees mainly from Somalia and South Sudan.

The government of Djibouti says the year-long war in neighbouring Ethiopia has had a drastic impact on its economy.
Djibouti’s Finance Minister, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, told the BBC that due to the conflict trade had reduced to about 20% of what it was.
He says the country had lost $1.7bn because over 90% of Ethiopia's goods pass through the port of Djibouti and both nations have invested billions of dollars to build a trade corridor including a rail link.

The US has ended sanctions imposed against Burundi six years ago, citing reforms in the country.
A statement by the US Department of State noted that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order that authorised the sanctions.
It acknowledged last year’s elections that brought in President Évariste Ndayishimiye and the reforms he has pursued across many sectors.
The US Treasury’s deputy secretary, Wally Adeyemo, says  that the US would continue to press Burundi to improve the human rights situation in the country and hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses.

Sudanese authorities have restored the internet nearly a month since it was suspended after the military deposed the civilian-led transitional government.
All telecommunications companies had their internet services restored on Thursday.
Internet freedom monitor, Netblocks, has also confirmed the restoration of the internet.
Deadly anti-coup protests have been taking place in the capital Khartoum and other parts of Sudan since Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power on 25 October. More than 30 people have reportedly been killed in the demonstrations.
Activists and opposition groups have managed to draw attention to the protests on social media despite the restrictions.

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law two important bills passed by the National Assembly thereby making them become part of the Laws of the Federation.
The Climate Change Act owes its origin to a bill sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo, and provides for, among other things, the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change.
It also paves the way for environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net-zero emission deadline plan in the country.
It provides for the extension of the tenor of the Resolution Cost Fund and grants access to the Special Tribunal established by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2020.

Legal practitioner, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa has raised an alarm over what he described as vicious attacks on members of the Lagos Judicial Panel of Enquiry on Police Brutality following the group’s submission of its report. 
He says members of the Panel have become the subject of vicious attacks by those suspected to be agents of the government.
He restated that members of the panel were appointed on merit, debunking reports that they lobbied to get into the position.
Adegboruwa described a report credited to an unnamed counsel to the Lagos State Government that members of the panel took bribes as unfair, ungodly, and least expected of the government and its lawyers.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies to study a report on how best to ensure effective policy design and implementation with a view to implementing some of its recommendations.
The Special Adviser to the President on media, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
The President assured the course participants that it would be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves.
The President noted it was always a delight to receive their input on important issues that are of very great concern to the government and the nation.
He says no nation will progress without paying close attention to the ways policies are made and implemented, as it is often unclear how best to ensure effective policy design and implementation.

President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government will allow the system to exhaust itself, and will, therefore, wait for pronouncements from state governments that set up panels to probe police brutality in the country.
The president says so many state governments are involved and have given different terms of reference to the probe panels.
He says they have to wait for the steps taken by the states, and allow the system to work without imposing ideas on them.
Buhari expressed the country’s appreciation, noting that there was freedom of worship in Nigeria, and no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her faith.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a fresh N656.112 billion Bridge Financing Facility to the 36 States.
The vice president’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement says each state would receive N18.225 billion with a 30-year tenor, and a 2-year moratorium at an interest rate of 9%.
The presidency says this step was taken in a bid to help state governments meet financial obligations, especially the previous budget support facility due for repayment.
The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, informed the Council that the Bridge Facility is now being processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The finance minister had informed the Council that the deductions from State Governments would commence soon as repayment for the previous bailout from the CBN.