Newscast - Africa

The Ethiopian government has set out conditions for possible ceasefire talks with leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front following days of international diplomatic efforts aimed at halting intensifying hostilities.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti says that one of the conditions for possible talks would be for the TPLF to withdraw from the Amhara and Afar regions bordering Tigray.
Dina says there are conditions: First, stop your attacks. Secondly, leave the areas you have entered and third, recognise the legitimacy of the government.

Mali has signalled that it plans to maintain strong ties with Russia to tackle its security problems.
Mali’s foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, says the very existence of the Malian state was under threat added that with instability continuing, Russia was a trusted ally who could be relied upon.
Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, dismissed French concerns about Russian mercenaries in Mali.

Sudan's coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has named a new ruling council with himself as the leader following the military takeover last month.
Gen Burhan retained his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias Hemeti, as well as other senior military leaders to the positions they held before the 25 October coup.
The 14-member transitional council also includes civilians but none from the political coalition that was in power before the coup.
The UN’s envoy in Sudan Volker Perthes says the army’s chief’s unilateral appointment council makes it increasingly difficult for the country to return to constitutional order.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his first official trip to Africa next week, visiting Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
The State Department says Mr Blinken would meet the presidents of all three countries, and deliver a speech on US-Africa policy.
He is expected to discuss regional security issues such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

A Ghanaian parliamentary committee has commenced a public hearing into a controversial anti-gay bill.
The bill proposes a five-year jail term for lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and a 10-year term for promoters and advocates of the group.
The group argues that the bill is unconstitutional because it violates the rights of the LGBT community. But the Ghana Pentecostal Council says it reflects the will of many Ghanaians.
Other groups including Amnesty International and the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator are due to make their submissions.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, says there are over 3000 inmates still at large following jailbreaks in Nigeria within the last year.
Aregbesola disclosed that 4,860 inmates escaped from various custodial centres from 2020 till date, and out of this, 984 have been recaptured.
He says biometrics of all inmates in the country have been captured, and it is the hope of the Federal Government that this exercise will aid the tracking and rearrest of the escapees.
He stressed that the recent attacks on some correctional facilities in the country are a reflection of the insecurity in Nigeria.
The minister assured Nigerians that a ministerial task force will soon be inaugurated to enforce the re-arrest of all escapees and their collaborators.

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration had invested extensively in critical infrastructure and economic projects, stressing that the possibilities being created through the investments for Nigerians and foreigners are enormous.
Buhari also declared that investment in gas was a top priority of his government, as it had huge benefits in terms of financial returns and generation of power.
Buhari emphasised his administration’s commitment to an infrastructural renaissance for Nigeria because there can’t be sustainable development without it.

ECOWAS experts converged in Ghana to review and validate the draft Supplementary Act Setting the Conditions and Modalities for Community Levy Implementation and Management.
This Act once approved would replace the Protocol on Community Levy which had been in existence for 25 years now.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Halima Ahmed expressed her appreciation for the full participation of experts from all ECOWAS Member States despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She recalled that the Community Levy Protocol was established by a Decision of the ECOWAS Authority in 1996 and its full implementation began in 2003.

President Muhammadu Buhari says that Nigerians can look after themselves when infrastructure is in place. He says when infrastructure is in place, Nigerians can look after themselves.
Buhari also noted that his administration is working very hard on infrastructure because there can’t be sustainable development without it.
He says crude oil which Nigeria depends so much on has lost a lot of energy.

The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says smuggling is responsible for the rising cost of rice in the country.
The Minister says smuggling is affecting the market and hurting the citizens adding that there is a lot of distortion and the distortion is arising from the smuggling of goods into the country.
She also reiterated the Federal Government’s efforts in fighting to smuggle, noting that there is a combined team of the Nigerian Customs Service, Police, the Department of Security Services among others to rid the nation of economic saboteurs.