Newscast - Africa

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, says that there is currently no set date for petrol subsidy removal.
Mr Sylva adding that the government is being considerate of citizens.
He says the Vice President is actually leading the efforts and they will tell Nigerians what date the removal of subsidy will kick in.
He says the government is also making efforts to put structures in place to cushion the effect of the eventual subsidy removal.

The Federal Government has admitted that it is not in the best position to manage its refineries.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, stated that they are going to have professional managers to manage the refineries.
The minister believes it will not be out of place if the government gets the refineries working before taking appropriate decisions.
He explained that the government does not subscribe to the idea of selling off the refineries in their present condition as such action would be widely criticised by citizens.

US President Joe Biden joined leading Democrats in calling on powerful New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an independent investigation concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women.
Cuomo denied inappropriate conduct and resisted immediate calls to quit after the probe found he harassed current and former New York state employees.
Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the three-term governor should step down and state lawmakers moved to impeach him.
State Attorney General Letitia James says the five-month investigation concluded that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law.

Mozambique’s health minister has expressed concern over the issue of African countries receiving Covid vaccines shortly before their expiration date.
Armindo Tiago says this is a problem in the management of health systems as it imposes an urgent need to vaccinate many people in a very short time.
Dr Tiago told a virtual meeting of health ministers of the southern African regional bloc Sadc that the issue also compromises the effectiveness of the vaccination campaigns.
Vaccine availability and the reception of vaccines in minimal quantities also
The minister has called for member countries to act collectively and plan jointly in the fight against Covid-19.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt says that it was time to increase the price of bread, which has been a highly sensitive issue in the past.
Mr Sisi says that there would not be a big jump.
He however suggested it was no longer reasonable to continue subsidising bread to the extent that 20 loaves sell for the price of just a single cigarette.
The International Monetary Fund argues that food subsidies should only benefit those most in need.
A hike in the price of bread in 1977 sparked deadly riots.

A top UN official says Ethiopian government accusations that aid workers in the war-torn Tigray region are helping rebels are dangerous.
Martin Griffiths, who heads the UN's humanitarian agency, has just wrapped up a six-day visit to the country.
The UN says more than five million people in Tigray need humanitarian assistance and more than 400,000 are living in famine conditions.
Some aid workers have been accused of siding with the rebel Tigray Defence Forces and aid convoys have been held up.
Mr Griffiths says Blanket accusations of humanitarian aid workers need to stop.

Algeria’s Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid, says Algeria will not introduce another full coronavirus lockdown as the current night-time curfew appears to be reducing infections.
The authorities have introduced a curfew from 20:00 to 06:00 in the provinces with the highest infection rates.
He says this has followed the rapid spread of the Delta variant that has put huge pressure on hospitals. Some hospitals have been running out of oxygen.
Mr Benbouzid says that health workers in both public and private facilities will not take their annual leave until the epidemiological situation has improved.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged the management of the Nigerian Exchange Limited to explore more avenues of growing the stock market by venturing into emerging frontiers.
The Vice President also commended the completion of the demutualisation of the stock exchange, describing it as a welcome development, as Popoola made a presentation on the post-demutualisation of the company’s activities.
Professor Osinbajo assured the management that the government will create policies that will enable the company and the stock market to reach greater heights.
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Temi Popoola says the organisation has been repositioned for profit and is now aligned to the tastes and preferences of the market.
He says under the new arrangement, the market will be opened for more companies to be listed, resulting in more revenues for the government as listed companies pay more taxes and are more responsive to the environment they operate in.

The United Arab Emirates announced that it was relaxing restrictions for inbound passengers from six countries, including Nigeria.
The country’s National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority says the lifting of the restrictions will take effect from August 5.
The country in January had announced a ban on transit flights from Nigeria as it battled a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The Authority says travel for transit passengers from all countries from which transit passengers have been suspended will be resumed in advance provided that the passenger’s last destination is accepted with a laboratory check-up within 72 hours of departure and state airports will allocate special lounges for transit passengers.

Nigeria has been allocated about $3.35 billion as part of a historic general allocation of Special Drawing Rights of the International Monetary Fund.
This is a result of the approval of a general allocation of about SDR456 billion – an equivalent of $650 billion – by the IMF Board of Governors on Monday.
The allocation which was approved on Monday aims to boost global liquidity at a time when the world is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.
IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva says this is a historic decision, the largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF and a shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis.
It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members and can provide a country with liquidity.