Newscast - Africa

The newly redesigned naira notes will go into circulation with Deposit Money Banks releasing the bills to their customers via over-the-counter payments.
The President unveiled the redesigned notes across the N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had in October announced that apex bank would release re-designed naira notes by December 15, 2022.
He also disclosed that the old notes would cease to be regarded as legal tender by January 31, 2023. Emefiele pointed out that the redesigning of the naira notes would help to curb counterfeit notes and reduce ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.

The UK economy will get worse before it gets better, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said after figures revealed it shrank further between August and October.
The economy contracted by 0.3% during the three months as soaring prices hit businesses and households and the UK is forecast to be heading into a recession.
He says these figures confirm that this is a very challenging economic situation here and across the world.
Mr. Hunt says the UK was already in recession while adding that this is expected to be officially confirmed at the beginning of next year when economic figures for October to December are released.
It also means that the government receives less money in tax to spend on public services such as health and education.

The country's attorney general says Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been arrested in The Bahamas.
He is scheduled to appear in a magistrates' court in the Caribbean country's capital, Nassau.
Police says Mr Bankman-Fried was arrested for financial offences against laws in the US and The Bahamas.
According to a court filing last month, FTX owed its 50 largest creditors almost $3.1bn.
It is unclear how much people who have funds in the exchange will get back at the end of bankruptcy proceedings - though many experts have warned it may be a small fraction of what they deposited.

The US has imposed financial sanctions on four Zimbabweans, including the son of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
It accuses Emmerson Mnangagwa Junior of being linked to the businessman, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, who is already under US sanctions for alleged corruption.
The Treasury Department says over the last five years, Mr Tagwirei has used a combination of opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with the president to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of dollars.
President Mnangagwa is already under US sanctions.
The Treasury Department urged Zimbabwe's government to address what it called the root causes of many of the country's ills, including corrupt elites abusing institutions for their personal benefit.

The Nigeria Immigration Service announced that Nigerians returning to Nigeria can be admitted into the country with their expired Nigerian passport.
The memo which was signed by the Special Assistant to the Comptroller General (Foreign Desk), DCI BM Lawal for the Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, all airlines were requested to allow holders with expired Nigerian passport to board without any hindrance.
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service and notify all relevant authorities that the Federal government of Nigeria has approved that Nigerians returning home can be admitted into the country with their expired Nigerian passports.

The Deputy Governor of the Financial System Stability Directorate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Aishah Ahmad, has expressed concerns over the poor repayment of loans provided by the bank, which she noted might affect the sustainability of the bank’s initiatives.
She urged beneficiaries of the CBN loans to pay back to enable others to benefit from the interventions.
She says the efforts and interventions of the CBN have ushered in a lot of growth and impact. It helped us combat extreme poverty, food insecurity and grow the agricultural sector and manufacturing base.

Senator Matthew Urhoghide says the upper chamber has not taken any decision on the cash withdrawal limit recently announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Senator Uroghide says that the upper legislative chamber is waiting for a recommendation from its committee that was asked to look into the matter.
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Senate says they are waiting for the committee to report back this week on their findings on whatever contributions that were made by those two directors that were screened by the committee for confirmation of appointment.
The lawmaker added that the Edo lawmaker said that if the move is not meeting the aspirations of the people, the legislators will review it.

The Federal Government has approved the immediate relaxation of the COVID-19 safety measures and travel advisory, including the suspension of all pre-departure, pre-boarding, and post-arrival PCR test requirements.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC), Boss Mustapha says President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval follows the recommendations of the PSC based on clinical and laboratory evidence of a sustained reduction in COVID-19 infection/transmission across the country.
He says appeals to Nigerians to ensure that they take their COVID-19 vaccinations as well as booster doses.

Taiwan’s premier accused China of violating international trade rules and discriminating against the island after it halted more Taiwanese imports.
Taiwan’s finance ministry, says Chinese customs authorities suddenly suspended imports of certain alcoholic beverages from the island on Friday.
It says the move was related to a regulation Beijing imposed on January 1 that requires all food and alcoholic beverage exporters to the mainland to be registered with Chinese customs. Some Taiwanese companies had still been under review.
Premier Su Tseng-chang accused Beijing of violating World Trade Organisation norms by making its own rules and meddling in trade through administrative means.

Finance Minister Su Jain-rong says Taiwan has asked state-owned banks to appropriately handle their exposure to China, amid trade and political tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan’s financial regulator earlier said that Taiwanese banks’ exposure to China had hit their lowest-ever level, at a time when China has been pressuring the self-ruled island militarily and diplomatically to accept Beijing’s sovereignty.
Su says State-owned banks have already been required to actively handle their China exposure appropriately.”
Taiwan’s big state-owned banks include Bank of Taiwan, Taiwan Cooperative Bank Ltd, and Land Bank of Taiwan Co Ltd.