Newscast - Africa

The Namibian minister of industrialization and trade, Lucia Iipumbu, launched an economic partnership agreement implementation plan at the Southern African Development Community European Union EPA Trade Forum.
She says the EPA Implementation Plan for Namibia which we are also launching is geared towards attaining the objectives of the SADC - EU EPA and ensuring that the potential benefits that can accrue from it are fully utilized by the intended beneficiaries, which include exporters, importers, consumers, and the entire business fraternity.
Lipumbu says the Namibian EPA Implementation Plan was developed with the support of financial assistance from the EU.
She says the Forum will have several interactive engagements and presentations focusing on opportunities for Namibian and EU traders, agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, and trade facilitation and logistics.

Kenya's transport minister has made public documents about a massive Kenyan railway project signed with China after years of secrecy.
The $3bn Chinese-funded and operated railway line is Kenya's biggest infrastructure project since independence in 1963 and Its viability has been repeatedly questioned since it was launched.
Minister Kipchumba Murkomen says copies of the agreement had been given to the majority leaders in Kenya's parliament and also shared with the media.
The agreements were signed by the Kenyan government, represented by the national treasury, and the Export and Import Bank of China in 2014.

Tanzania's Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa will on Monday lead mourners in paying their respects at a funeral service for 19 people killed after a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania.
The plane crashed on Sunday morning near the shore at the end of the Bukoba airport runway.
The operator Precision Air reporysthat of the 43 people on board, there were 24 survivors.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to direct public universities to pay members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities their full salaries.
The Federal Government had paid half salaries for October 2022 insisting that the varsity teachers cannot be paid for not working.
The Ministry Of Labour and Employment says they were paid in pro-rata for the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action.
Falana, however, says the no work, no pay’ policy does not apply to ASUU members.

The African Development Bank has drawn $31 billion in investment interest from African and global investors.
AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, commended the forum’s outcomes and the partners’ commitment.
He says the AIF’s focus was to attract more foreign direct investment to Africa and ensure the private sector remained the driving force of that transformation.
Adesina says the private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator and they must mitigate real and perceived risks and persuade the private sector that investing in Africa is safe.

The Federal Government says Nigeria will require $1.9trn or N834trn to attain net zero by 2060 as part of its support to the global fight against climate change and meeting the country’s Energy Transition Plan.
The Energy Transition Plan says Nigeria would require $1.9trn to get to net zero by 2060, including $410bn above projected usual spending, which translates to about $10bn or N4trn annually over the coming decades.
The Federal Government says Nigeria would raise an initial $10bn support package ahead of the COP27 holding in Egypt, adding that a $23bn investment opportunity had also been identified based on current in-country programs and projected that were directly related to just the energy transition.

Elon Musk says Twitter will charge $8 monthly to Twitter users who want a blue tick by their name indicating a verified account.
Mr. Musk says it was essential to defeat spam/scam as part of changes after a $44bn (£38bn) takeover of the social media site,
A blue tick symbol next to a username - normally for high-profile figures - is currently free.
Critics say the move could make it harder to identify reliable sources.
Mr. Musk, the world's richest person, added that paid users would have priority in replies and searches, and half as many advertisements.

The Bank of England has warned the UK is facing its longest recession since records began, as it raised interest rates by the most in 33 years.
The Bank says the country would face a very challenging two-year slump and unemployment will nearly double.
It lifted UK interest rates to 3% from 2.25%, the biggest jump since 1989.
Interest rates have been rising since last December as the cost of living has accelerated, leaving many UK households facing hardship.
The Bank now believes the economy already entered a "challenging" downturn this summer, which will continue next year and into the first half of 2024 - a possible general election year.

The South Korean air force has said it would extend ongoing joint air drills with the United States after North Korea’s recent provocations.
The force revealed that the joint air drills, the largest ever of such exercises, had become imminent as a result of recent missile testing by North Korea.
The joint air forces have agreed to extend the Vigilant Storm drill that kicked off on October 31 with respect to the North’s recent provocations.

The United States intends to exclude Burkina Faso from a trade deal that gives exporters in Africa tariff-free access to the American market.
President Joe Biden cited Burkina Faso’s lack of progress toward protecting the rule of law and political pluralism for terminating the country as a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US trade representative Katherine Tai says that the US was deeply concerned by the unconstitutional changes in government in Burkina Faso.
She asked the government to take necessary actions to meet Agoa’s criteria and return to elective democracy.