Newscast - Africa

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has sought to reassure the country his government can manage an economic crisis as it negotiates a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
Ghana is seeking a $3 billion credit as the country faces 35 percent inflation, a sharp fall in the cedi currency and high debt service payments.
The president said the IMF deal would not mean any so-called hair-cuts to trim the value of the country’s debt, which would mean bondholders would lose money.
He says the government would review import standards and support farmers in a bid to reduce reliance on now more costly imported goods.

The China Habour Engineering LFTZ Enterprise, a subsidiary of China Habour Engineering Company Limited that is the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port, has announced the completion of the construction of the port.
The Vice President of CHEC, Mr. Wu Di, disclosed that the construction of the port officially started on June 15, 2020, and was completed on Monday, October 24, 2022.
Di revealed that the total contract value of the EPC for the project’s first phase was $581 million.
He added that the completion of the construction would pave the way for the container terminal operator, the Lekki Free Port Terminal, a subsidiary of the CMA/CGM group, to take over the Port in readiness for the start of port operations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, says Nigeria is working with foreign partners to achieve greater synergy through constructive rather than alarmist dialogue.
This comes on the heels of several foreign missions issuing alerts to their citizens, including warning of possible terror attacks in Abuja, providing emergency services for their citizens in Nigeria, and approving the evacuation of embassy staff.
Onyeama, in conjunction with the National Security Adviser, and the Chief of Defence Staff, noted that there were ongoing efforts to neutralize security threats.
He says there is a foreign dimension to this issue as alerts were obviously issued by foreign countries with missions here in Nigeria.
He says the Federal Government is in full engagement with foreign partners with Nigerian security personnel and agencies fully on top of the situation.

The Federal Government announced that the estimated performance of Nigeria’s domestic gas supply obligation rose by 14.14 percent to 64.8 percent in 2021.
It says this was against the 50.66 percent that was achieved in 2020, noting that efforts were being intensified to further grow the country’s gas supply volumes in 2022.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, explained that Nigeria’s gas demand requirement also rose marginally by 5.9 percent to 250 million standard cubic feet per day in 2022.
The NMDPRA boss, however, noted that despite the improved performance recorded in 2021, the domestic gas market had continued to experience significant challenges.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has promised a thorough investigation into the Halloween crush over the weekend that killed more than 150 people in the capital and plunged the country into mourning.
Officials say the death toll had risen to 154, with 149 people injured, 33 of them in serious condition.
Tens of thousands of people crowded into the narrow streets and alleyways of Seoul’s popular Itaewon district on Saturday for the first major Halloween festivities since the COVID-19 pandemic struck three years ago.
Many of the victims were in their teens and dressed in Halloween costumes.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo says his country is experiencing its worst economic crisis.
The Ghana cedi has depreciated by over 50% this year and is listed as the world’s worst-performing currency against the US dollar.
Mr. Akufo-Addo blamed speculation and illegal forex traders for the depreciation, adding that the central bank would clamp down on perpetrators.
The president says the government would maintain a 30% cut in the salaries of the president, vice president, ministers, and other government appointees.
The president assured investors in government treasury bills and other financial instruments that they would not lose their money because of the deal - amid concerns that a possible debt-restructuring agreement could affect the investors.

The African Union has called for an immediate cessation of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels have been advancing towards a provincial capital in the east of the country.
DR Congo has expelled the Rwandan ambassador, accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels who are now threatening the city of Goma.
It follows the take-over by the rebels of a key transit town in the east of the country.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied the allegation that it supports the rebels.
The town of Kiwandja fell to rebel hands on Saturday, potentially cutting off the regional capital, Goma, from the north of mineral-rich North Kivu province.
The AU has urged all the parties to engage in a constructive dialogue and is calling them to peace talks in Kenya next month.

South Africa's tourism minister says President Cyril Ramaphosa should step aside in line with the ruling party’s rule about members linked to corruption scandals.
President Ramaphosa is embroiled in a corruption scandal dubbed farmgate.
It is about an alleged cover-up of a robbery that took place at his private farm, Phala Phala, back in February 2020.
Lindiwe Sisulu says she intended to put the scandal on the agenda of the ANC's top-organ meeting.
She says there needed to be a discussion on President Ramaphosa's fate and the application of the step-aside rule.

The Federal Government says the carbon market is a new and innovative climate change solution that will create, over the period of an energy transition, millions of new jobs in Nigeria.
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is a member of the recently formed international Steering Committee for the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative which is aimed at facilitating the emergence and growth of the market in Africa.
It further stated that other members of the committee, which would be announced at the COP27 meeting in Egypt, are former President of Colombia, Ivan Duque Marquez; President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, among others, including officials of the United Nations, USAID, Gates Foundation, and other international private sector players.

The International Monetary Fund has advised Nigeria to be careful in its plan to redesign and replace the naira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria says the move will help the bank fight money laundering and insecurity.
The governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, says the plan would allow the bank to mop up N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation that is outside the vaults of commercial banks.
A former deputy governor of the CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, says the duration allowed by the bank is short and could create huge operational pressure on banks and some traders may prematurely reject the existing currency notes once the new ones come into circulation.