Newscast - Africa

The Libyan government of National Unity has offered to transport Nigerian gas to Europe through its territory.
Libyan Oil and Gas minister, Mohammed Aoun, says the distance between Nigeria's gas wells and European markets is at least 1,000 kilometers shorter than the two gas pipeline projects passing through Algeria and Morocco, thus reducing the cost of transport and therefore the gas prices.
Libya however faces many challenges to achieving this project; security, financial, technological, and market aspects. It is also working against the clock as Europe aims for carbon neutrality by 2050.

The UK has opened a new licensing round for companies to explore oil and gas in the North Sea.
They say there can be no new projects if there is to be a chance of keeping global temperature rises under 1.5C.
Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global body for climate science, and the International Energy Agency have expressed such a view.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg says the new exploration will boost energy security and support skilled jobs.

The World Bank says South Sudan cannot receive infrastructure funding from international investors due to a lack of financial policies and transport sector regulations.
The bank has placed conditions to be met before the country begins receiving funding for road infrastructure development.
They said for the bank to support South Sudan’s transport sector, the government needs to put in place clear institutional regulations and financial policies.
Bernard Aritua, a World Bank official told reporters in Juba says these are the things that South Sudan needs to tackle.

The US says Russian mercenaries are exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan to fund Moscow's war in Ukraine.
US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, says Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenary group was using the ill-gotten gains to fund Moscow’s war machine in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine.
She says people across Africa are paying a heavy price for the Wagner Group’s exploitative practices and human rights violations.

The cost of loans in Ghana is set to increase again for the average borrower, following an upward review of the rate at which banks can borrow money from the central bank, otherwise referred to as the policy rate.
The central bank has announced a hike in the policy rate by 250 basis points to 24.5%, from 22% in August, the highest increment since 2017.
The move, according to the central bank, is to curb the rising inflation of nearly 40%.
Inflation in the country is likely to go up significantly in the coming months following recent adjustments in utility tariffs and local currency depreciation.
Ghana is currently negotiating a $3bn IMF bailout program to run for a period of three years.

The World Health Organization says Africa has the highest rate of people dying by suicide in the world.
The agency says Africa is home to six of the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates globally.
The agency added that mental health workers are mostly located in urban areas on the continent.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says suicide was a major public health problem, although prevention is rarely a priority in national health programs.

Google says that it had already spent over 20 percent of the budget, which covers the establishment of its first cloud region in Africa.
Managing Director, of Google Africa, Nitin Gajria, says Google had last year, committed $1 billion over five years to increase connectivity and invest in companies to accelerate Africa’s digital development, adding that this year, Google is focusing on how it is fulfilling the pledge.
He says other African projects include the connectivity to more people in Africa, with Equiano subsea cable now linked to Togo, Nigeria, Namibia, and South Africa, and operations set to begin by the end of the year.
Gajria says the new Google Cloud region would be established in South Africa, being it's first on the continent.

The Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Ezra Yakusak, says the non-oil sector has contributed over two billion dollars to the Nigerian economy in the first six months of the year 2022.
Mr. Yakusak says the various non-oil products that were exported within the period stood at $2.593b as against the sum of $1.597b in the first six months of the year 2021 representing a 64.23% increase.
He says the 2021 figure was also an increase to the first six months of the year 2020 which was $981.442 million.
He says the uncertainties in the crude oil market have caused serious contractions in government revenue from oil with great consequences.
He says with the customized sacks, Nigeria onions will be easily identified and distinguished from other countries’ products in the global market.

President Muhammadu Buhari presented before the two chambers of the National Assembly, a record N20.51 trillion proposed budget for the 2023 financial year.
The N20.51 trillion budget which is the highest so far in the nation’s history is the last to be presented by the president before his tenure elapses.
The president says this 8th financial blueprint of his administration has tagged the budget of Fiscal Sustainability and transition.
Buhari noted that the 2023 transition budget was designed to address critical issues and lay a solid foundation for the incoming administration.
The president said he believes that based on these fiscal assumptions and parameters, total federally-collectible revenue is estimated at 16.87 trillion Naira in 2023.
He further stated that the total federally distributable revenue is estimated at 11.09 trillion Naira in 2023, while the total revenue available to fund the 2023 Federal Budget is estimated at 9.73 trillion Naira.

The price of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, gained $1.62 by rising to $93.4/barrel as oil producers agreed on a major production cut.
Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their Russia-led allies agreed on a major cut in oil production a move to prop up prices that could bolster sanction-hit Moscow’s coffers and irk Washington.
AFP reported that the 13-nation OPEC cartel and its 10 Russian-led allies agreed to reduce two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in Vienna,