Newscast - Africa

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, says during a visit to Algeria that the two countries should move beyond their painful shared history and look to the future.
Mr Macron announced that a joint Franco-Algerian commission of historians would be set up to study archives on French colonial rule in Algeria.
Mr Macron is also keen to secure access to Algeria's huge stocks of untapped oil and gas, as Europe faces shortages because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has unveiled the *997# USSD code in Kano State as part of efforts to reduce the use of cash in commercial activities in the country.
The Deputy Governor, Operations Directorate of the CBN, Mr Folashadun Adebisi Shonubi says it was another milestone in delivering digital financial services to Nigerians and enabling their participation in the global digital economy.
He urged Nigerians to embrace the central bank digital currency, describing it as safe, saying it would help in reducing the number of the country’s unbanked population.

The United Nations has sounded a note of warning that Nigeria may not achieve the global agenda for universal inclusive and equitable basic education for all school-age children by 2030 if the current seven per cent budget for education by the federal government was not increased to 20 per cent, with clear accountabilities on delivery.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale,says in Nigeria’s 2022 federal budget, there was an increase to seven per cent on education, but the evaluation says it would need to increase to 20 per cent with clear accountabilities on delivery.
He also noted that Nigeria was the first country to conduct and deliver independent comprehensive evaluations of SDG-3 and SDG-4.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa has warned Nigerians not to travel to Northern Cyprus.
Dabiri-Erewa says there is little the Federal Government can do to diplomatically resolve issues in the territory because Northern Cyprus is not recognised by the international community except Turkey.
Dabiri-Erewa also urged Nigerians in Diaspora not to be afraid to invest in the country because of insecurity.
She says it is only temporary because of stiff measures currently employed by the Federal Government to tackle the situation.

A crippling drought exacerbated by a record heatwave has spread across half of China and reached the normally frigid Tibetan Plateau.
The world’s second-largest economy has experienced over 70 days of heatwaves, flash floods and droughts phenomena that scientists say are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
Experts say the intensity, scope and duration of the heatwave could make it one of the worst recorded in global history.
A chart from the National Climate Centre showed that swathes of southern China were experiencing severe to extraordinary drought conditions.

The UN World Food Programme says Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia have looted a million litres of fuel from its warehouses in Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, that was meant to be used to deliver aid.
The UN and the US have urged Ethiopian troops and the Tigrayan forces to restore a humanitarian truce.
UN chief António Guterres says he was shocked by the resurgence in fighting, while the US expressed concern that renewed clashes could jeopardise progress made over the past five months.
The chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also called for the immediate cessation of hostilities and urged the warring sides to resume talks.

Shop owners in Ghana are threatening to close their business premises next Monday to protest against the weakening of the country’s currency, the cedi.
At 10 cedis to the US dollar, traders are finding it difficult to stay in business as the cost of importing and clearing goods continues to rise.
Prices for most basic goods and services have doubled over the last couple of months in Ghana, but incomes for the most part.
The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, an umbrella body for clearing agents, says it will also cease operations on Monday.
Inflation in Ghana now stands at over 31% - the highest in the last 20 years.
The government has pointed the blame at the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war.

The Kano State Government, in collaboration with the World Bank and French Development Agency, will construct 6,300 kilometres of rural roads across the state.
The Director-General, Kano State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, Yahaya GarinAli, reiterated the government’s commitment towards improving access roads and agricultural infrastructural development in the state.
The State project Coordinator, Sunusi Suleiman, described the training as a fulfillment of the requirements by the World Bank to operationalise the use of Nigeria Rural Transport Infrastructure Management System software designed to help monitor progress of work during construction.’

The Federal Government, says recommencing the Abuja-Kaduna train service while some of the passengers kidnapped by terrorists during the March 28 train attack will be insensitive to their families.
It says the options available also include the DSS-approved system deployed by the Kano State Government to frustrate terrorist activities in the vast Falgore forest.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, says the President, Muhammadu Buhari relies heavily on funds generated by Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Keyamo’s statement corroborated an earlier report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on July 20 that it would no longer remit money to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee for sharing to the three tiers of government monthly.
The NNPC hinged the decision on its latest transition from a public corporation to a limited liability company, adding that all monetary arrears to the committee were owed by the old corporation and not the new oil company.