Newscast - Africa

Prices in the US continued to rise rapidly last month, but a fall in petrol costs helped to ease the pace.
The Labor Department says the annual inflation rate, the pace at which prices rise, was 8.5% in July, down from June when it surged to 9.1%.
The higher costs have left many families struggling and had a significant impact on the economy.
Petrol prices fell by 7.7% compared with June, when prices at the pump had hit a record high of more than $5 per gallon on average. Overall the report was better than many analysts had expected.

Former US President Donald Trump has declined to answer questions as part of a New York state investigation into his family's business practices.
Mr Trump had sued in an effort to block the interview at the New York attorney general's office.
State officials accuse the Trump Organization of misleading authorities about the value of its assets in order to get favourable loans and tax breaks.
Mr Trump denies wrongdoing and has called the civil probe a witch hunt. An hour after he was pictured arriving at the Manhattan office where he was questioned under oath.
Mr Trump released a statement in which he criticised New York Attorney General Letitia James and the broader investigation.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has commended Kenyans for observing peace during the elections.
He commended the electoral commission and Kenyan authorities for ensuring that voters were able to exercise freely their right to vote.
He has urged politicians and voters to be calm and restrained as they wait for results.
The polls body is yet to provide the final turnout figures but the initial estimates suggest a decline from the 2017 election - when 80% of the registered 19 million voters turned out to vote.

Ethiopia says the second turbine of a controversial dam over the Blue Nile has started generating electricity.
The $4bn mega-dam has been a huge source of controversy between the East African country and the two downstream countries Egypt and Sudan that depend heavily on the Nile for their essential water supplies.
It is expected to generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity upon completion.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says there hasn’t been any impact on the water supplies of the downstream countries.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has expressed serious concerns about the human rights situation in Rwanda after talks with President Paul Kagame in the capital, Kigali.
Mr Blinken says he had raised US concerns about the detention of Paul Rusesabagina - a permanent resident of the United States - who is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Mr Blinken says he had urged President Kagame to address concerns about legal protections afforded to Rusesabagina - particularly, the lack of a fair trial.

The World Health Organisation says that 160 million Nigerians are at risk of yellow fever.
The Medical Officer, WHO Nigeria, Dr Anne Baptiste, says, Yellow fever is dangerous because a small percentage of patients will go through a more toxic phase of the disease.
The WHO says Nigeria is at risk of both urban and sylvatic exposure to the disease. The global health body, however, said Nigeria has vaccinated over 45 million people against yellow fever during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, says that the government has strengthened surveillance for the disease.

The Federal Government’s total borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria through Ways and Means Advances rose from N17.46tn in December 2021 to N19.91tn in June 2022.
Data from the CBN says this shows that the Federal Government borrowed N2.45tn from the apex bank within six months.
The N19.91tn owed the apex bank by the Federal Government is not part of the country’s total public debt stock, which stood at N41.60tn as of March 2022, according to the Debt Management Office.
The CBN however says that the Federal Government’s borrowing from it through the Ways and Means Advances could have adverse effects on the bank’s monetary policy to the detriment of domestic prices and exchange rates.

The Federal Government is set to make a total of N483.73bn in three years from the electronic payment boom by way of the Electronic Money Transfer Levy.
The budget Office of the Federation office, says the nation intends to make at least N137.03bn in 2023, N157.59bn in 2024, and N189.11bn from EMTL.
The office further revealed that the government made N111.84bn from the levy in 2021.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System portal reveal that the total value of electronic transactions in the four months of 2022 (N117.33tn) is already higher than the total amount of transactions in 2019 (N108.42tn).

President Muhammadu Buhari authorised the acquisition of ExxonMobil Corporation assets by Seplat Energy Plc but has made a U-turn on the deal.
Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu says President Buhari had reversed his authorisation, choosing to support the position of the NUPRC.
He says the confusion trailing the deal was due to the non-coordination among the various agencies of government involved. In May, the commission declined to approve the proposed acquisition due to what it described as overriding national interest.
Seplat Energy in a corporate filing says it followed due process in the acquisition of the assets.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro introduced a new tax reform proposal to Congress that is expected to finance the ambitious programs and policies he hopes will transform the country.
The move by the country’s first leftist leader was the first step to fulfilling his promise to millions of Colombians.
Maydany Salcedo, who advises the administration on drug policy, believes Petro can bring the much-awaited peace, expected from a 2016 treaty between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government.