Newscast - Africa

Mali’s military ruler says he is open to dialogue to resolve the issue of the 49 Ivorian soldiers who were arrested at the airport in Bamako earlier this month.
Col Assimi Goïta says he was willing, in the spirit of good relations between Mali and Ivory Coast, to work to resolve the dispute, including through diplomatic means.
Col Goïta wanted Togo to lead a mission between the two countries to help resolve the situation.
It came as he held talks on issues of common interest with Togolese Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey.

United States aid chief Samantha Power promised $1.18 billion to help avert famine in the Horn of Africa and urged other nations including China to do more to fight a food crisis aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, says the situation was especially dire in turbulent Somalia, conflict-hit Ethiopia, and Kenya, the so-called Horn of Africa which is forecast to experience its fifth straight drought later this year.
Power says the $1.18 billion in US aid would include emergency food as well as a peanut-based supplement for malnourished children and veterinary services for dying livestock.

President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to resolve the prolonged industrial action embarked upon by the four university-based unions and report back to him within two weeks.
Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University have warned the Professor Nimi-Briggs Committee renegotiating the 2009 Agreement that it would not accept any disparity in university staff salary, saying it would take every legal action to ensure that such doesn’t happen.

President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, assuring that the new company will guarantee energy security in the country.
He says NNPC Limited will sustainably deliver value to its over 200 million shareholders and the global energy community; operate without relying on government funding and be free from institutional regulations such as the Treasury Single Account.
He assured stakeholders in the industry that Africa’s largest NOC will adhere to its fundamental corporate values of Integrity, Excellence, and Sustainability while operating as a commercial, independent, and viable NOC at par with its peers around the world.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has raised the Monetary Policy Rate from 13 percent to 14 percent.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele says it was the right option considering economic realities.
He says the committee resolved that the most rational policy option would be to further strengthen its tightening stance in order to effectively curtail the unabated rising trend of inflation.
He says the increase MPR to 14% from 13, retain the Asymmetric Corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR, retain the CRR at 27.5 percent and retain the liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

Sri Lanka’s acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency in the crisis-ridden island nation in an effort to head off unrest ahead of a vote in parliament later this week to elect a new president.
Wickremesinghe announced the measure in the interests of public security, the protection of public order, and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.
Sri Lanka’s beleaguered leaders have issued imposed a state of emergency several times since April when mass protests started against the government’s handling of the economic crisis and a persistent shortage of essentials

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Baku to seek more natural gas from Azerbaijan as the European Union seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
The Commission says amid Russia’s continued weaponisation of its energy supplies, diversification of our energy imports is a priority for the EU, President von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson will be in Azerbaijan to further strengthen the cooperation.
The Commission has proposed to EU countries a deal with Azerbaijan to increase imports of natural gas and support the expansion of a pipeline to do this.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called the French president’s proposal for a European political community a deliberately confrontational idea with anti-Russian intentions.
France24 reports that this community would encompass EU membership candidates like Ukraine and possibly ex-member the United Kingdom.
Lavrov says there would be no particular financial or economic benefits, but there will be demands for full solidarity with the EU on its anti-Russian actions.

The head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says Africa must diversify economically and become more resilient to realize its full potential.
UNCTAD Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan says they believe that the continent must use every opportunity to achieve economic diversification through services, and it must seize the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
She outlines the great potential which African countries have to transform their economies through services, thus supporting the continent's long-standing economic diversification goals and boosting productivity and development.

The Senate has commenced a probe into the alleged payment of $5 million as a professional fee by the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency to a legal firm for the purpose of recovering $9.3 billion which the country lost to the global movement of Nigerian hydro-carbon resources.
The Senate Public Account Committee is carrying out the investigation based on the query raised by the Auditor General for the Federation as contained in its 2018 Annual Report.
The Chairman of SPAC, Senator Matthew Urhoghide says the panel had no other option than to call for the issuance of the arrest warrant against the Director General.
Urhoghide lamented that his panel had invited the NIMASA management up to three times, but the officials failed to honor the invitations.