The foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan and their delegations met with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. on November 6, 2019. The three African nations have said they will continue trying to resolve a conflict over plans for a massive Ethiopian-run dam along the Nile River. The project has raised concerns about shortages of drinking water. The three nations issued a statement saying they would continue negotiations in talks to be held in Washington on December 9 and January 13 with the aim of finding a resolution by January 15 of next year. "The ministers reaffirmed their joint commitment to reach a comprehensive, cooperative, adaptive, sustainable, and mutually beneficial agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and to establish a clear process for fulfilling that commitment in accordance with the 2015 Declaration of Principles," the statement read. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and World Bank President David Malpass also signed it. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in the works since 2011, is a massive Ethiopian hydroelectric dam project along the Nile River. Ethiopia plans to start filling and operating the reservoir in 2020, with the aim of eventually completing one of the world's biggest dams and becoming Africa's biggest power exporter. Once complete, the dam will generate about 6,450 megawatts of electricity, double Ethiopia's current output.

Total is seeking to sell its 12.5 per cent stake in a major deepwater oilfield off the coast of Nigeria, industry and banking sources have said. The plan is reportedly an effort to adjust the energy company's Africa portfolio amid a broad expansion. Reuters reports that the stake in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118, which is located some 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the Niger Delta, is valued at up to $750 million, according to two of the sources. Investment bank Rothschild is running the sale process for Total, Reuters sources also said. A spokeswoman for Total declined to comment. Rothschild equally declined to comment. The sale process is part of Total's plan to sell $5 billion of assets around the world by 2020, the sources said. Formerly Bonga field (Nigeria's first deepwater project) before being renamed as OML 118, it is said to contain approximately 6,000 million barrels of oil. It was discovered in 1996, and the federal government gave approval for its development in 2002 and began production in 2005. It produced around 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at its peak.

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Mobile Money customers can rest easy as the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has included mobile money operators in its insurance coverage. Mr Ibrahim said the corporation provides insurance coverage for depositors of deposit money banks, non-interest banks and primary mortgage banks who will be reimbursed up to a maximum limit of N500,000 while microfinance bank depositors would be reimbursed up to a maximum limit of N200,000. The NDIC, whose function, according to the NDIC Act 2006, is to serve as an insurer of deposits for financial institutions so that in the event of failure, the depositors don’t lose all their savings, said the Central Bank licensed 23 Mobile Money Operators and as at June, the number of Mobile Money subscribers stood at over 9.2 million people. Meanwhile, the NDIC periodically reviews the insured limits through its board to ensure that the majority of depositors are covered. The establishment of the NDIC can be attributed to the renewed confidence of depositors in the quality of the Nigerian financial system.

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The Nigeria Tax and Fiscal Bill seeking to increase the Value Added Tax from 5% to 7.5% yesterday passed second reading in the Senate. This was despite the objection by some senators who claimed that they did not know the details of the bill because its copies were not made available to them. Their objection was overruled by Senate President Ahmad Lawan. Senate Majority Leader Yahaya Abdullahi said the bill had five strategic objectives including promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation, reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices, introducing tax incentives for investment in infrastructure, supporting ongoing ease of doing business reforms and raising revenues for government, including proposal to increase the Value Added Tax from 5 percent to 7.5%.

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The Nigeria Tax and Fiscal Bill seeking to increase the Value Added Tax from 5% to 7.5% yesterday passed second reading in the Senate. This was despite the objection by some senators who claimed that they did not know the details of the bill because its copies were not made available to them. Their objection was overruled by Senate President Ahmad Lawan. Senate Majority Leader Yahaya Abdullahi said the bill had five strategic objectives including promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation, reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices, introducing tax incentives for investment in infrastructure, supporting ongoing ease of doing business reforms and raising revenues for government, including proposal to increase the Value Added Tax from 5 percent to 7.5%.

The Central Bank of Liberia has dismissed reports that it is planning a massive layoff of some 400 of its staff in compliance with the International Monetary Fund's request to slice the wage bill. In a statement Tuesday, the CBL countered that reports of massive redundancies, to the tone of 400 staff members - something that would amount to more than 50% of all its employees, is simply untrue. "This story, first reported in the Frontpage Africa Newspaper on Friday, 1 November 2019, has the potential of sowing discontent at the Bank and within the wider society and, in so doing, undermine the recent hard work by a renewed and re-invigorated CBL Board of Governors to enhance the credibility of the Bank as the Monetary Authority of the Country." Former Auditor General John Morlu struck nerves last week when he said that the IMF had made the dismissal of some 400 employees from the Central Bank of Liberia as one of the prerequisites for Liberia entering its Extended Credit Facility. The CBL said Tuesday that, like other public sector organizations, it is implementing an austerity program that will qualify the Government of Liberia for an IMF-Supported Program, which is critical to the country's economic recovery in the medium term.

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The automotive industry in Nigeria may be the beneficiary of a new joint development agreement between Volkswagen and German-based Siemens company. The project, which is said to be an electric mobility feasibility project for Africa, was announced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Volkswagen Group South Africa, Thomas Schäfer. Electric cars are relatively new in Africa, so this joint agreement is set to make it popular by introducing Volkswagen electric cars. The first stop for this is Kigali, Rwanda. According to Schafer, four e-Golfs and one charging station would be launched during the pilot phase of the project.

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The National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has asked the Nigerian government to prevent its agencies from collecting license renewal fees from its members. According to President of NCRIB, Mrs Bola Onigbogi during her investiture as the 20th President of the Council, the collection of these fees is against the drive of the current government to increase the level of ease of doing business in the country and is completely unfavourable to her members. Mrs Onigbogi acknowledged that the biggest buyer of insurance is the government and advocated for quick payment premiums already budgeted for which could help grow the industry and motivate development in the national economy.

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been given five days by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami to address the issue of illegal deduction of subscribers’ data bundles. The Minister also directed the NCC to compel telcos to reduce the prices of their data packages. These directives were given when Adeleke Adewolu, the new Executive Commissioner of the NCC, was inaugurated. Pantami, who said he was also affected by the issues, was unhappy that his directives had not been carried out after issuing them in October when he received a progress report on the NCC’s Key Performance Target Indicators. According to the Minister, NCC’s job involves the protection of consumers. He stressed the need to make sure Nigerians are well treated and tasked the NCC to deliver those targets as soon as possible.

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