Author: Editorial Staff

SURGING inflation is undermining the recovery of Africa’s biggest economy, pushing seven million Nigerians into poverty and encouraging criminality as rising prices deplete already meagre incomes, according to the World Bank. In its Nigeria Development Update report, the Washington-based lender projects economic growth of 1.8 percent this year, compared with a previous estimate of 1.2 percent. But it warned that without deep reforms, the economy will continue to grow slower than the pace of population expansion of about 2.6 percent a year. That, coupled with rising unemployment and inflation, is leading more Nigerians into criminal enterprises to make up for…

ETHIOPIA has rejected an Arab League resolution calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene in a lingering dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over a massive dam Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile, the Nile River’s main tributary. Foreign ministers of the 22-member bloc met in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday in the latest effort by Cairo and Khartoum to reach an agreement on the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the dam. Egypt relies on the river for as much…

A RWANDAN opposition leader apparently arrested in Mozambique last month should be immediately charged in court or released, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Cassien Ntamuhanga (pictured), a radio journalist in Rwanda who was jailed after being convicted of conspiring against the government, escaped from prison in Rwanda in 2018 and sought asylum in Mozambique. His application was still being processed at the time he was taken into custody on May 23, according to the human rights organisation. Ntamuhanga was taken by seven men who showed identification cards for Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service and taken to the local police station,…

ZAMBIA electoral body on Tuesday suspended two major political parties from holding campaigns in some districts due to continued violence by the supporters. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has suspended the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) after they failed to prevent their supporters from engaging in violence. Chief Electoral Officer Patrick Nshindano said the two parties will not be allowed to conduct any campaigns in four districts namely Lusaka, Mpulungu, Nakonde and Namwala due to escalating violence seen in the districts. He told reporters during a press briefing that it…

LAST week, a woman in South Africa claimed to have broken a world record by giving birth to a stunning 10 babies at once. Now, the alleged father and his family doubt they even exist. Tebogo Tsotetsi, the boyfriend of mother Gosiame Sithole, released a statement Tuesday saying that, due to his inability to reach Sithole and verify her claims, he believes she didn’t give birth to 10 babies. ‘The current uncertainties and public discourse about the decuplets is of major concern to the family,’ the statement read, ‘especially in the absence of any proof of the decuplets existence other…

THE Nigerian government on Tuesday said Twitter has written to seek dialogue on possible ways of solving the controversy created by its recent ban in Nigeria. In a press briefing in Abuja, Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed acknowledged the receipt of the letter by the Nigerian government, saying the country’s officials were open to a dialogue. Mohammed, however, said among other conditions for Twitter to resume operation in Nigeria, there must be an agreement on what contents it could broadcast. ‘I can confirm that Twitter has written the Federal Government that they are ready to talk. As we have…

FOR more than five years, Gloria Majiga-Kamoto, a 30-year-old Malawian environmental activist, has waged a David v Goliath battle against some of the country’s largest plastic manufacturers to bring an end to single-use plastics. Together with other activists and civil society groups, Majiga-Kamoto spearheaded a grassroots campaign that fought to pressure authorities into instituting a plastic ban in Malawi. ‘We organised several marches — marched to the court and in communities to document their experiences and the challenges they encountered because of the plastic problem we have in the country,’ Majiga-Kamoto told CNN. After a protracted legal battle with plastic…

COMPANIES have 30 days from today to tell the government of Ethiopia if they are interested in buying a 40 percent stake in state-owned Ethio Telecom, tech news portal Capacity Media reported on Tuesday. At the same time the government confirmed that Deloitte will be the lead transaction adviser, and is in the final stage of completing the preparatory work. This includes the business plan, financial, legal and tax due diligence, and business valuation of the company, led for the past three years by Frehiwot Tamiru (pictured). Today’s request for expressions of interest ‘will allow international investors to express interest…

PARMOUNT Aerospace Systems, subsidiary to aerospace and technology company Paramount Group, has announced that its Technical Aviation Academy has strategically re-located to Wonderboom National Airport, adjacent to the company’s advanced aircraft manufacturing facility. For the next generation of young Africans looking for a career in aviation, prospective students of the Academy are encouraged to register and join for the July 1, 2021 intake. Paramount Group originally launched its Technical Aviation Academy in Polokwane, and has from its inception offered internationally-recognised aviation courses to train Africa’s future aircraft technicians, as demand for these professionals continues to scale across the continent and…

COTE D’IVOIRE’S former president Laurent Gbagbo returns on Thursday to a country that he left in humiliation almost a decade ago, forced out after a bloody conflict and dispatched to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity. His homecoming will be a key test of stability in the country, the world’s biggest cocoa producer and the wealthiest country in francophone West Africa. Gbagbo, 76, is set to arrive aboard a commercial flight from Brussels, his home since the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted him in 2019. An appeal against the ruling failed in March, paving the way for…