Author: Editorial Staff

A LAWSUIT launched by the Nigerian government against US bank JP Morgan Chase, claiming more than $1.7bn for its role in a disputed 2011 oilfield deal, will proceed to trial, London’s high court ruled on Thursday. The suit filed in the English courts in 2017 relates to the purchase of the offshore OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in 2011, which is the subject of an ongoing trial in Milan. The six-week London trial will start on the first available date after Nov. 1 next year, meaning that proceedings may not begin until…

THE clock is ticking down on Africa’s first post-coronavirus sovereign default, as Eurobond holders wait to see whether Zambia will make an overdue debt payment on Friday while the government hopes creditors have granted it a payment deferral. Zambia is due to pay a $42.5 million coupon on one of its $3bn dollar-denominated sovereign bonds when the 30-day grace period expires at the end of the day. The government has also scheduled meetings with creditors to hear whether they will grant the country a payment reprieve until April. The Zambia external bondholder committee — a large group of creditors holding more…

HOPE is rising that a new vaccine could halt the Covid-19 pandemic – for some – but lessons learnt from past vaccine programmes in West Africa suggest millions more might miss out. The super-cold storage temperature required for the new vaccine will make it near impossible to deliver in rural parts of Africa, said public health expert Evelyn Castle. ‘We would need all new infrastructure,’ said Castle, executive director of the Nigeria-based non-profit organisation eHealth Africa, which in 2016 helped distribute an Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone at similar temperatures. ‘(In Sierra Leone), we had to do full renovations of…

MOBILE financial services are a global game-changer with an open money network being the connection needed between the financial industry and telecom to increase both the commercial and social benefits. It is more so in a country like Nigeria where a large percentage of the population is unbanked. It is this situation that led tech entrepreneur Sahir Berry to tap into the underserved market. ‘In 2017 we identified that one of the two big problems in Nigeria was youth empowerment and financial inclusion,’ Berry told Africa Briefing. ‘With a population of almost 100 million youth, we found that access to…

FORMER Ghana president, Jerry John Rawlings has died. According to local media reports, Rawlings died in the early hours of Thursday at the Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. He had been battling with ill-health over the past few weeks. Jerry John Rawlings buried his late mother Madam Victoria Agbotui, who died at the age of 101, in October 2020. Local media report that military personnel are currently manning the premises of Rawlings. About Jerry John Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings was born June 22, 1947. He was a former military leader and subsequent politician who ruled Ghana from…

COTE D’IVOIRE President Alassane Ouattara and rival Henri Konan Bedie Wednesday said they would continue discussions aimed at restoring peace following the October 31 election that triggered clashes and left dozens dead. Ouattara described Wednesday’s initial meeting with former president and opposition candidate Henri Konan Bedie as an ice breaker, a first step toward establishing trust. Bedie said the two would continue to call each other in the coming days and weeks and meet so that the country returns to what it was. Following the meeting in the commercial capital, Abidjan, the two rivals did not say if any agreement…

ETHIOPIA’S military has defeated local forces in the west of Tigray state, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday, accusing his foes of atrocities during a week of fighting that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa. Air strikes and ground combat have killed hundreds, sent refugees flooding into Sudan, stirred Ethiopia’s ethnic divisions and raised questions over the credentials of Abiy, Africa’s youngest leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. ‘The western region of Tigray has been liberated,’ tweeted Abiy (40), who comes from the largest ethnic group the Oromo and once fought with the Tigrayans against…

ACCORDING to a report called e-Conomy Africa 2020, Africa’s internet economy is estimated to be worth $180bn by 2025, which is 5.2 percent of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP). The report was released by Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Driving this growth is a combination of increased access to faster and better quality internet connectivity, a rapidly expanding urban population, a growing tech talent pool, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and Africa’s commitment to creating the world’s largest single market under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Currently, Africa is home to 700,000 developers and venture capital funding…

HUAWEI and Ghana’s Ministry of Communications have launched the Rural Telephony Project which aims to provide voice and data services for more than 3.4 million people in underserved and unserved communities. This initiative, in partnership with China National Technical, is expected to save the government up to 70 percent of the cost of traditional cell sites and extend the national mobile communication coverage from 83 percent to 95 percent – greatly accelerating local economic development whiles improving people’s livelihoods. Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo, President of Ghana, says that ‘Government is committed to ensuring that every Ghanaian, irrespective of tribe, religion, class,…

IN its latest Africa Energy Outlook 2021 released earlier this week, the African Energy Chamber forecasts increased gas monetisation across the continent on the back of decarbonisation and industrialisation drive. The African Energy Chamber has notably found that while not insulated to Covid-19, gas markets have been less exposed than that of oil to the shocks of 2020, notably because the transportation industry has been the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and is more oil-demanding than gas. The global gas market was nevertheless already facing a glut of LNG before Covid-19, resulting in even more depressed prices as the…