Africa Business News

Brazil's Supreme Court will vote on whether or not to uphold a ruling to ban social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Justice Alexandre Moraes called for the vote after the platform was suspended in the country in the early hours of Saturday. It came after X failed to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil before a court-imposed deadline. Justice Moraes gave companies, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from its app stores and block its use on iOS and Android devices. He added that individuals or businesses that are found to still be accessing X by using virtual private networks could be fined $8,910.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

S & P Global Ratings has downgraded Kenya’s credit rating from “B to B-”, meaning that Kenya has now been deemed credit-risky by all three of the biggest credit rating agencies. Due to being credit-risky, raising money from debt instruments will become problematic for Kenya because the borrowing cost becomes expensive. The ratings tell investors that Kenya is not a debt-sustainable country. So, they will be wary now of providing Kenya with loans. After Kenya’s president, William Ruto withdrew the Finance Bill in June, he mentioned that the country will look at alternatives to raise money. Borrowing more money at high interest rates to meet its debt obligations remains one bleak option for Kenya.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Amazon Web Services hosted a summit in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the advancements of Generative Artificial Intelligence and committed to making a follow-on investment of $1.7 billion by 2029 to increase renewable energy supply to its data centres. AWS has two of its three data centres located in South Africa. At least one of them consumes about 1,000 megawatts of electricity. AWS will use that investment to generate more electricity to sustain the high demand for storage for data points and also use AWS Bedrock which allows companies to build on existing Gen AI models, and scale their operations.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Global Environment Facility has approved $3.28m to tackle land degradation in Kebbi State under the National Agency for the Great Green Wall initiative. The Operational Focal Point for GEF, Jonah Stanley, says GEF is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, and land degradation, among others. Stanley noted that GEF was a funding mechanism that supported more than 185 countries around the world, including Nigeria, in dealing with environmental issues.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited says the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply. There have been reports that a $6 billion debt the NNPCL owes petrol suppliers has worsened petrol scarcity in Nigeria, a perennial feature since the beginning of 2024. NNPCL spokesman Olufemi Soneye says the financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply. He says they are actively collaborating with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to maintain a consistent supply of petroleum products nationwide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that Nigeria’s Letter of Credit payments dropped by 57 per cent in the first seven months of 2024. The CBN’s weekly International Payments Data shows that the country’s Letter of Credit payments dropped to $391.91m from $912.35m within the same period in 2023. An analysis of the CBN data showed that the highest LC payments this year were recorded in February at $102.59m, followed by July at $79.65m and $58.33m in January. In March, LCs payments stood at $43.53m compared to $269m in the same month in 2023, rose to $54.02m in April 2024 and dropped to $21.48m in May before rising to $32.26m in June.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has called on judges to urgently rule on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the war on Gaza. Prosecutor Karim Khan says that any unjustified delay in these proceedings detrimentally affects the rights of victims. Khan had applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders in May for alleged crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza. Khan stressed that the ICC had jurisdiction over Israeli nationals who commit atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory and asked the judges to dismiss legal challenges filed by several governments and other parties.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

A "right to disconnect" rule has come into effect in Australia, offering relief to people who feel forced to take calls or read messages from employers after they finish their day’s work. The new law allows employees to ignore communications after hours if they choose to, without fear of being punished by their bosses. More than 20 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, have similar rules. The law does not ban employers from contacting workers after hours. Instead, it gives staff the right not to reply unless their refusal is deemed unreasonable. Under the rules, employers and employees should try to resolve disputes among themselves. If that is unsuccessful in finding a resolution Australia's Fair Work Commission can step in.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Gabon's interim president who seized power in a coup a year ago has barred members of his transitional government from holidaying abroad. Gen Oligui Nguema has also limited government officials to a maximum of one week of holiday leave. These new restrictions were announced on state television, after he toured the country to listen to people's concerns. There is speculation that Gen Nguema may be softening the ground to run for president in next year's election - the first since he seized power in the Central African state. News of the holiday restrictions comes days before the first anniversary of the coup - when the junta's record will inevitably be scrutinised.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Federal Government has declared that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited does not have the funds required to rebuild old pipelines. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, stated emphasised that Nigeria also needs to repair its pipelines, which he said are old, corroded, and expired. He noted that even if the country can produce more than 1.7 million barrels of crude oil, the problem is how to evacuate it to the terminal. He says the pipelines have all expired and are completely corroded but there are better technologies which are more expensive, there are better pipelines that other people are using in other countries, but they are not cheap.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The federal government says it stands by its decision to void over 22,700 degree certificates obtained by Nigerians in some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic. Education Minister Tahir Mamman, says Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such “illegal” tertiary institutions are denting Nigeria’s image. He says the measure to invalidate degree certificates from illegal universities in the Benin Republic and Togo was not a harsh one as the authorities in the neighbouring Francophone West African countries also adjudged the concerned schools as fake. The Federal Government subsequently suspended the accreditation of certificates from the two francophone West African nations and launched a probe.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission earlier said that electricity consumption was not a fundamental right that could be challenged. The country’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu,says that electricity will now be treated as a fundamental human right. He says Although access to electricity is not exactly specified as a fundamental human right by the United Nations, it is implied within human rights frameworks in countries like India and China. He says making electricity a basic human right means that the country will offer respite to Nigerians who use generators to meet their electricity needs. He however did not explain how the government will outline a clear plan to address the country’s longstanding power supply challenges and deliver on this ambitious promise.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has advocated policy consistency in Nigeria regardless of change from one administration to another. She says maintaining good economic and social policies; maintaining policy consistency and adding more reforms will lead along the path of good progress. The former Nigerian finance minister decried a phenomenon she labelled as the “not-in-my-administration syndrome” in governance which she said has been responsible for the not-so-good economic performance of Nigeria.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The World Health Organization has declared the mpox outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern. The highly contagious disease - formerly known as monkeypox - has killed at least 450 people during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has now spread across parts of central and east Africa, and scientists are concerned about how fast a new variant of the disease is spreading and its high fatality rate. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying. He says a co-ordinated international response is essential to stop this outbreak and save lives.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Federal Government has given subscribers of the National Housing Programme a 90-day deadline to complete their payments, with an additional eight-week grace period. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, says the validity period for the completion of all payments was 90 days.” However, he added that a grace period of eight weeks was given to them, within which they were advised to complete all their payments. He explained that it meant that subscribers who had not yet completed their payments had 26 weeks to do so. The ministry has urged subscribers to take advantage of the grace period to complete their payments and avoid having their offers revoked.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Federal Government has been implored to simplify the process of land documentation as a measure to enhance housing construction and home ownership across the country. The Managing Director of Gestpoint Nigeria Limited, Dr Ebenezer Akinrinade, says the current reality in the sector is that the process of getting land documented is cumbersome and time-consuming across the country, adding that the development impedes investors from Nigeria’s real estate sector. He posited that if the government could give every other sector grants to do one or two projects, the real estate sector would equally need some funds.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Stakeholders in the judiciary sector of the country have called for speedy implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act across the country. They said the act was passed into law and domesticated in 2015 by at least 34 states including Katsina is yet to be implemented, The Programme Manager of CLEEN Foundation, Chigozirim Okoro, described policing as a collective responsibility from parents to guardians, to school teachers, to community heads, to religious leaders, to security and law enforcement agencies to ensure violence-free Nigeria.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has debunked a report claiming that it owes international oil traders $6.8 billion. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, also refuted claims that the NNPCL has not remitted funds into the federation account since January. Soneye, however, acknowledged that it is normal to owe at one point or the other since the oil trading business, transactions are carried out on credit. He says on the issue of quality/quantity fiscalization of imported petroleum products, the NNPCL has no role whatsoever as it is not a regulator. He added that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is an independent body and does not report to the NNPCL.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/africa-business-news--4166630/support.

Hamas says that any resumption of ceasefire talks about the conflict in Gaza should be based on previous plans rather than holding new rounds of negotiations. International mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US urged Israel and Hamas to attend negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal on 15 August. Israel responded saying it would send a team of negotiators to take part in the meeting. Negotiations faltered last month, after new terms were introduced to the framework presented by US President Joe Biden in May. The leaders of the UK, France and Germany issued a joint call for talks to resume, saying there can be no further delay. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed the mediators' call for ceasefire talks to resume in a joint statement.

A US court has convicted a Mozambican former finance minister over a 10-year-old conspiracy that triggered the worst economic crisis in his home country since independence. Manuel Chang was found guilty of accepting pay-offs through US banks for approving secret loans which were intended to pay for a fleet of tuna fishing ships and other projects, leading to the affair being dubbed the "tuna bond" scandal. But the loans were plundered, leaving Mozambique $2bn (£1.5bn) in debt. Chang was arrested in South Africa in 2018, and extradited to the US the following year to face fraud and money-laundering charges. Ten other people have been imprisoned in Mozambique over the scandal, including the son of then-President Armando Guebuza.