Africa Podcast Network

Microsoft Corp exceeded analysts’ expectations for second-quarter revenue on Tuesday, propelled by strong demand for its cloud-based services from more businesses migrating to hybrid work models due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Microsoft has become one of the most valuable companies in the world by betting heavily on corporate software and services, especially its cloud services and the movement to the web of its Outlook email and calendar software, known as Office 365.
Revenue from Microsoft’s biggest segment, which offers cloud services and includes Azure, its flagship cloud offering, rose 26 per cent, while the business that houses its Office 365 services increased 19 per cent in the quarter.

US President Joe Biden says he would consider imposing economic sanctions personally targeting Vladimir Putin if the Russian president orders a new attack on Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged European allies to have sanctions ready to go if Russia invades Ukraine.
Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops within reach of Ukraine’s border but denies planning an invasion. Instead, it has cited the Western response to its military buildup as evidence that Russia is the target of aggression.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe held a crisis meeting with captains of industry on Monday at which they pledged a commitment to work closely in curbing the parallel market exchange rate volatility.
The central bank governor, John Mangudya says both parties acknowledged the positive economic achievements made so far which include year on year inflation reduction to end the year at 60,7% from 348,6% recorded in 2020 with local manufacturing production going to 80% of products on the market were locally produced.
Mnagudya says the Bank should continue fighting inflation through restrictive monetary policy and building foreign exchange reserves as a way of augmenting the defence of the value of the local currency.

Kenyan growers and exporters dealing in the avocado export business face an indefinite ban on the export of Hass and Fuerta varieties.
Kenya Agriculture and Food authority director, Benjamin Tito noted that the ban, which took effect on November 15, 2021, is aimed at curbing the harvest and export of immature avocados.
The food regulator noted the ban will remain in effect in order to control the export of immature avocadoes which have negatively impacted the image of the commodity in overseas markets.
It further warned that exporters who use marketing agents without valid registration permits shall have their licenses revoked.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli has expressed Egypt's keenness on reaching a legally-binding agreement for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to achieve the interests of all parties through striking a balance.
Madbouli says Egypt showed interest in resuming negotiations at the nearest chance with the aim of finding solutions to points of technical and legal differences and finding a fair and balanced agreement taking into consideration Egypt's water scarcity and its dependence on the Nile as the main water resource.
He says that Egypt always gives priority to achieving development in Nile basin countries, so it offered assistance to sisterly countries to provide stability for their peoples.

President Muhammadu Buhari launched the national policy on 5G for Nigeria’s digital economy, with a clear directive to all the security agencies to immediately leverage the technology to enhance security in the country when it has been deployed.
President Buhari also allayed fears over health safety of 5G, affirming that such issues had been effectively addressed in developing a policy that suits the country.
The president stressed that it would support virtually every sector of the economy, including enhanced connectivity, improved healthcare, support for education while fostering smart cities, and boosting agriculture, among other advantages.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5% and kept all other parameters unchanged.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele made the announcement while addressing journalists at the bank’s headquarters in Abuja.
Lowering the rate could have stimulated more borrowing while raising the rate could have signalled the CBN’s intention to reduce the economy’s money supply.

The Federal Government will outline its policy position for the marginal field bid round to eligible awardees who have fully or partly complied with signature bonus payment in the 2020 marginal field programme.
It says the policy position would be made public at a forum being planned by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in Abuja.
It says all eligible awardees and relevant international oil companies associated with the MFBR were expected to attend the meeting.

The International Monetary Fund has retained its 2022 growth forecast for Nigeria at 2.7 per cent and increased the 2023 projection by 0.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
The IMF had in its October report last year projected a 2.7 per cent growth rate for 2022 and 2.6 per cent for 2023.
The IMF downgraded its growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa to 3.7 per cent and 4.0 per cent for 2022 and 2023 respectively from 3.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent forecast in its October 2021 WEO report.
The IMF also reduced its forecast for global economic growth to 4.4 per cent in 2023, representing 0.5 percentage points lower than the 4.9 per cent projected in October.

Serbia and the Belgium-based Euroclear signed an agreement to make the Balkan country’s local debt euroclearable or clearable through the Euroclear international settlements system, which would help lure foreign portfolio investments.
Finance Minister Sinisa Mali says the Euroclear membership was vital for the future sales of European Union candidate countries’ bonds.
Mali says Serbia’s membership in Euroclear would bolster the development and liquidity of the domestic money and capital markets and lower financing costs. It would also lure more foreign portfolio investors.

An alliance of airlines and airports called for changes to the European Union’s planned climate change legislation on Monday, arguing it will make them less competitive with non-European rivals.
The alliance argues long-haul flights via non-European hubs would not be subjected to the same associated costs, leading to a potential shift in business to such carriers.
The alliance rejects a kerosene tax outright and proposes that the environmental protection surcharge be based on the entire flight route, not just feeder flights bringing passengers from the EU to international hubs such as Istanbul or Dubai.

Taliban and Western diplomats are holding a meeting outside Norway’s capital Oslo for talks focused on Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.
The closed-door discussions with representatives of the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union and Norway.
The Taliban earlier met with Afghan civil society members, including women activists and journalists, for talks on human rights.

Ghanaian authorities have shut down Maxam Mining Company Limited responsible for manufacturing, storing, and transporting explosive materials for mining operations in the country following a deadly explosion last week.
Investigations are underway, the authorities say, into Thursday's blast near the mining town of Bogoso, that killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others.
The National Disaster Management Organisation says more than 40 critically injured people are being treated in hospitals, and more than 500 homes have been destroyed.

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has sacked his entire cabinet over corruption concerns.
The president vowed to confront all forms of lawless conduct by public officials. He says a new cabinet would be announced in two days.
Three ministers are facing charges including the minister of lands who was arrested last month in a bribery case.
The labour minister has been accused of diverting Covid funds and the energy minister of meddling with fuel deals. All have denied the allegations.

Mali's government has called on Denmark to immediately withdraw a contingent of troops deployed to the West African nation as part of an international counter-terrorism force.
The military government says the deployment of about 90 Danish soldiers had taken place without its consent.
Denmark says it's in touch with the government in Bamako and is working intensely to clarify the situation.
The government has denied their presence, saying Russian trainers were in the country to support the national army.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has stopped the registration of alcohol in sachet and small volume and glass bottles below 200 mitres amidst other stringent regulatory measures.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, says the registration of new alcoholic drinks in a sachet, small volume and glass bottles above 30 per cent alcohol by volume has been banned by NAFDAC.
Adeyeye however said that the Agency will ensure that the validity of renewal of the already registered alcoholic products in the affected category will not exceed 2024.
The NAFDAC DG explained that manufacturers of low volume alcohol beverages with satisfactory laboratory reports have been directed to reformulate their products to stipulated standards free of charge.

The Federal Government is considering autogas as an alternative to the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, explained that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Economic Council, is also leading an effort in collaboration with state governors to discuss the government’s plans to unveil palliatives to the people.
The Minister says the Federal Government had in December 2021 rolled out an autogas programme called the National Gas Expansion Programme.
Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had explained that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to covert their cars to autogas.

The federal government, represented by the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, has held a follow-up meeting with Egyptian authorities in an effort to boost electricity supply, including renewable energy in Nigeria.
Aliyu affirmed the commitment of the federal government to see that Nigerians have an efficient power supply in the nearest future.
Aliyu stated that the anticipated area of cooperation between Egypt’s ministry of electricity and renewable energy and Nigeria’s federal ministry of power may include the areas of provision of technical support in transmission and distribution networks, promotion as well as in renewable energy systems in the electricity sector.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says that the Federal Government had postponed the planned removal of subsidies on petroleum products till further notice.
The finance minister says the Federal Government initially had plans to remove subsidies on petroleum products from July this year.
She says that was the reason adequate provision was made in the 2022 national budget for subsidy payment till June.
She says the provision was made sequel to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act which indicated that all petroleum products would be deregulated.

Seoul says Iran is expected to regain its vote in the UN General Assembly after South Korea paid Tehran’s delinquent dues to the world body with Iranian funds frozen in the country.
Iran however announced that US sanctions had impeded its ability to make the payment on its arrears for the second year in a row.
The finance ministry says Seoul completed the payment of Iran’s UN dues of about $18 million through the Iranian frozen funds in South Korea, in active cooperation with related agencies such as US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the United Nations Secretariat.

The head of the German navy has resigned after coming under fire at home and abroad for saying that Ukraine would never regain the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach also said it was important to have Russia on the side against China, and suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect.
The comments came at a sensitive time as Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s borders. Russia denies it is planning to invade Ukraine.

Armenian President Armen Sarkisian announced that he was resigning his largely ceremonial position, citing the inability of his office to influence policy during times of national crisis.
The announcement comes on the back of a period of instability in the ex-Soviet Caucasus nation in the wake of a war with its long-standing rival Azerbaijan.
Armenia’s humiliating defeat and loss of disputed territory in late 2020 ultimately sparked massive street rallies and a domestic crisis that pitted Sarkisian against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
He says the president does not have the necessary tools to influence the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in difficult times for the people and the country.

The United Arab Emirates says it intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles that were targeting the country, and there were no casualties.
The defence ministry says the remnants of the intercepted ballistic missiles fell in separate areas around Abu Dhabi.
Houthi-run Al Masirah television channel says the group would announce within hours the details of a wide military operation against Saudi Arabia and the UAE amid concern over a further escalation in tensions in the region amid Yemen’s years-long civil war.

The United States has ordered the families of all American staff at the US Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened concern that Russia, which has massed troops on the border, is about to invade.
The State Department also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense and that all Americans should consider departing immediately.
The US Embassy in Kyiv warned that military action by Russia could come at any time and the United States government will not be in a position to evacuate American citizens in such a contingency, so US citizens currently present in Ukraine should plan accordingly.

A Civil Society Organisations grouping has demanded the urgent introduction of wealth tax to facilitate the trickledown effect of financial resources to the country in a bid to reduce the alarming poverty levels.
The Zimbabwe Fight Inequality Alliance's spokesperson, Janet Zhou declared a week of action, piling pressure on the government to introduce a tax for the country's wealthiest.
Zhou says the abolishment of unjust and harmful tax incentives to multinational corporations is a long overdue outcome of a stakeholder consultative process.
Zhou stressed that it is time the government introduced a Covid19 Windfall Tax for corporates and individuals who have made phenomenal profits since 2020 to fund a just and equitable response to Covid19 induced poverty and suffering.

The United Nations Refugee Agency is appealing for nearly $60 million for tens of thousands of victims of intercommunal clashes over dwindling resources in Cameroon's Far North region.
UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says the appeal will provide critically needed relief over the next six months for both the displaced and those sheltering them in Chad and Cameroon.
Cheshirkov says the situation has calmed down in the last few weeks. He says security has been reinforced.
He notes government-led reconciliation efforts, supported by the UNHCR are underway adding that urgent action is needed to address the root causes of the conflict.

The Swazi Observer newspaper reports that Eswatini will destroy 10,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines that have expired.
The country's health ministry says that AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are still available and therefore vaccination will continue.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccines expired on Tuesday last week. The newspaper reports that the current batch of Pfizer doses expires next week.

Shell Petroleum Development Company will attempt to convince the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, to upturn an N800 billion judgement against the oil giant by a Federal High Court in the state in 2020.
The company however was expected to tell the appeal court that the lower court failed to listen to its argument that the oil spill claim was unsubstantiated.
SPDC had appealed against the judgement and applied to suspend its enforcement.
SPDC argued that the court was duty-bound to hear evidence to determine, first, if the spill occurred and the alleged cause before proceeding to fix liability and compensation, which it noted, didn’t happen in the case.

Aliko Dangote, says mechanical work on his much-awaited crude oil refinery had been completed and the facility would begin to run between August and September this year.
Dangote says full production at the refinery could commence by the end of the year or the beginning of 2023.
He says that Dangote Group would continue to do more towards strengthening investment in the country, stating that the company has been meeting its tax obligations.
Dangote added that the Dangote Group had revitalised road infrastructure within Apapa and Isolo in Lagos, and also in Ogun and Kaduna, stressing that the group is equally involved in the development of deep seaports and other infrastructural projects across the country.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says that effective February 1, 2022, all import and export operations would require the submission of an electronic invoice authenticated by Authorised Dealer Banks on the Nigeria Single Window Price Portal – Trade Monitoring System.
The apex bank explained that the introduction of the e-valuator and e-Invoice would replace hard copy final invoice as part of the documentation required for all import and export transactions going forward.
The CBN Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr Ozoemena Nnaji pointed out that the new regulation aims to achieve accurate value from import and export items in and out of the country.

Chairman of the council, Samuel Nwanosike says that at least 112 illegal refineries have been discovered in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
He says that 99% of the discoveries were made in a particular community located along the OML 17 trunk lines.
Governor Nyesom Wike had pledged N460 million to the 23 local government area chairmen to fight oil bunkering in the state.
Each chairman will receive N20 million to destroy illegal refinery sites that have been identified in their respective domains.

Russia’s central bank proposed a blanket ban on the use and creation of all cryptocurrencies within one of the world’s biggest crypto-mining nations, citing the dangers posed to the country’s financial system and environment.
The central bank also took aim at mining, which it said hurts the country’s green agenda, jeopardizes Russia’s energy supply and amplifies the negative effects of the spread of cryptocurrencies, creating incentives for circumventing attempts at regulation.
The Central Bank called for individuals and businesses that flaunt the rules to be held to account, citing estimates that put Russia’s crypto trading turnover at about $5 billion a year.

South Korea unveiled a 14 trillion won supplementary budget on Friday to support the self-employed and small businesses that have taken a heavy hit from extended COVID-19 curbs.
The finance ministry says some 11.5 trillion won will be used to help small business owners and compensate their losses caused by the extension of virus-related measures.
Another 1.5 trillion won is earmarked to secure COVID-19 treatment pills for 400,000 people and 25,000 hospital beds.
The other 1 trillion won will be used as contingency reserves should the Omicron coronavirus variant spread further and require more support.

China and Russia blocked a US push to impose United Nations sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang.
China’s block came before a new closed-door council meeting on North Korea, also requested by Washington, and was followed by Russia’s decision to similarly oppose the American proposal.
The US Treasury Department says one of the North Koreans being sanctioned, Choe Myong Hyon, was based in Russia and had provided support to North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences which is already subject to sanctions.

The US Embassy in Khartoum says that Washington would not resume its paused economic assistance to Sudan until violence there comes to an end and a civilian-led government is restored.
The US halted $700 million in emergency assistance since the military coup in October.
The US Embassy in Khartoum says the US officials strongly condemned the use of disproportionate force against protesters, especially the use of live ammunition sexual violence and the practice of arbitrary detention.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says there is a demonstrable effort to make peace in Ethiopia after more than a year of civil war.
Mr Guterres spoke to the African Union (AU) chief envoy to the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo who briefed him on the peace efforts.
The UN chief says the AU envoy expressed optimism that there is now a real opportunity for political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict.
Federal troops have been fighting rebels in the north of the country for more than a year now, in a war that has ended thousands of lives.

The authorities in Burkina Faso say they disrupted access to Facebook due to security fears.
Government spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga says the authorities did not have to explain themselves on the shutdown first reported on 10 January and which appears to have continued.
The government announced on 11 January that eight soldiers were arrested over a plan to destabilise the institutions of the republic, a development that local media said was a coup plot.

Sudan's military chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has appointed 15 ministers to a new government.
The move comes almost three months after he seized power in a military coup that derailed a planned transition to elections.
Correspondents say the naming of a new government is unlikely to appease the protesters who want the military to quit the political scene entirely.
The United States has reiterated that it will not resume economic assistance to Sudan unless there is an end to violence and a civilian-led government is restored

A United Nations-backed agency, Medicines Patent Pool, has struck a deal for nearly 30 generic drug makers to manufacture low-cost versions of Merck & Co’s COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir for poorer nations.
A Reuters report stated that the deal, negotiated by the UN-backed organisation with Merck, would expand output by increasing the number of companies that would produce the drug.
The new agreement allows 27 generic drug makers from India, China and other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to produce ingredients and the finished drug.
The MPP stated that the deal stipulated that the pill would be distributed to 105 less-developed nations.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has commended the Senate for re-amending the Electoral Act Amendment Bill giving room for direct, indirect, and consensus options for nominating candidates for the various political parties in the country.
They commended the Senate for amending clause 84 regarding the mode of candidate selection in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
They also urged the House of Representatives to do the same by adding the consensus clause.
They resolved to engage the organized labour on the best approach to take to avoid causing hardship to citizens concerning the fuel subsidy removal.

Former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar raised concerns over the removal of fuel subsidies.
General Abdulsalami says the country is facing challenges on multiple fronts and a fuel subsidy removal will only compound the situation.
The Federal Government says it plans to discontinue the payment of fuel subsidy by June but the move has been rejected by several stakeholders, including the Nigeria Labour Congress.
General Abdulsalami says Nigeria now faces a food security crisis that is compounded by the COVID-19 global pandemic and the banditry in many states in Northern Nigeria.

US mobile networks AT&T and Verizon have agreed to postpone the rollout of their new 5G service at some airports.
The telecoms firms expressed frustration as they bowed to pressure to limit their rollout.
AT&T says it was temporarily deferring the rollout at a limited number of towers around certain airport runways adding that regulators had had two years to plan for the start of 5G service.
Verizon says it had voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports.

The Finance Ministry says Britain is to crack down on misleading advertisements for crypto assets, which often target retail consumers with poor knowledge of the risks.
The finance ministry says that about 2.3 million people in Britain now own a crypto asset, but research suggests that understanding of the sector is declining, suggesting that some users may not fully understand what they are buying.
Britain’s finance minister Rishi Sunak says crypto-assets can provide exciting new opportunities, offering people new ways to transact and invest but important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims.

The British parliament is expected to debate a motion entitled recognition of Somaliland which has been tabled by MP Gavin Williamson.
Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago, but it is not recognised as an independent state by the African Union or the United Nations.
Somaliland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed the motion and urged Somalilanders in the UK to contact their respective MPs.
Local governments in the British cities of Sheffield, Cardiff and Birmingham support Somaliland's independence, but the British government does not.

President Tayyip Erdogan says that he was pleased with the lessening in lira volatility and that the government was working on steps to increase interest in the Turkish currency.
State-owned Anadolu news agency reports that the president said the lira will get firmer, interest rates will fall in the same way, and 2022 will be our brightest year.
He says they are quite pleased with the lessening volatility in the exchange rate adding that their additional work is continuing on maintaining stability in financial markets and boosting interest in the lira.

The South African government is collaborating with the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development to promote the development of green hydrogen in the country.
Minister Mondli Gungubele says the German ministry would be supporting the project with at least €12.5 million in funding.
Gungubele added that the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency has also pledged its support to a project by energy giant Sasol and the German government supported the H2Global initiative to produce sustainable aviation fuel to the international community.

Kenya has extended the suspension of all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates for a further seven days.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Director General Gilbert Kibe, says this because of the impasse between the two countries which he says is still persisting.
The Dubai Aviator regulator had pointed out that the middle eastern country had banned all inbound and transit passenger flights from Kenya because travellers were testing positive for Covid-19 after arrival despite carrying negative test results.

Kenya’s highest court began weighing a legal bid to revive government plans to shake up the country’s political system, just months ahead of crucial elections.
The Supreme Court ruling on the proposed constitutional changes, expected after three days of hearings this week, may have major consequences for the August 9 presidential and parliamentary polls.
The government is seeking to overturn court rulings that had dealt a blow to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his allies by rejecting the reforms and the way they were introduced as unconstitutional.

The trial of the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu stalled on Tuesday after he objected to the fresh charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
The Federal Government had filed fresh terrorism charges against the detained leader of the proscribed IPOB leader before the Federal High Court.
Kanu objected to the fresh charges bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism, against him, increased to 15.
The court is now expected to reconvene on Wednesday, January 19, for him to take his plea.

The House of Representatives is set to amend the provision of Direct Primaries in Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila says the version of the bill circulating is not the same as the version sent to President Muhammadu He says the argument that political parties do not have a proper register of all their members is an indictment of political parties, as he wonders how they are able to conduct elections through direct or indirect methods without a comprehensive register.

The Lagos State Government and transportation stakeholders in the state on Tuesday signed an agreement and officially unveiled the ‘Consolidated Informal Transport Sector Levy’ to harmonise dues collected by the government from commercial motorists at parks and garages across the state.
The agreement between the state, local government, and various unions in the sector, as well as some government agencies in Lagos, was signed on Tuesday during a ceremony held in Ikeja.
The Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo, stated that the levy pegged at a flat rate of N800 covers money for not just the local government, but also that of clearing waste from motor parks paid to the Ministry of Transportation, Lagos State Waste Management Authority and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency.

Nigeria has mapped out strategies to launch a second satellite into orbit to enhance the communications status of the nation.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami stressed that President Mohammadu Buhari has given approval for the purchase of the Satellite.
The Minister noted that he had gone further to lobby the Minister of Finance to ensure that this is included in the 2022 Budget, however, did not disclose the amount approved and how many satellites are to be purchased.
The minister says he had approved the establishment of some subsidiaries under NIGCOMSAT, as part of the ongoing effort to revive the institution back to the part of progress and productivity.

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan says that President Muhammadu Buhari has not directed anyone in his administration to implement the removal of petroleum subsidies.
The Senate President says that lawmakers are worried about the agitations and protests across the country on the matter, which prompted the discussion with the President.
Lawan further questioned the claim that Nigerians consume a hundred million litres of the Premium Motor Spirit daily.
The Senate President explained that while it is impossible to consume that much within the boundaries of the country alone, there is a need to critically investigate to discover the truth.

House Speaker Puan Maharani says Indonesia’s parliament has approved a bill to relocate the nation’s capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan on Borneo.
The new state capital law, which provides a legal framework for President Joko Widodo’s ambitious proposal, stipulates how the development of the capital will be funded and governed.

Greece has imposed a vaccination mandate for people over age 60, as coverage remains below the European Union average while a recent spike in infections pressures hospitals.
Older people failing to get vaccinated will face penalties, starting at a 50-euro fine in January and followed by a monthly fine of 100 euros after that.
Health Minister Thanos Plevris says fines would be collected through the tax office with the money to be used to help fund state hospitals.
Plevris says the age factor is important because of its impact on the public health service.

A group of 36 UN human rights experts say Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are institutionalising large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls.
The experts say they are concerned about the continuous and systematic efforts to exclude women from the social, economic, and political spheres across the country.
These concerns are exacerbated in the cases of women from ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities such as the Hazara, Tajik, Hindu and other communities whose differences or visibility make them even more vulnerable in Afghanistan.”
Taxi drivers have been directed not to pick up female passengers who are not wearing a specific hijab.

Amazon has dropped plans to block UK Visa credit card payments this week, as the two sides continue to try to resolve a dispute over payment fees.
Amazon says the expected change regarding the use of Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk will no longer take place on January 19 adding that it was working closely to reach an agreement.
Visa however accused Amazon of threatening to restrict consumer choice. Amazon said it was working closely with Visa on a potential solution that will enable customers to continue using their Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk.

The long-awaited Pan-African Payments and Settlement System was launched in Accra, Ghana, in a virtual event.
The new system allows a buyer in one African country to make payment in his or her national currency and the seller in another country receives payment in their local currency.
The Chief Technical Advisor at the AfCFTA Secretariat, Prudence Sebahizi, says the new system will allow a customer or a buyer to make payment in a national currency and the seller will receive the payment in their own currency.
He noted that this is way easier and less costly than changing the Kenyan shilling to the US dollar and then converting the US dollar to the Ghanaian cedi, as has been the case.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reprimanded a senior minister after she slammed the constitution and mentally colonised judges in a scathing attack that has fuelled speculation about new rivalries within the ruling party.
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu launched her extraordinary attack on both the judiciary and the constitution in opinion pieces on the Independent Online news site in recent days.
Sisulu attacked the ground-breaking post-apartheid constitution, saying that it had has not helped improve the lot of the majority of black South Africans still living in poverty.

The Executive Secretary National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, says to ensure adequate enjoyment of children rights to health, health care services have to be provided for them by the government and relevant stakeholders.
Ojukwu however, called on government and relevant stakeholders to do more in providing healthcare services for children in order to ensure adequate enjoyment of their rights to health.
The Executive Secretary, says although the Nigerian government has put many policies in place for the advancement of the child’s rights to health, there is still more to be done.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has stressed the need for the country to be restructured into different regional governments in order to ease the socio-economic and security challenges affecting the country.
He says this would reduce all the agitation for secession from various ethnic groups in the country and also allow for favourable competition and true cohesion among regional areas.
He added that on their demands on regionalism, the federal government and political players would pick either regionalism or secession.
Adams noted that the issue can only be sorted out by proper true federalism as stated in the 1960 Constitution.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has commenced the enforcement of the No Vaccination Card restriction or Proof-of-Negative-Test-Result for entry into public facilities.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of FCT on Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Attah Ikaro, says the exercise became necessary to ensure that the spread of the infection in the FCT is curtailed.
He says the FCT did not begin enforcement on December 1st, 2021 when the Federal Government began its enforcement because it wanted to give time to the civil servants to get vaccinated.
He says, many, however, refused to comply, hence the need for the commencement.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila believes the current constitutional provision where the educational qualification for elective offices is pegged at secondary school certificate should be increased.
The Speaker sincerely believe that the National Assembly needs to look into section 131 of the 1999 constitution with a view to increasing the minimum educational qualification for persons aspiring to be future Presidents of Nigeria and other top offices including the National Assembly.
The Speaker said he is of the opinion that the foundations of Nigeria’s educational system are still rooted in a different age.

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure Nigeria’s security architecture.
The governors noted that the strategies deployed to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals is still a major problem for the current administration.
The governors want Mr President to reconsider his position and consider decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for security agencies.

Ukraine says it has evidence that Russia was behind a cyberattack that defaced its government websites and alleged that Moscow is engaged in an increasingly hybrid war against it.
Microsoft says dozens of computer systems at an unspecified number of Ukrainian government agencies had been infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware.
The Ministry of Digital Development says Moscow continues to wage a hybrid war and is actively building up its forces in the information and cyberspaces.

National Bureau of Statistics data showed that Mainland China’s birth rate dropped to a record low of 7.52 per 1,000 people in 2021 accelerating a downward trend that led Beijing last year to begin allowing couples to have up to three children.
China scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2016, replacing it with a two-child limit to try and counter a rapidly ageing population, but many couples do not want to have more children because of the high cost of urban living.
The birth rate was the lowest since 1949 when the statistics bureau began collating the data.
The natural growth rate of China’s population, which excludes migration, was only 0.034 per cent for 2021, the lowest since 1960.

Sudan has revoked the licence of the live-streaming channel of Al Jazeera's television network.
Al Jazeera Mubasher says its team had been barred from working in Sudan, which had accused them of unprofessional coverage of opposition rallies.
Activists say more than 60 people have been killed in a series of protests held against October's military coup.
Sudanese doctors protested against what they said were attacks against medical personnel by the security forces during pro-democracy rallies.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has called for drawing up a clear-cut African strategy for eradicating extremism and terrorism and drying up their sources of financing.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli reiterated Egypt's commitment to providing anti-terrorism training assistance to sisterly African nations, contributing to UN peacekeeping missions, and maintaining efforts through the Sahel and Sahara Counter-terrorism Centre in Cairo.
He says Egypt is also willing to offer more support on that score, whether through bilateral cooperation or AU cooperation mechanisms.
Sisi says that Egypt will spare no efforts to address the challenges facing the Dark Continent and achieve the aspirations of all African peoples.

The World Food Program warns Ethiopia is on the edge of a humanitarian disaster as escalating fighting in the north is preventing the delivery of needed food from reaching millions of people in battle-scarred Tigray province.
World Food Program spokesman Tomson Phiri says his agency's humanitarian operation in northern Ethiopia is about to grind to a halt. He says intense fighting in the region is blocking the passage of fuel and food.
Phiri says stocks of nutritionally fortified food for the treatment of malnourished children and women are now exhausted, and the last of WFP's cereals, pulses and oil will be distributed next week.
The World Food Program says 9.4 million people in northern Ethiopia now require humanitarian food aid, an increase of 2.7 million from just four months ago.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has temporarily suspended flights.
This will affect the delivery of aid to the country whose neighbours have imposed sanctions and closed borders.
The peacekeeping mission has about 13,000 troops stationed in the country trying to contain an Islamist insurgency in the region.
The European Union has also said it will impose sanctions and the UN has said it is essential for the military authorities to present an acceptable election schedule.

The federal government has limited companies involved in the trade or business of gas utilisation in downstream operations in the country to a once in a lifetime tax-free regime, according to the latest changes effected in the Finance Act, 2021.
The new law states that additional investment, re-organisation or other forms of corporate restructuring shall not qualify for a further tax incentive under the gas investment programme.
Such companies are further barred from similar incentives under any other sections of the Companies Income Tax Act or other law.
Companies engaged in upstream petroleum operations however would continue to have obligation to withhold VAT, even when they have not commenced commercial operations or have not reached N25 million turnover.

President Muhammadu Buhari moved against criminal elements in the country when he instructed the military to go after terrorists and kidnappers with force.
The president ordered an immediate major military operation in Niger State, which has, for instance, faced continued attacks on its communities by bandits and remnants of Boko Haram terrorists, fleeing theatres of war in the Northwestern and Northeastern parts of the country.
He directed the Defence Headquarters a few days ago, to respond robustly to the cases of killings and kidnappings in the Niger State and to give effect to the strategic objectives through the use of force.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has offered to support the Federal Government to end terrorism and other evils in the country.
Tinubu made the pledge when he visited Katsina State to condole with the State Government and people of the state over the gruesome murder of the State Commissioner of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Rabe Nasir as well as the recent insecurity upsurge in the state.
He urged residents to share relevant information to security agencies on suspicious movements of characters urging residents to continue preaching for peace, change their attitudes and support leaders with determination to bring terrorism to its knees.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to use his good offices and leadership position to direct the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to provide the organization with a copy of the agreement recently signed with Twitter, Inc, and to widely publish the details of any such agreement.
SERAP also urged him to direct Alhaji Lai Mohammed to clarify the manner and scope in which the agreement with Twitter will be enforced, including whether the agreement incorporates respect for human rights, consistent with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international obligations

The Federal Government has asked Saudi Arabia to lift the travel restrictions it imposed on Nigerian travellers following the outbreak of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 in South Africa that was later discovered among some travellers said to have visited Nigeria.
Ambassador Zubairu Dada, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, urged the Saudi Authorities to review the travel restrictions it placed on Nigerians over the Omicron outbreak as already done by many countries who have earlier banned Nigeria.
The Minister expressed optimism for a timely response to Nigeria’s request from Saudi Arabia.

The United Kingdom’s domestic intelligence service has alleged that a woman suspected of working on behalf of China’s governing Communist Party has sought to improperly influence members of the UK’s Parliament.
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s office said that MI5 had found that the woman has been engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
Hoyle added that the Chinese national had engaged with legislators and facilitated financial donations to serving and aspiring Parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China.

The United States Supreme Court has blocked Joe Biden’s effort to require employees at large businesses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.
The top court also ruled in favour of allowing the federal government to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most healthcare workers in the country.
The court says the Biden administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rule requiring workers at US businesses with at least 100 employees to either be vaccinated or tested weekly.

The World Health Organization has added two more drugs to its guidelines for recommended treatments for COVID-19, as the more infectious Omicron variant of the coronavirus triggers an unprecedented surge in cases around the world.
The drug baricitinib used to treat rheumatoid arthritis is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19, in combination with corticosteroids, The UN agency’s panel of international experts said the drug reduces the need for ventilation and had been found to improve patients’ chances of survival with no sign of an increase in adverse reactions.
The panel also gave a conditional recommendation for sotrovimab, an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment, for those with non-severe COVID-19 but at the very highest risk of hospital admission.

The European Union says it will impose sanctions on Mali after the military leaders who carried out last year's coup went back on a pledge to hold elections next month.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says despite all the warnings to the Malian authorities there'd been no sign of progress.
He says the sanctions were also in response to the arrival of Russian private military contractors.
The EU says despite the sanctions it plans to keep soldiers in Mali.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has joined international voices calling on Ethiopia's prime minister to end the country's 14-month-long civil war.
They said Abiy Ahmed who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 has a special responsibility to see an end to the bloodshed.
Mr Abiy’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum had previously said that the Nobel Peace Prize was not a shackle for inaction when the country is threatened.
The calls from the Committee are expected to increase the pressure to find a peaceful resolution for the war.

Deliberate internet blockages across sub-Saharan Africa resulted in $1.9bn in losses last year - eight times more than in 2020.
Top10VPN says Nigeria was by far the worst-hit African country losing nearly $1.5bn, second globally to politically troubled Myanmar, which lost about $2.8bn.
Top10VPN's report came as Nigeria lifted a ban on Twitter that had lasted for seven months, though many people circumvented it by using VPNs.
Ethiopia was the second-most affected country in Africa has lost around $164m, followed by Sudan at almost $152m and Uganda at more than $109m, according to the report.

Rwanda has lifted a ban on concerts under its new coronavirus regulations.
The cabinet has resolved that concert organisers will seek permission 10 days before the event.
The concert tickets will be sold online and the recommended capacity is 50% for indoor venues and 75% for outdoor.
Those attending concerts must show proof of vaccination. Theatres and cinema halls have also been allowed to reopen with 50% capacity.

A UNICEF official disclosed that Poorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the global programme COVAX, mainly due to their rapid expiry date.
The big figure showed the difficulties of vaccinating the world despite growing supplies of shots, with COVAX getting closer to delivering one billion doses to a total of nearly 150 countries.
The Director of Supply Division at UN agency, UNICEF, Etleva Kadil told lawmakers at the European Parliament that more than 100 million have been rejected just in December alone adding that the main reason for rejection was the delivery of doses with a short shelf-life.

The federal government warned that it would not condone any act of abuse and mishandling of equipment and facilities provided to tackle security threats in the country.
The president expressed optimism that the Inspector-General of Police and his management team, would commit officers and men of the Nigerian Police to reciprocate the government’s efforts through judicious and effective use of the facilities for improvement of Nigerian security architecture.
Buhari tasked officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to continue to show commitment in the discharge of their duties and to adopt a holistic internal security mechanism in the country.

The federal government has warned the reconstituted governing board of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against being involved in corruption.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha urged the members to carry out their duty with responsibility, saying the federal government would not hesitate to sanction all infractions.
The SGF also decried the effects of financial crimes on the image of the country, saying it had prevented the country from attracting foreign investments.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has called for the implementation of the various MoUs between Nigeria and Namibia, especially in the areas of culture and tourism, to ensure that they translate into economic benefits for the two countries.
He observed that the bilateral cooperation between the two nations, which dates back to 1992 on the platform of the 1st Nigeria-Namibia Joint Commission, expired without implementation, and expressed the hope that the MoUs will be revived for implementation this time around.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike inspected two illegal refining sites recently discovered in Ikwerre and Emohua local government areas by the council chairmen.
The Governor ordered the arrest of those sponsoring the operation of the illegal refineries in the state, some of whom are said to be prominent businessmen in the state.
Wike urged the police to go after the culprits and directed the State Attorney-General, Professor Zacchaeus Adangor to take over the files of those arrested far from the police for state prosection.
He also demanded the redeployment of a divisional police officer said to be involved in the illegal activities in Emohua local government area.

Cross-border humanitarian aid to northwest Syria has been extended de facto for six months without a new vote at the United Nations Security Council.
The 15-member body had previously issued an authorisation for six months, allowing aid into rebel-held areas through the use of the Bab al-Hawa crossing at the Turkey-Syria border until January 10, 2022.
UN chief Antonio Guterres had stressed the impossibility of replacing at this stage the cross-border mechanism for one that crossed front lines from Damascus, which President Bashar al-Assad ally and permanent Security Council member Russia favours as recognition of the Syrian government’s sovereignty over the whole country.

The United Nations says it needed nearly $5bn in aid for Afghanistan in 2022, as the global body launched its largest-ever humanitarian appeal for a single country to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
The UN humanitarian agency says $4.4bn was needed within Afghanistan, while a further $623m was required to support the millions of Afghans sheltering beyond its borders.
UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths say a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe looms and don’t shut the door on the people of Afghanistan.

Experts say that an alleged hybrid coronavirus mutation dubbed Deltacron reportedly discovered in a Cyprus lab is most likely the result of lab contamination and not a new worrying variant.
Cypriot media reported the discovery describing it as having the genetic background of the Delta variant along with some of the mutations of Omicron.
Jeffrey Barrett, the head of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at Britain’s Wellcome Sanger Institute, says the alleged mutations are located on a part of the genome that is vulnerable to an error in certain sequencing procedures.
He says this is almost certainly not a biological recombinant of the Delta and Omicron lineages.

Taiwan’s parliament has passed an extra spending bill of $8.6bn, in the latest bid to boost defence capabilities against growing military threats from China.
Lawmakers agreed unanimously to pass the special budget, which comes on top of a record annual defence budget of about $17bn set for 2022.
The government says the additional resources are aimed at acquiring precision missiles and mass-manufacture high-efficiency naval ships in the shortest period of time to boost the island’s sea and air capabilities.
The budget includes a coastal anti-ship missiles system, a locally developed Wan Chien cruise missile as well as an attack drone system and the installation of combat systems on coastguard ships.

Kenya has suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arabs Emirates, for seven days.
The suspension is effective from Monday this week. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority says this was done to reciprocate a ban on Kenyan passenger flights to UAE.
The ban will not affect cargo flights, which will continue with normal operations.
KCAA director-general Gilbert Kibe says there was a scheme involving private medical testing centres colluding with travellers to issue fake Covid PCR results to aid their travel to Dubai.

South Africa’s prosecuting authorities have added a charge of terrorism against the man accused of setting the country’s parliament alight last week.
The suspect is appearing in a Cape Town court to apply for bail.
Zandile Mafe was initially charged with two counts of arson, housebreaking and theft.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Mafe was found in possession of explosive devices and have charged him under a law aimed at protecting essential infrastructure in the country.
Mr Mafe’s lawyer, Luvuyo Godla, says that his client is being made a scapegoat and wants him to be released on bail.

The National Identity Management Commission has assured Nigerians that its servers were not breached but fully optimised at the highest international security levels, as the custodian of the most important national database for Nigeria.
The Director-General of NIMC, Engr Aliyu Aziz, says as the custodian of the foundational identity database for Africa’s most populous nation, NIMC has gone to great lengths to ensure the nation’s database is adequately secured and protected, especially given the spate of cyber-attacks on networks across the world.
A hacker identified as Sam claimed that he successfully found a bug on the NIMC server, saying it was easy for him to breach the server and access the personal information of millions of Nigerians.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, has condemned the recent attacks that claimed the lives of scores of residents in Zamfara State.
He condoled with the families whose loved ones were lost to the attacks.
He also called for the arrest and prosecution of the assailants and assured the Nigerian government of the UN’s support in the fight against terrorists and other criminals.
The Secretary-General urges the Nigerian authorities to spare no effort in bringing those responsible for these heinous crimes to justice.

President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed the establishment of the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Trust fund, a private sector investment window through which Nigerians in the diaspora can invest in the country.
President Buhari says that Nigeria is open to embracing the diaspora direct investment by compatriots abroad.
The President noted that the foreign exchange remittances by Nigerians in the diaspora have not only helped families but enhanced the development index of Nigeria while pledging support for the establishment of the diaspora intervention fund to support the commission to fulfil its mandate.

Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed will continue in her role as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, made the assertion to formalise his prior announcement that the former Minister of the Environment would continue in her role during his second term.
The UN scribe set in motion the most ambitious reform in the history of the organisation’s development system.
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for the Deputy Secretary-General’s leadership of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group and her determination to reinforce collective results and maximise the impact of the United Nations development’s system on the ground

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast, effective from the 12th to 14th of January, 2022, as a mark of respect for the former Head of State Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan, who died on Tuesday, January 11.
Chief Ernest Shonekan, who headed the Interim National Government that succeeded the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, died on Tuesday at the age of 85.
He was the interim head of the Nigerian Government between August 26, 1993, and November 17, 1993, but was ousted in a coup led by late General Sani Abacha.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain along with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef bin Falah al-Hajrah have arrived in Beijing for a five-day visit.
The visit follows a flurry of diplomatic activity by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, including a tour of Africa as well as visits to the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
The officials are expected to discuss strengthening energy ties with Beijing.
China has sought to bolster its ties with the Gulf states, with President Xi Jinping in 2014 aiming to more than double trade with the region by 2023.