Category: LATEST NEWS

Nigerian singer Damini Ogulu, known as Burna Boy, will perform at the 2024 GRAMMYs on Sunday, February 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, US.

The Recording Academy announced on Monday, January 22, that the ‘City Boy’ crooner Burna Boy, will share the Grammy stage with notable artists such as Luke Combs and Travis Scott.

The Recording Academy shared the exciting news on their official X handle, stating, “Attention: African Giant @BurnaBoy will take the #GRAMMYs stage on Sunday, February 4th at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on @CBS.”

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Burna Boy received three nominations at the 66th Grammys. His nominations include Best Melodic Rap Performance for ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World,’ Best Global Music Performance for ‘Alone,’ and Best African Music Performance for ‘City Boys.’

This is the first year that the Grammys will award an artist for Best African Music Performance, highlighting the growing influence of music from across Africa.

The International Monetary Fund IMF projects Burundi’s economy to expand 4.3% this year from 2.7% in 2023.

In a statement released by the fund on Monday, the IMF said “growth is projected to accelerate . supported by strong agricultural production, productive investment, and the ongoing reforms”. The fund added that fuel shortages had hampered economic activity in 2023.

Burundi with a population of 12 million relies heavily on agriculture revenues, especially from tea and coffee.

The east African nation’s economy had experienced a shortage of hard currency after a 2015 political crisis that prompted donors to suspend aid. While in 2022 the economy was affected by the inflationary consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which resulted in soaring food and fuel prices.

The European Union then agreed to resume financial support, while United States also pledged aid.

By the end of 2023, Burundi’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $96.4 million, or 0.8 months of import cover

Inflows from remittances, and gold exports gave some relief, according to the IMF.

Nigeria’s Lagos State has announced a ban on the usage and distribution of styrofoam and other single-use plastics with immediate effect.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab announced on Sunday, January 21 adding that the decision was reached, following the menace which the single-use plastics, especially the non-biodegradable Styrofoam, were causing on the environment.

He said most drainage channels in the state were daily clogged up by styrofoam through indiscriminate distribution and usage, despite the regular cleaning and evacuation of the drains.

Commissioner Wahab directed the State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, and the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, to immediately commence implementation of the ban.

He asked the two agencies to clamp down on all the production companies and distribution outlets for styrofoam in the state to prevent further distribution.

The commissioner advised producers, distributors, and end-users of styrofoam packs to take the ban seriously and find alternatives or risk heavy fines, and other penalties, including sealing of their premises.

He warned that they could also be made to bear the costs of the daily cleanup of their products from roads and drainage channels which runs into tens of millions of naira daily.

“Our state cannot be held hostage to the economic interests of a few wealthy business owners, compared to the millions of Lagosians suffering the consequences of indiscriminate dumping of single-use plastics and other types of waste,” he stated.

He advised consumers and residents to boycott styrofoam packs and single-use plastics and imbibe the practice of using reusable food containers and water bottles for their food and drinks.

A second day of unrest in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros on Thursday (Jan. 18) left one person dead and at least six others injured, a health official said.

The protests came after incumbent President Azali Assoumani was declared the winner in an election held over the weekend that was denounced by the country’s opposition parties as fraudulent.

The announcement late Tuesday that Assoumani had won a fourth term triggered violent protests that started Wednesday, when a government minister’s house was set on fire and a car at the home of another minister was burned.

People also vandalized a national food depot. Several roads in and around the capital, Moroni, were barricaded by protesters who burned tires. Riot police clashed with the demonstrators.

On Thursday (Jan. 18) a curfew was in force from 7PM-6 AM in Moroni (the capital), the Bambao region and Itsandra. In the rest of the country it was from 10 PM-6AM.

The person who died was a young man, said Dr. Djabir Ibrahim, the head of the emergency department at the El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni. He said that the man likely died of a gunshot wound. One of the injured was in a serious condition, he said.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk appealed for calm and urged authorities to allow people to protest peacefully. His office said that it received reports of security forces firing tear gas at peaceful protesters, including on a march by a group of women earlier this week. Türk also said that he was concerned with repression in Comoros in recent years.

Opposition parties have claimed that Sunday’s vote was fraudulent and say the national electoral commission is biased toward Assoumani, a former military officer who first came to power in a 1999 coup. The opposition has called for the election results to be canceled.

Protesters arrested

Comoros has a population of around 800,000 spread over three islands.

Assoumani, 65, was reelected with 62.97% of the vote after changing the constitution in 2018 to allow him to sidestep term limits. He has been accused of cracking down on dissent and previously banned protests. He chairs the African Union, where his one-year largely ceremonial term will end next month.

The government said that a number of protesters were arrested, without offering specifics, and accused the opposition of finding “it difficult to accept defeat” and inciting the unrest.

“We know the instigators,” government spokesperson Houmed Msaidie said. “Some of them are in the hands of law enforcement. We will continue to look for them, because there is no question of the state giving way to violence.”

A coalition of opposition parties denied the accusations, saying the unrest shows that people are “fed up” with the government.

When Assoumani changed the constitution in 2018, the move triggered mass demonstrations across the nation and an armed uprising on one of the islands that was quelled by the army.

After taking power in a coup, Assoumani was first elected president in 2002. He stepped down in 2006, but returned to win a second term in 2016.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel opposed any scenario which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.

During a press conference, Netanyahu said he had told key ally, the United States, that Israel would reject a revival of the two-state solution, even once the conflict comes to an end.

“In any future arrangement – settlement or no settlement – Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan,” the Israeli leader said. “This is a necessary condition and it collides with the idea of sovereignty. I tell this truth to our American friends and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel’s security.”

The White House quickly reacted, with National Security spokesman John Kirby saying, “We obviously see it differently.”

In Tel Aviv, Israelis gathered to mark the first birthday of the youngest hostage Kfir Bibas, still thought to be held in Gaza along with his brother and parents.

The Bibas family’s situation remains unclear, after Hamas said previously that they had been killed without providing evidence.

One of Israel’s stated key goals is to recover all remaining hostages held in Gaza, with Netanyahu vowing to continue with the offensive in Gaza “until complete victory”.

Meanwhile, a delivery of medication for hostages has been reported to have entered Gaza, as part of a deal brokered by Qatar and France, in exchange for medical and humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

The aid delivery is the first agreed to by Israel and Hamas, and the first sign of progress since the end of a short-lived truce on December 1.

Aid workers, however, have said that delivering aid remains extremely difficult, made harder by a prolonged communications blackout.

The International Monetary Fund has granted Kenya a new loan of more than $941 million to help reinforce the finances of the cash-strapped East African nation.

Kenya is grappling with a host of economic challenges including a vast debt mountain, cost of living crisis and tumbling currency.

The IMF said in a statement published on Wednesday that its executive board had approved the $941.2 million loan, with an immediate disbursement of $624.5 million.

Total payments under various credit facilities amount to about $2.6 billion, it added.

The Washington-based agency said it forecast Kenya’s economic growth at around 5 percent this year, from an estimated 5.1 percent in 2023.

“Kenya’s growth remained resilient in the face of increasing external and domestic challenges,” said Antoinette Sayeh, IMF deputy managing director and acting chair, said in the statement.

The credit arrangements for Kenya “continue to support the authorities’ efforts to sustain macroeconomic stability, strengthen policy frameworks, withstand external shocks, push forward key reforms, and promote more inclusive and green growth”.

According to the latest Treasury data released this month, Kenya’s public debt stands at 10.585 trillion shillings ($65.5 billion).

In December, Kenya ditched a promise to buy back a portion of a $2 billion Eurobond that is due to mature in June.

Instead, Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u said the country had paid $68.7 million in interest on the bond, sidestepping a potential default.

“In its unwavering commitment to upholding a resilient sovereign credit rating and facilitating access to new development financing, Kenya remains dedicated to fulfilling all debt obligations with international lenders,” Ndung’u said.

President William Ruto had announced a plan in November to buy $300 million of the Eurobond, saying public debt had “become a source of much concern to citizens, markets and our partners”.

Ruto has imposed a raft of new or increased taxes to try to replenish government coffers, but they are deeply unpopular among people struggling with rising costs for basic goods, and several have been challenged in court.