Boat carrying 20 fishermen capsizes in Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria

At least 20 fishermen died after their boat capsized Monday in the Anyiin area of River Benue in northeastern Nigeria’s Taraba state.

Taraba Governor Agbu Kefas confirmed the incident.

“Today’s boat incident is even more unfortunate, since it comes on the heels of a similar one in Karim Lamido that plunged the state into mourning,” Emmanuel Bello, the spokesman for the governor, quoted him as saying.

According to Taraba State Water Transportation Chairman Alhaji Jidda Suleiman, the boat was carrying fishermen from the Ibi and Wukari local government areas of Taraba to Kwara state.

“I was informed that the fishermen converged and boarded the boat to Kwara state in search of greener pastures, and along the way, they had an accident and over 20 people died.

"Twelve of the dead are from Ibi, while some are from Gareji, in Gindin Doruwa, Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba state,” he added.

He said the governor has condoled with the families of the victims.

“It has been the tradition of our fishermen in Taraba state that once it is close to December, some will travel to Cameroon, some to Chad and other places to fish until August of the following year. It’s unfortunate that the usual tradition turned out to be sorrowful this time.”

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Nigeria to Lure Foreign Investment With Tax Incentives

Nigeria will boost incentives for foreign investors in an attempt to address a decline in capital coming into the country as part of the government’s plans to revive the economy.

The administration in Abuja will introduce measures to eliminate double taxation and allow speedy remittances of foreign money, Doris Uzoka-Anite, the minister of industry, trade and investment, said in an interview late Saturday in Riyadh.

“We have the free-trade zones where they can situate their businesses, export and import their raw materials without any taxes,” she said. She called it a “strong incentive” for foreign direct investment, which plunged 52% to $698 million in the six years through 2021.

Since taking office in May, President Bola Tinubu has instituted reforms to revive Africa’s biggest economy from almost a decade of decline. They include scrapping a $10 billion annual fuel subsidy and liberalizing the foreign-exchange market, which led to a more than 40% devaluation in the naira.

Nigeria has also been reviewing its bilateral agreements with countries to drum up investment. In September, it entered into several agreements with India that could see companies set up auto and steel factories in Africa’s top oil producer. A number of investors from India have begun to make their commitments tangible, Uzoka-Anite said.

Key is to show investors their money will be protected, she said. The minister was in Saudi Arabia as part of a Nigerian delegation meeting officials in the Gulf country after the two established a business council and joint chamber of commerce, industry, mines and agriculture. “We’re very keen on making sure that the investments happen very quickly,” she said.

Ruth Olurounbi, Bloomberg

Google brings Generative AI to Nigeria

Google has rolled out its Search Generative Experience (SGE) in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region as an opt-in experiment in Search Labs, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI-powered) experience and is available in English.

With new breakthroughs in generative AI, Google is reimagining what a search engine can do and is bringing these powerful new capabilities to Search in a bold and responsible way.

This new technology can unlock entirely new types of questions that Search could not previously answer, and transforms the way information is organised in Search to help people sort through and make sense of what’s out there.

Google General Manager for Search in Africa, Wambui Kinya, while announcing the initiative at a webinar organised by Google, said the initiative, which is in its experimental stage, would be launched after users and advertisers have had a good feel of it and are satisfied.

“With new generative AI capabilities in Search, we’re now taking more of the work out of searching. We’re imagining a supercharged Search that does the heavy lifting for you so you’ll be able to understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights, and get things done more easily. This Search Generative Experience is the first step we’re taking in this journey, and part of our vision to make Search radically more helpful. We’re excited to bring this to the SSA region, and look forward to receiving feedback and iterating on the experience alongside our users over the next few months,” Kinya said.

With SGE’s generative AI capabilities in Search, people will see an AI-powered overview of key information to consider, with links to dig deeper. For anyone who has ever been overwhelmed by the amount of information online, this will help find answers more quickly.

For instance, with a question like “Does Honey ever Spoil?” Normally, you might break this question down into smaller ones, sort through the vast amount of information available, and then start to piece things together yourself. With generative AI, Search can do some of that heavy lifting. 

By Emma Okonj, This Day

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President Tinubu signs budget including funds for yacht, bulletproof cars

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed into law a $2.8 billion supplementary budget that includes funding for new bulletproof cars for himself and his wife, despite widespread criticism from citizens facing a cost-of-living crisis.

The budget, which was approved by lawmakers on Nov. 2, also includes allocations for a presidential yacht, official vehicles for the first lady's office, and renovations to the president's residential quarters.

The spending plan was initially proposed by Tinubu as a means to address "urgent issues" such as defence and security.

The presidency defended the provision for the yacht, describing it as an operational naval boat with specialised security gadgets.

However, specific allocations for such areas have been overshadowed by the allocation of funds for items seen as luxuries items and on renovations for the president's residential quarters.

Opponents of the budget have argued that the spending is unnecessary and insensitive to the plight of ordinary Nigerians, who are struggling to make ends meet amid rising inflation and economic hardship.

Africa's most populous nation is grappling with double-digit inflation, foreign currency shortages, a weakening naira, widespread insecurity and crude oil theft.

Tinubu, who was sworn into office in May, has been under pressure from unions to offer relief to households and workers. He has asked Nigerians to be patient with reforms.

By Felix Onuah, Reuters

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