Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Video - Nigerian Central bank raises cash reserve ratio amid inflation fears
The fear of a further spike in inflation has compelled the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria to adopt a tightening stance, by raising the cash reserve ratio for banks in the country from 22.5 per cent to a new level of 27.5 per cent. Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiel, says the move will mop up excess liquidity in the Nigerian economy and check rising inflation which has been on an upward trajectory since August last year. Here is CGTN's Deji Badmus with more on that story.
Lagos to ban motorbike taxis
Nigeria’s biggest city has partially banned the use of motorcycle taxis following an escalating number of fatal accidents, dealing a blow to Softbank Group Corp.-backed OPay and a potential boost to Uber Technologies Inc.
The Lagos State Government cracked down on the popular way to dodge traffic congestion in the commercial capital of Africa’s most populous country, calling the bikes and their three-wheel equivalents a “menace” that are responsible for “scary figures” regarding loss of lives. Drivers ignore traffic laws and allow criminals to use the ride-hailing services as getaway vehicles, Gbenga Omotoso, commissioner for information and strategy, said in an emailed statement.
Between 2016 and 2019, “the total number of deaths from reported cases is over 600,” Omotoso said. “The only motorcycles allowed are the ones used for the delivery of mail services,” he added by phone.
The ruling is a setback for OPay, which is based in Oslo and has shareholders including Softbank and China’s Meituan Dianping. The mobile-payments company started its ORide service in Lagos in June, before raising $120 million later in the year to expand its various online services in countries such as Ghana, South Africa and Kenya. Meanwhile Uber -- which has operated in Nigeria for more than five years -- may lose a fierce rival.
A spokesman for OPay declined to comment. Max.ng, a rival motorbike-taxi operator backed by investors including Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. of Japan, said the company would contact the state government about how the ban will work.
“The concern for us is how this will be implemented, because we don’t want people getting hurt,” Co-Founder Chinedu Azodoh said by phone. “We are engaging with the government.”
Lagos has one of the highest car densities in the world, with about 200 per kilometer, leading to notorious traffic problems. Its vast and underutilized waterways are seen as a viable alternative to relieve pressure on the roads, and Uber started to experiment with boats last year.
Bloomberg
The Lagos State Government cracked down on the popular way to dodge traffic congestion in the commercial capital of Africa’s most populous country, calling the bikes and their three-wheel equivalents a “menace” that are responsible for “scary figures” regarding loss of lives. Drivers ignore traffic laws and allow criminals to use the ride-hailing services as getaway vehicles, Gbenga Omotoso, commissioner for information and strategy, said in an emailed statement.
Between 2016 and 2019, “the total number of deaths from reported cases is over 600,” Omotoso said. “The only motorcycles allowed are the ones used for the delivery of mail services,” he added by phone.
The ruling is a setback for OPay, which is based in Oslo and has shareholders including Softbank and China’s Meituan Dianping. The mobile-payments company started its ORide service in Lagos in June, before raising $120 million later in the year to expand its various online services in countries such as Ghana, South Africa and Kenya. Meanwhile Uber -- which has operated in Nigeria for more than five years -- may lose a fierce rival.
A spokesman for OPay declined to comment. Max.ng, a rival motorbike-taxi operator backed by investors including Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. of Japan, said the company would contact the state government about how the ban will work.
“The concern for us is how this will be implemented, because we don’t want people getting hurt,” Co-Founder Chinedu Azodoh said by phone. “We are engaging with the government.”
Lagos has one of the highest car densities in the world, with about 200 per kilometer, leading to notorious traffic problems. Its vast and underutilized waterways are seen as a viable alternative to relieve pressure on the roads, and Uber started to experiment with boats last year.
Bloomberg
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Video - Nigerian Para-athletes eye qualification marks for Olympics
Paralympic athletes in Nigeria have begun their trials to secure a spot and represent the country at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria is conducting the selection process to meet world standards in the various categories. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam has more.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would add more countries to his travel ban list. While he gave no details, a source familiar with the proposal said the tentative list included seven nations - Nigeria, Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania. [nL1N29R224]
An announcement was imminent, said Mohammed, adding that while Abuja had reached out to the U.S. administration since learning about the plan, his government did not get any warning and had not been told any possible reason.
“We are doing everything we can,” Mohammed told Reuters in an interview. “A travel ban is going to send the wrong signal to investors, it is going to stifle the good of the country and vulnerable people who need medication and schools will be the most affected.”
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, is a U.S. anti-terrorism partner and has a large diaspora residing in the United States.
It is not clear what sort of restrictions Nigeria might face if added to the list and the U.S. administration has so far not commented. Under the current version of the U.S. travel ban on foreign countries, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and some Venezuelan officials and their relatives are blocked from obtaining a large range of U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
“Nigeria has done very well in the area of fighting terrorism,” Mohammed said, adding that Washington help drive militant groups such as Islamic State out of Nigeria.
DEAF EARS
Asked about Nigeria’s move to close its land borders last August with neighbours such as Benin and Niger to fight smuggling, Mohammed said the move had been a success and boosted food production inside the country.
“Every attempt in the last 16 years to persuade our neighbours, especially Niger, to adhere to the ECOWAS protocol of transit has fallen on deaf ears,” he said, referring to the trade protocol governing the exchange of goods between the Economic Community of West African States to which Nigeria belongs. “No country can allow that it can become a dumping ground for goods from elsewhere.”
In 2015, the central bank banned the use of its foreign exchange to pay for rice imports and has backed loans of at least 40 billion naira ($131 million) to help smallholders boost output, before moving to a full border closure last summer.
Mohammed said his government was happy with how the move had spurred local production. Yet the border closure also worsened price pressures, with inflation at 11.98% in December, rising for the fourth straight month and well outside the central bank’s band of 6%-9%.
“We see this only as temporary,” he said, adding he expected inflation to fall into the single digits by 2023.
Reuters
An announcement was imminent, said Mohammed, adding that while Abuja had reached out to the U.S. administration since learning about the plan, his government did not get any warning and had not been told any possible reason.
“We are doing everything we can,” Mohammed told Reuters in an interview. “A travel ban is going to send the wrong signal to investors, it is going to stifle the good of the country and vulnerable people who need medication and schools will be the most affected.”
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, is a U.S. anti-terrorism partner and has a large diaspora residing in the United States.
It is not clear what sort of restrictions Nigeria might face if added to the list and the U.S. administration has so far not commented. Under the current version of the U.S. travel ban on foreign countries, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and some Venezuelan officials and their relatives are blocked from obtaining a large range of U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
“Nigeria has done very well in the area of fighting terrorism,” Mohammed said, adding that Washington help drive militant groups such as Islamic State out of Nigeria.
DEAF EARS
Asked about Nigeria’s move to close its land borders last August with neighbours such as Benin and Niger to fight smuggling, Mohammed said the move had been a success and boosted food production inside the country.
“Every attempt in the last 16 years to persuade our neighbours, especially Niger, to adhere to the ECOWAS protocol of transit has fallen on deaf ears,” he said, referring to the trade protocol governing the exchange of goods between the Economic Community of West African States to which Nigeria belongs. “No country can allow that it can become a dumping ground for goods from elsewhere.”
In 2015, the central bank banned the use of its foreign exchange to pay for rice imports and has backed loans of at least 40 billion naira ($131 million) to help smallholders boost output, before moving to a full border closure last summer.
Mohammed said his government was happy with how the move had spurred local production. Yet the border closure also worsened price pressures, with inflation at 11.98% in December, rising for the fourth straight month and well outside the central bank’s band of 6%-9%.
“We see this only as temporary,” he said, adding he expected inflation to fall into the single digits by 2023.
Reuters
Monday, January 27, 2020
Lassa fever outbreak kills dozens in Nigeria
Nigerian authorities have announced increased emergency measures to contain the latest outbreak of Lassa fever in the West African country, following the death of 29 people this month from the viral disease.
"As at 24th of January 2020, 195 confirmed cases and 29 deaths had been reported in 11 states," the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in a statement on Saturday.
A national emergency operations centre had been activated to coordinate the response "to the increasing number of Lassa fever cases" across the country.
What is Lassa fever?
Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses but is much less deadly.
The disease is endemic to the West African country and its name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
Previously, cases of the disease have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Benin - where it killed at least 9 people in 2016.
How is it spread?
The virus is transmitted to humans from contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent faeces or urine. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.
The virus, which has an incubation period of between six to 21 days, can also be transmitted through contact with an infected person via bodily fluids and excretions: blood, urine, saliva, sperm, vomit, faeces.
Symptoms and treatment
Lassa fever is asymptomatic in 80 percent of cases but for some, it can cause fever, physical fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, abdominal pains or sore throat. Swelling of the neck or face can sometimes be observed.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the antiviral drug ribavirin appears to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever "if given early on in the course of the clinical illness".
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with some 200 million people, has five laboratories with the capability to diagnose Lassa fever.
Previous outbreaks
The number of Lassa fever infections across West Africa every year is between 100,000 to 300,000, with about 5,000 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last year, the disease claimed more than 160 lives in Nigeria.
In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, 10 to 16 percent of the people admitted to hospitals annually have Lassa fever, according to the US CDC, demonstrating the serious impact the disease has on the region.
The number of cases usually climbs in January due to weather conditions during the dry season.
Al Jazeera
"As at 24th of January 2020, 195 confirmed cases and 29 deaths had been reported in 11 states," the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in a statement on Saturday.
A national emergency operations centre had been activated to coordinate the response "to the increasing number of Lassa fever cases" across the country.
What is Lassa fever?
Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses but is much less deadly.
The disease is endemic to the West African country and its name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
Previously, cases of the disease have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Benin - where it killed at least 9 people in 2016.
How is it spread?
The virus is transmitted to humans from contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent faeces or urine. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.
The virus, which has an incubation period of between six to 21 days, can also be transmitted through contact with an infected person via bodily fluids and excretions: blood, urine, saliva, sperm, vomit, faeces.
Symptoms and treatment
Lassa fever is asymptomatic in 80 percent of cases but for some, it can cause fever, physical fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, abdominal pains or sore throat. Swelling of the neck or face can sometimes be observed.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the antiviral drug ribavirin appears to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever "if given early on in the course of the clinical illness".
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with some 200 million people, has five laboratories with the capability to diagnose Lassa fever.
Previous outbreaks
The number of Lassa fever infections across West Africa every year is between 100,000 to 300,000, with about 5,000 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last year, the disease claimed more than 160 lives in Nigeria.
In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, 10 to 16 percent of the people admitted to hospitals annually have Lassa fever, according to the US CDC, demonstrating the serious impact the disease has on the region.
The number of cases usually climbs in January due to weather conditions during the dry season.
Al Jazeera
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