The meeting aims to increase cooperation between governments in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts across Africa and find ways to combat militant groups and their proxies more effectively. It comes as many countries on the continent are stepping up security operations against terror groups.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Video - African counter-terrorism summit held in Nigeria
AMN Deploys Starlink Connectivity in Rural Villages in Nigeria
Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) has deployed the company’s first base station in Nigeria that has connectivity via SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, AMN announced last week.
AMN has deployed over 4,000 base stations for cellular backhaul via satellite across Africa and Latin America since 2018. Last year, the company signed a commercial agreement to use the Starlink Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to connect its mobile network base stations with high-speed, low-latency broadband services.
The company said that with Starlink terminals providing low-latency satellite backhaul, the company was able to deliver the full capability of its multi-carrier radio access node (the ARN) with 3G and 4G as well as 2G. AMN said LEO backhaul also paves the way for AMN to deliver 5G services, targeted before the end of the year.
Installation of new sites continues throughout 2024 in Nigeria, DRC, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Benin and Rwanda.
By Rachel Jewett, Via Satellite
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Musk’s Starlink to disrupt ISP market as hope rises for 25m unserved Nigerians
Bail Hearing in Nigeria for Jailed Binance Exec Postponed Until May 17
Detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan will remain in prison in Nigeria until at least May 17, following an Abuja court’s ruling to postpone a scheduled bail hearing until after he is tried on money laundering charges.
Gambaryan, an American citizen and former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) special agent, is Binance’s head of financial crime compliance. He and a colleague, Binance’s regional manager for Africa Nadeem Anjarwalla, a dual U.K.-Kenyan national, were arrested and detained on Feb. 26 after flying to Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja to meet with the Nigerian government at the government’s request.
The Nigerian government had previously accused Binance of enabling currency speculation that crashed its currency, the naira. At first, Nigerian officials denied that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were under arrest, but the pair were put under house arrest upon arrival and, along with Binance, charged with money laundering and tax evasion a month later.
Gambaryan was moved to the notorious Kuje prison – which also houses suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group – after Anjarwalla escaped and fled the country under mysterious circumstances. In a cell phone video filmed after Anjarwalla’s escape on March 23, a distressed Gambaryan said he had no knowledge of his colleague’s escape plans and asked the U.S. government for help.
The government’s response to Gambaryan’s imprisonment has been tepid. According to his family, Gambaryan has received only one visit from the U.S. embassy staff since being moved to Kuje prison and has limited access to his legal team.
“There is no justice in what is being done to my husband. I am in a constant state of grief and anxiety, not knowing what other injustice he is going to be put through,” Gambaryan’s wife Yuki Gambaryan said in a statement. “It is outrageous that Tigran, an innocent man, continues to be kept in a prison cell and the ruling on his bail will not be made until after the trial starts…This is just pure cruelty.”
Both Gambaryan and Anjarwalla have filed suit against Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission for violating their human rights.
Gambaryan has pleaded “not guilty” to all of the charges against him, which his family has called “bogus.”
The money laundering trial against Gambaryan and Binance will begin on May 2. The tax evasion charges will be tried separately beginning on May 17.
According to Gambaryan’s family, he will spend his 40th birthday in prison.
By Cheyenne Ligon, CoinDesk
Related story: Video - Detained Binance executive appears in court in Nigeria for tax, money laundry charges
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Video - Tade unions in Nigeria want 500 U.S. dollar-per-month minimum wage for workers
Union leaders say the adjustment is necessary to help workers cope with the rising cost of living in the country.
Video - Nigeria government directs crude oil be sold to domestic refineries first
Nigerian authorities introduced new regulations to enable domestic refineries to pay for crude supply from oil producers in the country in the local currency. The government also introduced a new directive requiring producers to first sell crude oil to local refineries. The actions will hopefully reduce Nigeria's dependence on imported petrol products.
Related stories: Analysts skeptical about improvement of local crude refining in Nigeria
Dangote refinery supplies petroleum products to local market in Nigeria
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