The United Nations heralded Wednesday the forthcoming scale-up of malaria vaccination across Africa after the first shipment of doses arrived in Cameroon.
Since 2019, more than two million children have been jabbed in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in a pilot phase, resulting in substantial reductions in severe malaria illness and hospitalisations.
Now the scheme is moving into a broader rollout, with 331,200 doses of RTS,S — the first malaria vaccine recommended by the UN’s World Health Organization — landing Tuesday in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.
The delivery “signals that scale-up of vaccination against malaria across the highest-risk areas on the African continent will begin shortly,” the WHO, the UN Children’s Agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance said in a joint statement.
They called it “a historic step towards broader vaccination against one of the deadliest diseases for African children”.
The doses are donated by manufacturer GSK.
“We encourage all parents to take advantage of this life-saving intervention,” said Cameroon’s Health Minister Malachie Manaouda, adding that malaria “remains a major public health threat in the country”.
A further 1.7 million doses are set for delivery to Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone in the coming weeks.
Malaria is the leading cause of mortality in infants and children aged under five in Liberia, the country’s Health Minister Wilhelmina Jallah said.
“This vaccine has the potential to save many lives and reduce the burden of this disease,” she added.
Several African countries are finalising preparations for malaria vaccines to be introduced into routine immunisation programmes, with the first doses set to be administered in January-March 2024.
“Introducing vaccines is like adding a star player to the pitch… we are entering a new era in immunisation and malaria control,” said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.
Africa accounted for approximately 95 per cent of global malaria cases and 96 per cent of related deaths from the mosquito-borne disease in 2021.
Yearly global malaria deaths fell dramatically between 2000 and 2019 — when they stood at 568,000 — but shot up 10 per cent in 2020 to 625,000 as the COVID-19 crisis hit protection and treatment efforts.
Deaths dipped slightly to 619,000 in 2021 — of which 77 per cent were children aged under five. Meanwhile, global malaria cases rose slightly to 247 million.
The vaccine rollout is a “breakthrough moment for malaria vaccines and malaria control, and a ray of light in a dark time for so many vulnerable children in the world”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The RTS,S vaccine acts against plasmodium falciparum — the most deadly malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa.
It is administered in a four-dose schedule which begins at around the age of five months old.
“Broad implementation of malaria vaccination in endemic regions has the potential to be a game-changer for malaria control efforts, and could save tens of thousands of lives each year,” the joint statement said.
“This moment has been decades in the making,” said the United States’ global malaria coordinator David Walton, as he looked forward to “a world in which no child dies from a mosquito bite”.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N906.9 billion October 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting for November 2023, according to a statement by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa on Wednesday.
“From the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total of N323.355 billion, the State Governments received N307.717 billion and the Local Government Councils received N225.209 billion,” the communique read.
While the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N347.343 billion, it was higher than the N303.550 billion available in the month of September 2023 by N43.793 billion.
See the full statement below:
FAAC SHARES N906.955 BILLION OCTOBER 2023 REVENUE TO FG, STATES AND LGCs
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total sum of N906.955 billion October 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils.
A communique issued by the FAAC at its November, 2023 meeting indicated that the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N305.070 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N 323.446 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.552 billion, Exchange Difference revenue of N 202.887 billion and Augmentation of N60.000 billion.
According to the communique, total revenue of N1,346.519 billion was available in the month of October 2023. Total deductions for cost of collection was N53.483 billion; total transfers, interventions and refunds was N386.081 billion.
Gross statutory revenue of N 660.090 billion was received for the month of October 2023. This was lower than the N1,014.953 billion received in the month of September 2023 by N354.863 billion.
The gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N347.343 billion. This was higher than the N303.550 billion available in the month of September 2023 by N43.793 billion.
The communique stated that from the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total of N323.355 billion, the State Governments received N307.717 billion and the Local Government Councils received N225.209 billion.
A total sum of N50.674 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the relevant States as derivation revenue.
From the N305.070 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N147.574 billion, the State Governments received N74.852 billion and the Local Government Councils received N57.707 billion. The sum of N24.937 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the relevant States as derivation revenue.
The Federal Government received N48.517 billion, the State Governments received N161.723 billion and the Local Government Councils received N113.206 billion from the N323.446 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.
The N15.552 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) was shared as follows: the Federal Government received N2.333 billion, the State Governments received N7.776 billion and the Local Government Councils received N5.443 billion.
The Federal Government received N93.323 billion from the N202.887 billion Exchange Difference revenue. The State Governments received N47.334 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N36.493 billion. The sum of N25.737 billion (13% of mineral revenue) went to the relevant States as derivation revenue.
The Augmentation of N60.000 billion was shared as follows: Federal Government received N31.608, the State Governments received N16.032 billion and the Local Government Councils received N 12.360 billion
In the month of October 2023, Import Duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Value Added Tax (VAT), CET Levies and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) increased significantly while Excise Duties and Companies Income Tax (CIT) recorded considerable decreases. Oil and Gas Royalties decreased marginally.
Bawa Mokwa
Director (Press and Public Relations)
The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Tuesday said the FCT Administration has pegged the cost of issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C- of-O) at N5 million.
The FCT Minister made the disclosure while speaking at a meeting with estate developers in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said payment could be made within four months of land allocation after which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant.
He added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ National Identification Number (NIM) to C-of-Os before issuance.
Wike said the era where three or more persons were allocated the same plot of land with fake C-of-O was over.
“Allocation of land to three or more persons will no longer be allowed because the C-of-O enables you to do business.
“When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,’’ Wike said.
He promised to ensure orderliness and sanity in the land administration system and processes in the FCT.
Wike inaugurated a task force on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for housing estates and the recovery of land use contravention fees on Nov. 14.
He explained that the measure was to ensure that each unit in the housing estates had its separate C-of-O.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday said that the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased from N195.29 in October 2022 to N630.63 in October 2023.
The NBS who made this known in its Petrol Price Watch for October 2023 released in Abuja said the October 2023 price of N630.63 represented a 222.92 per cent increase over the price of N195.29 recorded in October 2022.
“Comparing the average price value with the previous month of September 2023, the average retail price increased by 0.71 per cent from N626.21.
“On state profiles analysis, Zamfara paid the highest average retail price of N659.38 per litre, followed by Gombe and Borno at N658.33 and N657.27, respectively.
“Conversely, Lagos, Oyo, and Delta paid the lowest average retail price at N590.95, N592.19 and N599.38 respectively,’’ it stated.
Analysis by zones showed that the North-East Zone recorded the highest average retail price in October 2023 at N644.16, while the South-West recorded the lowest price at N616.81 per litre.
The NBS also stated in its Diesel Price Watch Report for October 2023 that the average retail price was N1004.98 per litre.
It said that the October 2023 price of N801.09 per litre amounted to a 25.45 per cent increase over the N801.09 per litre paid in October 2022.
“On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 12.82 per cent from the N890.80 per litre recorded in September 2023,’’ it added.
On state profile analysis, the report said the highest average price of diesel in October 2023 was recorded in Plateau at N1150.00 per litre, followed by Nasarawa at N1138.00 and Benue at N1091.67.
On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Rivers State at N824.44 per litre followed by Borno at N827.27 and Kebbi State at N845.00 per litre.
In addition, the analysis by zones showed that the North-Central had the highest price of N1090.69 per litre, while the North-East recorded the lowest price at N947.32 per litre.
The Governor of Kano State has reacted to a one-page document purportedly indicating that the Court of Appeal affirmed his victory in the judgment delivered on the Kano State governorship election last Friday.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that the appellate court had in a unanimous judgment upheld the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Governor Yusuf of the New Nigeria’s People’s Party (NNPP) and declared the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, the winner of the election.
But a controversial document alleged to be part of the judgment which was flying around social media on Tuesday evening indicated that the appeal court judges affirmed the victory of Governor Yusuf.
Reacting to the development, Governor Abba in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa said the state government sought to give authenticity to the document.
In the statement, the press secretary said: “A certified copy of Appeal court Judgement on Kano state Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf as duly elected Governor of Kano state.”
“In the fresh revelation as indicated in the written judgment, the Court of Appeal, set aside the judgment of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.
“The evidence contained on page 67 of the copy of the Appeal Court judgment released on Tuesday and signed by Registar Jameel Ibrahim Umar, the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP as duly elected Governor of Kano.
“The three-member appeal court, on Friday 17th November 2023 had dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf based on his membership status.
“The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress APC as the winner of March 25th, 2023 Governorship poll in Kano.”
While further affirming the claim, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi told journalists on Tuesday evening that: “Page 67 of the certified copy of the judgment clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.”
“Contrary to what the Judges read to the public in the courtroom on the 17th November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as legitimate Governor of Kano state.”
On Monday, a mammoth crowd trailed the convoy of Governor Yusuf in his first public appearance in the state after his return from Abuja Sunday night.
Governor Yusuf has vowed to keep dispensing democratic dividends despite the two unfavourable judgement in a row.
Governor Yusuf was received by a mammoth crowd as Kano stood still for hours, while he moved to commission the remodelled Accident and Emergency section of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.
He has also vowed that he will appeal against the judgment of the tribunal at the Supreme Court.
A certified copy of the Appeal Court Judgement on the Kano State Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf as the duly elected Governor of Kano State.
In the fresh revelation as indicated in the written judgement, the Court of Appeal, set aside the judgement of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.
The evidence contained on page 67 of the copy of the Appeal court judgement released on Tuesday and signed by Registrar Jameel Ibrahim Umar, the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP as duly elected Governor of Kano.
The three-member panel of the appeal court, on Friday 17th November 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf on the basis of his membership status.
The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress APC as the winner of the March 25th, 2023 Governorship poll in Kano.
Addressing journalists Tuesday evening, Kano state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi said page 67 of the certified copy of the judgement clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.
Barrister Dederi insisted that contrary to what the Judges read to the public in the courtroom on the 17th of November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as the legitimate Governor of Kano state.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu has assured Nigerians that the student loan, when implemented will not be based on ‘who you know’.
Sununu, who was speaking on a monitored program on Arise TV on Wednesday, stated that the processes for the application of the loan will be made available online for students to access.
Sununu explained that the federal government had set up a committee to address all bottlenecks concerning the loan and work out modalities for accessing the loan that will be acceptable to all.
“When the President came into office, the National Assembly had already signed the student loan bill. It was also assented by the President immediately he came into office.
“Once there is an Act, it introduces a framework that will allow you to draw out policies that will help in the implementation of the Act. The Act cannot 100 percent address all issues. It must give a gap to where administrators must come in to develop a policy that must be derived from the Act.
“After the Act has been signed, the next thing is to ensure that the Act becomes operational by submitting to the National Assembly a budget line that will be used to fund the loan. We will develop the framework that is acceptable to Nigerians,” he said.
He assured that by January, 2024, all the bottlenecks concerning the loan would have been addressed and details will be made available to Nigerians.
“Nigerians will have all the details and they will begin to access the loan; the amount will also be decided. All these will be contained in the policy statement that the committee is working on. The committee is working tirelessly to come up with policies that will be acceptable to all Nigeria,” he said.
The minister also stated that there will be room for collaboration with the private sector, adding that a legal framework will be put in place to address such collaborations.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Student Loan bill into law in June, 2023. The Act allows Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access interest-free loans from the Nigerian education loan fund.
In what will come across as a really startling development, a staff of one of the commercial banks located in Suleja, Austin Ilom has reportedly died.
The bank staff died following his abduction by kidnappers terrorizing the nation’s capital.
The deceased was abducted in his Abuja residence in Kubwa, a suburb of the FCT.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe shared the development on his official Facebook page.
Igboke said the assailants, who picked Austin from Kubwa about three weeks ago, had demanded N50 million for his release.
He said his bank “refused to help him because he was kidnapped at home and not on duty, his brother-in-law, a serving senator, also insisted he would not do anything until the bank brought their own contribution for his release.
“He ended up bringing only 3m, his friends and colleagues in the office raised 11.5m in total.
“Kidnappers collected the 11m and asked them to go and get the balance, days later kidnappers called that they should come and pick him”.
However, according to the Facebook post, the family of the deceased had gone to pick him up but “shortly after he got to Bwari hospital, he asked for water, before they brought him the water, he gave up’.
When contacted on Wednesday, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh said, “I am trying to get information about this”.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Tuesday, lamented that vandals had carried out nefarious operations on over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines across the country, describing it as a national calamity.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mele Kyari, who made the lamentation during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), however, assured Nigerians that the four oil refineries in the country would be made functional very soon.
He said that the problem of oil pipeline vandalism had been bedeviling the sector over the decades as the company had not been able to pump oil through the pipeline from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years.
“Over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines in the country are not working, As a result of pipeline vandalism, 10 million litres of oil was lost from volume pumped from Aba to Enugu at a time.
“The company has been unable to pump oil from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years and cannot connect to Ore.
“There is no amount of security measures that had not been taken to curb the crime without success, which to us in NNPCL, is substantially a national calamity,” he said.
Kyari however, said that as a way out, the company was embarking on massive replacement of the pipelines which aside from being vandalized, were old and obsolete.
He explained further to the Committee that deregulation of the oil sector and in particular subsidy removal carried out in May this year, had turned NNPCL into a profitable company.
He pointed out that before the deregulation in 2018, the company made a loss of N802 billion but after the deregulation in 2021, made an excess profit of N687 billion.
According to him, while 67 million litres of oil were consumed per day during the era of the subsidy regime, an average of 55 million litres is being consumed on a daily basis now, saying that the problem of smuggling the product across the border was a thing of the past.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (APC, Anambra South), and all the members responded separately to submissions made by the NNPCL boss, that proper dissection of challenges facing the sector would be better made in a retreat.
However, Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West), told the NNPCL boss to look critically into the surveillance security contract the company was operating as regards the non-inclusion of some oil-producing areas.
“Some local governments in Bayelsa State like Sagbama where I come from, are not covered by the contract with attendant consequences,” he said.
The federal government has revoked a total of 1,633 mineral titles after the affected mining companies failed to pay the stipulated administrative fees.
The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, who disclosed this during a press briefing yesterday at the ministry’s conference room in Abuja, said that the ministry will immediately dispatch its mining inspectorate department and security agencies to enforce the revocation order to make sure the affected firms do not go back to the mining sites.
He described the service fees in question as peanuts compared to the profit margins of the companies and said their refusal to pay the annual charges was a sign of bad faith.
The minister also revealed that the mineral title fees will be reviewed upwards in view of the significant technological and infrastructural investments the government had made in the sector.
In the statement he personally signed, Dr Alake explained said the Mining Cadastral Office is the agency of the ministry in charge of mineral title administration and that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 authorizes it to collect two kinds of fees: a fee for processing of applications for mineral titles, and an annual service fee established at a fixed rate per square cadastral unit for administrative and management services rendered by the Cadastre.
Alake lamented that the defaulting firms refused to pay such basic administrative fees despite the MCO following its protocols of calling their attention to this breach.
He said: “It is indeed very unconscionable for corporate bodies making huge profits from mining to refuse to give the government its due by failing to pay their annual service fee. It is indeed a reasonable conjecture that such a company will even be more unwilling to pay royalties and honour its tax obligations to the government.
“The amount the companies are being asked to pay is peanut compared to their own revenue projections. For example, the holder of an exploration title pays only N1,500 per cadastral unit not exceeding 200 units. Those holding titles covering more than 200 units pay N2,000 per unit, In short, the larger the area your title covers, the more you pay. This principle was applied to ensure that applicants don’t hold more than they require to explore. With a cadastral unit captured as a square of 500 metres by 500 metres, any law-abiding title holder should not hesitate to perform its obligations.”
The minister further noted that the ministry followed the stipulated legal guidelines in the mining law in revoking the 1633 licences.
According to him, sections 11 and 12 of the NMM Act 2007 state that a mineral title shall become liable to revocation where the holder fails to pay the prescribed fees and the annual service fee due to the Mining Cadastre Office.
“In these cases, the Mining Cadastre Office shall give a thirty days written default notice to the defaulting party and, if payment is not effected during that period, the Mining Cadastre Office shall record the default and revoke the mineral title.”
The minister said all the prescribed notice channels to reach out to the affected firms were adhered to before the government revoked their licences.
“In compliance with the law, the MCO on October 4, 2023 began the process of revoking 2,213 titles. These included 795 Exploration titles, 956 Small Scale Mining Licences, 364 Quarry licences and 98 Mining Leases. These were published in the Federal Government Gazette Number 178, Volume 110 of October 10, 2023 with the notice of revocation for defaulting in the payment of Annual Service Fee.
“The mandatory 30 days expired on November 10, 2023. Only 580 title holders responded by settling their indebtedness. With this development, the MCO recommended the revocation of 1, 633 mineral titles as follows: Exploration Licence, 536; Quarry Licence, 279; Small Scale Mining Licence, 787 and Mining Lease, 31.
“In line with the powers conferred on me by the NMMA 2007, Section 5 (a), I have approved the revocation of the 1,633 titles. I hereby warn the previous holders of these titles to leave the relevant cadaster with immediate effect as security agencies shall work with the Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry to apprehend any defaulter found on any of the areas where titles have been revoked,” Alake stated.
According to him, the revocation exercise is an ongoing activity and soon other sets of defaulters will come under similar punishment, as, according to him, the government is serious about turning the mining sector into a major revenue base for the country.
He also sounded a final note of warning to illegal miners and said the Tinubu administration will stop at nothing until it has sanitized the sector and taken it back from economic saboteurs.
[Leadership]
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The alleged rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has plunged the Rivers State House of Assembly into further crisis.
Recall that a faction of the Assembly reportedly loyal to Wike had threatened the governor with impeachment, which led to a major crisis in the state.
On Tuesday, security operatives took over the complex as members loyal to both factions of Edison Ehie and Martins Amaewhule allegedly held separate sittings at different locations.
According to Vanguard, no fewer than four police patrol vans were stationed at the entrance of the Assembly complex located on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, as human and vehicular movement in that Axis of the Assembly were restricted.
Sources told the platform that about 25 lawmakers, led by Amaewhule, sat early yesterday and reportedly deliberated on two items concerning suspending the strike by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PSAN).
The lawmakers charged the newly deployed Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, to investigate the explosion, which razed some parts of the Assembly Chamber and destroyed several properties.
Meanwhile, the Ehie-led faction, at its meeting in an unknown location, passed a vote of confidence on Governor Fubara, declaring that they would ‘swim or float’ with him.
In a statement released by his legislative aide, Ken Uchendu, Ehie said: “It takes a man of vision to steer the ship of development for the benefit of the people of the state.”
According to the faction, they would continuously give the governor the required support to accomplish his consolidation and continuity agenda to benefit the state.
The lawmakers also condemned the attack on Ehie’s residence on Sunday night as well as the burning of the House of Assembly.
The statement said: “Furthermore, the House impressed on the need for the Inspector General of Police and other related security apparatus of the state to investigate these attacks and bring the culprits to book.”
[NaijaNews]
The New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP), on Tuesday, described as a welcome development, a proposal mulled by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that opposition parties merge to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election.
At a press conference in Abuja, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Abba Ali, said the merger of opposition parties before the 2015 elections led to the defeat of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the APC.
Ali said, “Just recently, the former Vice-President of the Federal Republic Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was reported to have called for a merger of opposition parties as a way of checkmating the inordinate drive of the ruling APC towards a one-party state and protecting our hard-earned democracy.
“The NNPP sees this call from Atiku Abubakar as patriotic and a welcome development for which we unreservedly commend him.”
“To that extent, the NNPP is reiterating its position that the former Vice President’s latest call is a proposal we applaud wholeheartedly.
“However, as we stated earlier, while we fully embrace this initiative and applaud it as a matter of necessity, the NNPP is looking at this issue from a much larger perspective and considering all factors inherent in it,” he added.
[NaijaTImes]
Dozens of supporters of Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina queued to collect their party cards on Tuesday, believing it entitled them to cash days after a presidential election boycotted by most opposition candidates, AFP journalists saw.
Rajoelina’s party has denied allegations it has promised money in exchange for votes ahead of last week’s disputed elections, where the President was seeking another term.
But since the beginning of the week, many in what is one of the world’s poorest countries have lined up outside the President’s party offices in Antananarivo, seeking a pay-out.
“If the President was in front of me, I would tell him that he promised to provide for our needs in return for our support, because we have always rallied behind him,” Emilienne Razafindramanga, a 44-year-old waste collector, told AFP.
“So, we are now asking for 350,000 ariary ($77)”.
The sum would help her provide for the needs of her poor family, she said.
Rajoelina, 49, is leading the presidential race, with a preliminary tally giving him more than 60 percent of the vote — a share that would secure him re-election without a run-off, according to the electoral commission.
But turnout was fairly low, at around 40 percent, after 10 of 12 opposition candidates urged voters to shun the ballot complaining of an “institutional coup” in favour of the incumbent.
“He made promises to us before the election,” Raveloson Razafindratoandro, a 70-year-old retiree told AFP of Rajoelina, adding he was outside the offices of the ruling Tanora malaGasy Vonona (TGV) party to get a membership card.
“Thanks to this, I can get the money he promised me.”
Rakotondrabe Joselito, a TGV official in Ambohimangakely, some 15 kilometres outside the capital denied the party promised to hand out cash.
The card only conferred party membership, Joselito said dismissing rumours it was akin to a “bank card”.
Ghana’s cocoa marketing board, COCOBOD, has agreed to its yearly loan for cocoa purchases with international banks at a record-high interest rate of 8% according to reports from Bloomberg.
This increase comes in the wake of the West African nation’s debt restructuring this year, which adversely impacted investor appeal.
The deal is said to be the most expensive the board has ever agreed since 1992-93 when the arrangement began.
It is the first time the loan will be signed in November as it is usually signed around September at the conclusion of the COCOBOD’s road show in the month of July. It involves eight participating banks, with Coöperatieve Rabobank UA acting as the lead arranger, alongside Standard Chartered Plc and Societe Generale SA, according to sources.
The COCOBOD’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ray Ankrah told Reuters saying, “We want to draw down as quickly as it is approved,”
Last week, Ghana’s parliament granted approval for the transaction, enabling the board to proceed with finalizing paperwork in collaboration with the participating banks.
Structure of the loan
As outlined in the loan terms presented to lawmakers by the parliamentary finance committee, COCOBOD will be required to pay the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for one month. The current SOFR, standing at approximately 5.3% according to the New York Fed website, will be augmented by a margin of 2.65%.
Reason for the high-interest rate
The COCOBOD’s deputy CEO explained that the record interest does not reflect the creditworthiness of the agency but rather a result of tightening funding sources.
In his words, “The rate is high because of the SOFR, and that is a reflection of the tightening of funding sources on the global money market. This is a self-liquidating facility which is collateralised, and the risk to it is zero.”
COCOBOD intends to secure a total loan amount of $1.2 billion for the current season. Of this sum, $800 million is earmarked to be obtained from the syndicate of lenders, while the remaining $400 million is set to be raised from alternative sources such as Olam Group Ltd. and Barry Callebaut AG to top up.
[Nairametrics]