Business Drive

European Union leaders granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in a strong show of support against Russia’s invasion, as the United States said it was sending Kyiv more high-precision rocket systems. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the EU decision on his country and Moldova as a unique and historic moment, although the two former Soviet republics face a long path before joining the bloc and its benefits of free movement and a common market. French President Emmanuel Macron says that the decision by EU leaders sent a very strong signal to Russia that Europeans support the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.

The French government says it aims to have its natural gas reserves at full capacity by autumn as European countries brace for supply cuts from major supplier Russia with the Ukraine war dragging on. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says they are ensuring the complete filling of our storage capacities, aiming to be close to 100 per cent by early autumn. She added that France will also build a new floating terminal to receive more gas supplies by ship.

Chinese President Xi Jinping says the world should oppose unilateral sanctions and efforts by some countries to maintain their political and military power – a veiled shot at the United States and its allies over opposition to the war in Ukraine. Xi says nations need to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, and reject the small circles built around hegemonism by forming one big family belonging to a community with a shared future for humanity.

The United States Senate has approved a bipartisan package of modest gun safety measures as the country’s Supreme Court broadly expanded gun rights by ruling that Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns in public for self-defence. The Senate bill, approved in a 65-33 vote, is the first significant gun control legislation to pass in three decades, in a country with the highest gun ownership per capita in the world and the highest number of mass shootings annually among wealthy nations. Some 15 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting for the bill.

The leaders of the Group of Seven nations have pledged to raise $600bn in private and public funds over five years to finance infrastructure in developing countries and counter China’s older, multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project. US President Joe Biden says developing countries often lack the essential infrastructure to help navigate global shocks, like a pandemic, so they feel the impacts more acutely and they have a harder time recovering. He says the United States would mobilise $200bn in grants, federal funds and private investment over five years to support projects in low- and middle-income countries that help tackle climate change as well as improve global health, gender equity and digital infrastructure.

A powerful trade union in Tunisia has rejected conditions set by the International Monetary Fund for a loan to help tackle the country's economic crisis. The head of the UGTT - Noureddine Taboubi - says the union supported reforms, but not what he called the painful options demanded by the IMF. An IMF official says the organisation was ready to start formal talks on a financial bailout.

Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia have called on the European Union to put pressure on the government in Addis Ababa to ensure the resumption of basic services in the embattled region. The statement from Tigrayan forces comes after the recent visit to Tigray by the EU’s commissioner for crisis management and humanitarian aid, Janez Lenarčič. He called for the urgent scaling up of humanitarian assistance and the restoration of basic services. Tigrayan forces say they appreciated the EU’s position that aid was not reducible to the number of trucks reaching Tigray on any given day.

President Muhammadu Buhari reacted to recent incidents of attacks on churches in Ondo and Kaduna States and vowed never to let anyone put the nation under unnecessary religious stress. The president, however, laid the blame on the doorsteps of evil doers, saying wicked people were behind the dastardly acts. He called on all Nigerians – Christian and Muslim – to unite in prayer against the coward perpetrators of the evil acts. The president observed seeing the crowd of Nigerians voluntarily rushing to donate blood after the attack, thronging the local hospitals, even in the midst of mourning.

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the private sector to plough back profits in order to boost job creation in the country. The president says the private sector remained key to addressing the challenges of unemployment in the country. Buhari pointed out that the theme for the summit was particularly apt given the challenges faced by the country in terms of job creation and empowerment, especially for the surging youth population. He says the quest for national development and growth remained a national issue that needs utmost attention and input from all relevant stakeholders.

Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Matawalle, has resorted to self-help, directing residents of the state, particularly farmers, to acquire guns to defend themselves against marauding terrorists/bandits. Matawalle ordered the Commissioner of Police in the state to issue licences to residents willing and fit to bear arms, to protect themselves against the armed criminals. The governor approved the immediate closure of all markets and some filling stations, and banned the use of motorcycles in Mada, Wonaka and Ruwan Bore districts as well as Yandoto emirate in Gusau and Tsafe local government areas of the state, respectively.

Elon Musk says Tesla's new factories in Germany and the US are losing billions of dollars due to battery shortages and supply disruptions in China. The multi-billionaire also called the plants in Berlin and Austin, Texas gigantic money furnaces.Mr Musk says both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. It's really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire. He says the plants are losing billions of dollars right now and there's a ton of expense and hardly any output.

Surging inflation led interest payments on government debt to hit the highest amount for May on record. Interest payments paid by the government for last month hit £7.6bn, up £3.1bn from a year earlier. Government borrowing fell in May from a year earlier but still remained higher than pre-Covid levels. The Office for National Statistics says borrowing was £14bn, down £4bn from a year earlier however the figure was still the third-highest May borrowing since monthly records began in 1993 and were also £3.7bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility had to forecast. The recent high levels of debt interest payments are largely a result of higher inflation.

The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that Russia may stop supplying gas to Europe this winter. Fatih Birol says he believes a complete shutdown is not the most likely scenario but that Europe needs to work on contingency plans just in case. Russian officials deny it's deliberate and has blamed technical issues. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Europe imported about 40% of its natural gas from Russia but that figure has now fallen to about 20%. Mr Birol says he believes that recent Russian reductions in gas supply are strategic.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accused critics of his government's policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda of having a condescending attitude towards the African country. He made the comments before embarking on Rwanda's capital, Kigali, where he is due to attend a meeting of the Commonwealth's heads of government. Mr Johnson says his trip was an opportunity to see the country with which the UK has an important economic and migration partnership. He acknowledged he would be arriving ahead of many of the people his government planned to send there; the first such flight was halted last week by the European Court of Human Rights.

Tanzania’s ruling party CCM says it is ready for reforms on the country's constitution after years of fending off pressure from opposition parties and rights defenders. A previous attempt to change the constitution failed in 2014 after a draft document proposed to reduce presidential powers and establish an independent electoral body. CCM spokesperson Shaka Hamdu Shaka says the party's top body was insisting on a need to have a new constitution. He says the party was supporting President Samia Suluhu's reconciliation efforts.

One of Somalia’s main rivers, the Shabelle, is running dry and affecting people who depend on it for their livelihoods amid a continued drought. The state-owned Somali National TV says the river had dried up and could exacerbate the country's drought and further increase food insecurity. The Shabelle River flows into southern Somalia from the highlands of neighbouring Ethiopia. It is the second biggest river in Somalia and is a significant water source for residents in the south and central regions. Agricultural activities in the country have been affected by a fourth failed rainy season.

The World Bank says that Nigerian states will likely lose N18.8bn in oil and gas revenues in 2022, as worsening revenue collection at the federation level increases budgetary pressures for the states. The Washington-based bank says the declining revenue from the federation level had put many states in a precarious fiscal position. The bank warned that many states would be unable to meet up with their expenditures, adding that there was an increase in debt servicing expenditures of States. The bank further says that the expected higher VAT collection or improvements in independently generated revenues would not compensate for the lower transfers from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee in 2022.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says that 1779 farmers in Ogun State have benefitted from agricultural loans in 2021. The CBN, Abeokuta Branch Controller, Wahab Oseni, says the disbursement was part of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund established by Decree No. 20 of 1977 to guarantee credit facilities extended to farmers by banks. He says the loan was targeted at increasing access to funds in the agricultural sector, adding that beneficiaries would get back 50 per cent of the interest if they met with terms of the loan.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria warned members of the association not to dispense petrol, above the approved N165/litre pump price. The factional National President, IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, admitted that members of the association had called for a hike in petrol price, but noted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had released enough petrol. Okoronkwo revealed that IPMAN and its partner had engaged the services of Benham Group to recover money owed them for the supply of petroleum products.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate return of Nigeria to international basketball competitions. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, says the approval was granted following a letter of appeal dated June 17, 2022, which was signed by Musa Kida, leader of the Nigeria Basketball Federation board, and addressed to the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare. Abubakar says despite the approval, the stakeholders were warned to ensure that the country’s laws are not subjugated to any other law.