Foreign

Twitter dumps Nigeria —–sites African operations headquarters in Ghana

Eyeswitness reporter

The Internet giant, Twitter, has chosen Ghana ahead of Nigeria as the headquarters of its African operations.

The preference for Ghana was despite the over 2.5 million users of Twitter in Nigeria, which is about the third-largest in the continent after Egypt and South Africa.

The Twitter Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Jack Dorsey, confirmed this on Monday, saying, “Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you, Ghana, and Nana Akufo Addo.”

“The choice of Ghana as Headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is excellent news. The government and Ghana welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country,” Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo also tweeted on Monday.

In a release, Twitter reinstated that its mission is to serve the public conversation, and it’s essential, for the world and for Twitter, to increase the number of people who feel comfortable participating in it.

It said, “Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana.

“To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.

“As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.

Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.

“Whenever we enter new markets, we work hard to ensure that we are not just investing in the talent that we hire, but also investing in local communities and the social fabric that supports them.

“We have already laid foundations through partnerships with Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella in Ghana, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria, and The HackLab Foundation in Ghana

” As part of our long-term commitment to the region, we’ll continue to explore compelling ways we can use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen our communities through employee engagement, platform activation, and corporate giving.

“We still have much to learn but we are excited to listen, learn, and engage. Public conversation is essential to solving problems, building shared ideas, and pushing us all forward together. We can’t wait for the next step on that journey.”

Foreign

2,044 stranded Nigerians repatriated from Libya in 8 Months – NEMA

Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed

…as 174 stranded Nigerians arrive Lagos

Eyewitness reporter

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said it has repatriated 2,044 Nigerians stranded in the crisis-ridden North African country, Libya into the country.

This was disclosed by the Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, against the backdrop of fresh 174 stranded Nigerians brought back into the country from Libya at the Cargo wing of Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday.

It could be recalled that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the European Union (EU) has been repatriating thousands of stranded Nigerians from various countries since 2017 through a Special Assisted Voluntary Repatriation Programme (SAVP).

The NEMA DG, who was represented by the Lagos territorial office coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye, said in 2022, the agency received 12 flights, with 2,044 Nigerians that are stranded in Libya, but assisted back into the country.

Giving details of the repatriated Nigerians, he said, “Out of those brought back are, 848 male adults, 719 female adults, 180 children and 123 infants.

He continued, “the aircraft landed at the cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport at about 1535 hours.

“The profiles of the returnees show that 69 female adults; five female children and 10 female infants were brought back.”

“Also aboard the flight are 75 male adults, 12 male children and three male infants. Among the returnees are 23 with minor medical cases.”

Agencies present to receive the returnees are, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); the Refugee Commission, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Foreign

EU freezes Russian oligarchs’ assets worth over 10 billion Euro (Rs82K crore )

Russian President Vladimir Putin

In retaliation to the Russian military offensive against Ukraine, the European Union has blocked the assets of Russian oligarchs worth nearly €10 billion (over Rs 82K crore) as part of sanctions, TASS reported.

Further, another set of frozen assets was reported in the month of April.

As the war in Ukraine has reached its 91st day, the EU has provided billions of euros in military aid to war-torn Ukraine to fight against Russia’s unjustified invasion, further imposing severe sanctions on Moscow.

Earlier in April, the European Union had frozen about €30 billion (Rs 2,48,418 crore) in assets of Russian and Belarusian oligarchs and businesses.

This came on April 8, when European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders presided over the fifth meeting of the EU’s Freeze and Seize Task Force, which included members from the United States and Ukraine.

Assets worth €29.5 billion have been frozen, and transactions worth €196 billion have been banned, according to the EU statement.

Didier Reynders had deemed it essential for the EU and its foreign allies so that they can step up their efforts to cease supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

He emphasised that, in addition to implementing punishments, it is also necessary to track their progress.

He urged all members to take the necessary steps to implement the sanctions on Russia.

Josep Borrell has also recommended taking frozen Russian foreign exchange assets to reconstruct Ukraine.

Apart from this, to fund the costs of reconstructing the war-torn country, the European Union’s top official had recommended taking frozen Russian foreign exchange assets.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, spoke to the Financial Times on May 8 about how the US used Afghanistan’s blocked funds to pay compensation to terrorism victims and to provide humanitarian help to the country.

He emphasised that using Russian funds to restore a country devastated by conflict makes sense.

According to the Financial Times report, EU authorities are looking into whether Russian reserves may be redirected towards Ukraine’s building.

Meanwhile, the European Union has approved a 500 million euro military aid tranche for Ukraine.

After the approval of three tranches of military assistance totaling 1.5 billion euros this year, the fourth tranche would add 500 million euros to financing previously assigned to Ukraine underneath the European Peace Facility (EPF), bringing the total amount to 2 billion euros, according to a statement released by the European Council on Tuesday.

Foreign

Egypt rakes in $15m daily from Suez canal vessel traffic

The artificial channel of Suez canal

—-generates $5.61 billion in 2020, $6.3 billion in 2221

Egypt is making bountiful harvests of revenue from its man-made Suez canal with daily earnings of $15millon from the maritime traffic.

Mr. Gorge Safwat, Spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), made the disclosure on Thursday while hosting 27 top journalists from sub-Saharan Africa at the headquarters of the company in Ismailia District, northeast of Cairo.

Suez Canal stretches from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Suez on the northeastern shores of the Gulf of Suez, separating Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula.

Safwat explained that up to one billion tons of maritime cargo passed through the canal every year and that up to 20,000 ships had passed through the canal in the first quarter of 2022, carrying goods to various countries around the globe.

He said that the canal, the longest man-made in the world, had recorded increased revenue, generating about $5.61 billion in 2020, due to the determination and doggedness of Egyptians.

Safwat announced that the company made about $6.3 billion from its activities last year, saying that the construction of the canal 152 years ago, demonstrated the willpower and can-do spirit of the citizens of the Arab nation.

Tracing the history of the canal, the spokesman said it took the labour of about one million Egyptians and 120,000 deaths to put the canal in place in 1859.

Safwat noted that the number of ships using the canal daily had also increased from 45 per day in 2015 to 60 per day at present, describing the route as one of the safest in the world.

In March 2021, a huge container ship, known as Ever Given, belonging to Evergreen Shipping Lines, got wedged and blocked the Suez Canal, disrupting global maritime trade for weeks.

However, the ship, which the Egyptian Government impounded, was later released after agreeing to a deal on compensation with the government.

The 193-km Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea at the canal’s northern end to the Red Sea in the south and it provides the shortest link between Asia and Europe.

The authorities of the SCA took the visiting journalists on a boat cruise on the old and new canals built by the government.

The journalists noticed the intense maritime activity taking place round the hour on the canal, helping to boost the prosperity of the North African country.

Egypt, which is currently one of Africa’s biggest economies, has embarked on various developmental projects, to sustain its position as a pacesetter in both the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa.

The rich North African country has a population of about 106 million people, making it the third-largest country in Africa.