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An Ethiopian refugee who was hailed as a symbol of integration in Italy, Agitu Gudeta, has been killed on her farm in the northern region of Trentino, Italian police say. A Ghanaian employee has been arrested in connection with her rape and and murder “for money”, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. There is no independent confirmation of the report. She fled Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, in 2010 after her participation in protests against “land-grabbing” angered local authorities. READ ALSO:  ASUU strike cripples economies of university communities in 2020 She made Italy her home, making goat’s cheese and beauty products on her farm on previously abandoned land in Trentino. In a 2018 interview with the Reuters news agency, she said she had started her business with 15 goats. She had 180 by 2018 when she became a well-known figure. “I created my space and made myself known, there was no resistance to me,” she was quoted as saying. Vanguard News Nigeria  The pos...

Map showing Central African Republic (CAR) A powerful opposition coalition in Central African Republic on Wednesday called for the “cancellation, pure and simple” of weekend elections that were badly hampered by armed groups. More than a third of the troubled country’s districts did not take part in Sunday’s first round of voting for the presidency and National Assembly, according to official figures. In a statement, the Democratic Opposition Coalition (COD-2020), an alliance of political and other groups in the coup-prone country, said the elections “were not fair and inclusive and are in no way the expression of the people’s will.” Condemning an “electoral farce”, it claimed widespread ballot stuffing and complained of a lack of observers in remote areas of the mineral-rich but poor country. The twin elections, which the government described Tuesday as “credible, committed and popular,” have been seen as a key stability test for the CAR. The landlocked nation, one of the wor...

Former minister, Mohamed Bazoum, was comfortably ahead in Niger’s weekend presidential election held against the backdrop of jihadist violence, partial results showed Wednesday. Bazoum, the designated successor of outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou, garnered more than half a million in a first batch of 1.2 million ballots, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said. Around 7.4 million people were registered to vote in the presidential ballot on Sunday, which coincided with legislative polls. The first batch of ballots represents about one-third of the poor West African country’s villages and municipalities. Bazoum’s closest rival among 29 other contenders is former president Mahamane Ousmane with 168,000 votes, CENI said. Campaigning was overshadowed by insecurity, with Niger battered by jihadists on its southwestern border with Mali as well as its southeastern frontier with Nigeria. ALSO READ:  Two Malian soldiers killed in ambush Hundreds have died in t...

Armed “terrorists” killed two Malian soldiers and wounded five others during an ambush in the nation, the army said Wednesday. The soldiers were escorting a vehicle transporting bank funds on Tuesday when a “group of armed terrorists”, a reference to jihadists, ambushed them in Batouma forest, the army said in a statement. The soldiers “offered fierce resistance and were able to withdraw from the area with the vehicle transporting” employees of the bank, it added. ALSO READ:  US embassy in Burkina Faso warns of terrorist threat during New Year’s holiday Mali is struggling with an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in the north but has since spread to the centre of the country and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. French military forces have around 5,000 troops in the Sahel as part of their anti-jihadist Operation Barkane, and thousands UN peacekeepers are also operating in MalI. [AFP] Vanguard News Nigeria The post Two Malian soldiers killed in am...

Algeria will begin rolling out the contentious Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine developed by Russia in January, the government said late Wednesday. The country had signed a “mutual agreement with a Russian laboratory for acquisition of the coronavirus vaccine from January”, said Communications Minister Ammar Belhimer. Authorities will receive an initial shipment of 500,000 doses, finance ministry director general Abdelaziz Fayed told local broadcaster Echorouk. The announcement came a day after the elderly president of the North African nation, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, returned home following a two-month absence in Germany where he was treated for a coronavirus infection. Moscow announced the registration of Sputnik V back in August after it had completed just the second phase of trials on under 100 volunteers. ALSO READ:  US embassy in Burkina Faso warns of terrorist threat during New Year’s holiday It has raised concerns from scientists at home and abroad who said the decision was...

Mobile phone market in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso on September 23, 2019. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP) Americans in Burkina Faso have been warned to avoid hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners due to the threat of terrorist attacks during New Year’s holiday. The U.S. Embassy in the country gave the warning in a travel alert on Wednesday. “The U.S. Embassy reminds U.S. citizens that terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Burkina Faso and may be planning attacks over the 2021 New Year holiday,” the alert said. “As a result, the Embassy has informed its employees to avoid hotels and restaurants frequented by expatriates and Westerners over the New Year holiday, as these locations have historically been the target of terrorist attacks,” it added. The alert warned that terrorists could conduct attacks with little warning against sites frequented by Westerners and other expatriates in the capital of Ouagadougou. READ ALSO: Private varsities unhappy with shut down of ...

By Babajide Komolafe MONEY MARKET B anks have resolved to further tighten lending conditions in the first quarter of next year (Q1’21) following continued increase in loan defaults by debtor customers. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated this in its Credit Conditions Survey report for the fourth quarter, 2020 (Q4’20). The report, among other things, revealed that banks in Q4’20 recorded more loan defaults in terms of secured loans to households, small businesses and medium sized enterprises. Consequently, according to the report, the banks have reduced the number of secured loan approvals to households. READ ALSO We haven’t abandoned corps members positive for COVID-19 – NYSC The banks, however, increased the number of loan applications approved for unsecured loans to households, and loans to all business sizes in Q4’20. The report stated: “The proportion of loan applications approved in Q4 2020 decreased, as lenders tightened their credit scoring criteria. Lenders expec...