🇿🇦 South African petrochemical company Sasol's chairman resigns

South African petrochemical company Sasol said on Monday that Sipho Nkosi had stepped down as non-executive director and chairman of the board, effective November 10.

The resignation comes as "he was concerned that some of his business interests may be perceived to place him in conflict with the interests of Sasol," the company said in a statement.

Stephen Westwell, a non-executive and lead independent director, was appointed a chairman of the board from November 11, the statement said.

#SouthAfrica

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🇰🇪 Kenya bids to increase forest cover by 3% in next ten years

Kenya’s current forest cover currently stands at about 7%, but the government has set aside more than 80 million US dollars this financial year, as it bids to increase tree cover to more than 10%.

Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, encouraged Nairobi natives to plant trees in order to achieve the target of 30% forest cover in the capital.

"We have a target of 15 billion trees in ten years, meaning that we should be at 1.5 billion trees per year. We have to be out there, to play our part and be part of the history," said Koskei.

Kenya continues to suffer from an illegal logging and trade in many of its forests that are vital to the country's water catchment areas.

#Kenya

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🇪🇹 Ethiopian PM affirms "no plans for invasion over Red Sea ports access"

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday reiterated his pledge not to invade neighbouring nations over the Red Sea but insisted that his government would not abandon its demand for port access.

Abiy's remarks last month about the Red Sea raised regional concerns, particularly as tensions emerged with neighbouring Eritrea, which has a long coastline.

In a televised speech on October 13, Abiy said that landlocked Ethiopia "is a nation whose existence is tied to the Red Sea", a key waterway for global trade.

He said Ethiopia needed access to a port, adding: "If we plan to live together in peace, we have to find a way to mutually share with each other in a balanced manner."

#Ethiopia

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🇱🇷 Liberia counts votes in presidential runoff

Ballot counting was underway in Liberia on Tuesday in a run-off election between President George Weah and former vice president Joseph Boakai, in what is expected to be a closely fought vote.

Turnout appeared lighter on Tuesday in Monrovia, the capital, compared with the first round of voting. Several polls closed on time without people still queuing to cast ballots, which was a common sight in October.

Vote counting began just after 1800 GMT at polling stations across the capital. The electoral commission will begin releasing provisional results on Wednesday.

#Liberia

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🇳🇬 Stranded cargo and power cuts as Nigeria strikes

Workers have shut all of Lagos state's ports on the first day of nationwide strikes in Nigeria.

government payroll and for an inquiry into the recent assault of NLC President Joe Ajaero.

As of now, union members' actions have caused: Blackouts in parts of Nigeria as electricity union workers shut the grid; train passengers to be stranded in oil-rich Delta state and the economic hub Lagos; pupils and teachers to be sent home from state primary and secondary schools - but some secondary schools in Ogun state have stayed open.

The government has described the strike action as illegal and “not in national interest”.

#Nigeria

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🇬🇧🇷🇼 UK's Sunak to learn fate of Rwandan migrant deportation plan

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will learn on Wednesday whether his government can finally go ahead with its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda when the UK Supreme Court gives its verdict on the scheme's lawfulness.

Sunak is seeking to overturn a ruling in June that found the plan to send migrants who arrived in Britain without permission to the East African nation was unlawful as Rwanda was not a safe third country.

The Rwanda scheme is the central plank of Sunak's immigration policy as he prepares to face an election next year, amid concern among some voters about the numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats on Britain's shores.

This year more than 27,000 people have arrived on the southern English coast without permission, after a record 45,755 were detected in 2022.

#UK #Rwanda

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🇺🇸🇪🇹 US to resume food aid across Ethiopia next month

Washington will resume food aid for people across Ethiopia next month, after assistance was paused earlier this year, following implementation of comprehensive reforms, according to a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) statement.

Ethiopia's food crisis has deepened in recent years as a result of war in the Tigray region and the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

"USAID is committing to a one-year trial period of the nationwide resumption, during which we will continuously monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the reforms put in place by USAID, implementing partners, and the government of Ethiopia," the statement said.

#USA #Ethiopia

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🇳🇬 Nigeria central bank says old bank notes to remain legal tender

Nigeria's central bank said old bank notes that were due to be removed from circulation next month would now remain legal tender, ending months of uncertainty after an attempt earlier this year to remove them caused serious cash shortages.

The Supreme Court in March ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend until December 31 the use of old 1,000, ($1.18) 500 and 200 naira notes.

The bank had defended the removal of the notes, saying new ones would be harder to counterfeit and that the process would also help control liquidity in an economy.

The CBN, which has had a new governor since September, said the old bank notes "will remain legal tender ad infinitum, even beyond the initial December 31, 2023 deadline".

#Nigeria

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🇰🇪🇸🇩 Kenya and Sudan seek to speed up "slow" Jeddah talks

Sudanese military ruler Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has met Kenya's President William Ruto in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after initially rejecting his mediation efforts to end the war in Sudan.

The Kenya presidency said that "the two leaders held bilateral talks on the recent security situation in Sudan and the region. They also reviewed the state of ongoing peace initiatives, including the Jeddah and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) peace processes".

Ruto and Gen Burhan called for an acceleration of the “slow” Jeddah talks and a dialogue framework through Igad.

#Kenya #Sudan

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