Trump slashes India tariffs to 18%, secures $500bn purchase deal
President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States and India have reached a trade agreement that cuts tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent. The deal, struck following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, includes India’s commitment to stop buying Russian oil and purchase more than $500 billion in US energy, technology, agricultural, and coal products.
Modi agreed to reduce India’s tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the United States to zero and to buy American products at a much higher level. Trump said the move will help end the war in Ukraine by cutting off Russia’s oil revenue. The announcement came one week after India closed a landmark free trade agreement with the European Union. However, legal experts and some Democratic lawmakers have questioned whether Trump can clinch binding trade agreements without congressional approval.
Musk creates $1.25 trillion empire with SpaceX-xAI merger
Elon Musk combined SpaceX and xAI on Monday in a deal that values the enlarged entity at $1.25 trillion, bringing together rockets, satellites, the X social media platform, and artificial intelligence under one roof ahead of a planned initial public offering. The combined company is expected to price shares at about $527 each, with an IPO likely later this year.
Musk said the merger addresses electricity demands for artificial intelligence that cannot be met with terrestrial solutions. He announced plans to build space-based data centres that will harness near-constant solar power with minimal operating costs. The deal brings together SpaceX, valued at about $800 billion in a recent private share sale, and xAI, valued at $230 billion in November. The merged entity is burning approximately $1 billion per month, according to reports.
Bill and Hillary Clinton reverse course, agree to testify in Epstein probe
Bill and Hillary Clinton will testify in a US House investigation into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after initially refusing to appear before lawmakers. The former president and former secretary of state had argued that subpoenas were invalid because they lacked a clear legislative purpose, but agreed to testify after the House Rules Committee advanced resolutions accusing them of defying the subpoenas.
Republicans say the Democratic couple’s past links to Epstein, including Bill Clinton’s use of his private jet in the early 2000s, justify in-person questioning under oath. The Clintons previously submitted sworn written statements describing their knowledge of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Bill Clinton acknowledged flying on Epstein’s plane for the Clinton Foundation humanitarian work but said he never visited his private island. Democrats say the probe is being weaponised to attack political opponents of President Donald Trump, himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify.
Federal government to share electricity subsidy costs with states
Nigeria’s Federal Government announced a new framework to spread electricity subsidy costs across federal, state, and local governments starting in 2026. Budget Office Director-General Tanimu Yakubu said President Bola Tinubu directed that subsidy costs be made explicit, tracked, and fairly shared across tiers of government to avoid hidden liabilities and recurring crises in the power market.
Yakubu said the government would invoke the existing electricity sector legal framework to ensure subsidy sharing is practical, transparent, and enforceable. The federal government incurred N1.98 trillion in electricity subsidy obligations in 12 months from October 2024 to September 2025, according to Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission reports. The policy aims to align incentives across government and support efficiency in the power sector by ensuring all tiers carry a fair share of costs when policy decisions and political benefits are shared.
Bank lending growth crashes to 0.89%, weakest since 2020
Growth in bank credit to Nigeria’s private sector slumped to 0.89 per cent in 2025, the weakest rate in five years, as aggressive interest rate hikes by the Central Bank of Nigeria reduced appetite for loans. The figure represents a sharp decline from 44.29 per cent in 2024 and 33.98 per cent in 2023, marking the slowest growth since 2020.
The slowdown is largely linked to the CBN’s maintenance of high benchmark interest rates, which have increased borrowing costs across the economy. Private sector credit extension declined 2.8 per cent year-on-year as of December 2025, marking the second consecutive monthly decline. Despite the slowdown in growth, overall credit to the private sector expanded 161.74 per cent between 2020 and 2025, rising from N348.36 trillion to N911.79 trillion. Analysts expect a rebound in credit growth as banks step up lending following capital base expansion and anticipation of a mildly less restrictive monetary environment.
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