Angola under pressure from prospects of falling oil prices
Angola’s finance minister warns that falling oil prices are creating significant challenges for the country. Speaking to Reuters on Friday, she predicted oil prices would average $70 to $72 per barrel in 2024, lower than the current $75 average.
The finance minister, Vera Daves de Sousa, shared these thoughts during an interview at the Washington IMF and World Bank meetings. She also discussed plans for Angola, Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, to gradually reduce its fuel subsidies.
“How many steps we didn’t decide yet, but our idea is to do it in steps,” she said, confirming that subsidies were amounting to around 4% of GDP this year.
Read also: After Brazil, Dangote looks to Libya, Angola, others for crude oil supply
Angola left the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at the beginning of this year.
Israel strikes Iran military targets amid fears of a wider war
Israel has confirmed it attacked military targets in Iran early Saturday, responding to Iran’s missile attacks on Israel earlier this month. This marks the latest round in the growing conflict between these two well-armed nations.
Reports from Iranian media described multiple explosions happening over several hours in Tehran (Iran’s capital) and nearby military facilities. However, no immediate damage or injuries were reported.
Israel’s public broadcaster announced before daybreak that they had completed three waves of strikes and the operation was finished.
Read also: Possible twists in New US-Iran Relations after General Soleimani’s Murder
This attack comes at a tense time in the Middle East, as many had been waiting to see how Israel would respond to Iran’s October 1 attack, when Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, resulting in one death in the West Bank.
Venezuelan opposition activist found dead after detention
Venezuelan opposition leader Edwin Santos has been found dead after being taken into government custody, according to his political party.
His party, Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), which opposes President Nicolas Maduro’s government, announced that Santos – one of their local leaders and co-founders – was found dead on a bridge between Venezuela’s Apure and Tachira states.
FG plans 50% tax relief to help firms increase salaries
Companies that raise salaries or help with transportation costs for their lower-paid workers could get a 50% tax break from the Federal Government, according to a new tax reform bill.
This proposal is part of a larger bill aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s tax system. The bill, submitted to the National Assembly on October 4, 2024, has a long official title: “A Bill for an Act to Repeal Certain Acts on Taxation and Consolidate the Legal Frameworks relating to Taxation and Enact the Nigeria Tax Act to Provide for Taxation of Income, Transactions, and Instruments, and Related Matters.”
30 million hectares of farmland unused, says minister
Nigeria has about 30 million hectares of farmable land that’s not being used, according to Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security.
He shared this information during a meeting in Abuja on Friday with the President of the National Tomato Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria.
The minister said, “Nigeria has about 73 million hectares of arable land, of which we are currently utilising only about 41 to 43 million. This means we are having close to half of our arable land not being farmed.”
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
