Five things to know to start your Wednesday

India’s fight with Canada has become more intense

India and Canada have expelled their top diplomats amid escalating tensions over the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil, marking a new low in a historically cordial relationship. While past disagreements have strained ties, none have reached this level of open confrontation.

The tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India on Sunday that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly tied five other expelled Indian officials to Nijjar’s assassination and said Canada had gathered “ample, clear and concrete evidence which identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case.”

India’s foreign ministry rejected the accusations as absurd and said it was expelling Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.

Southern Africa faces its worst drought in a century

Millions of people across Southern Africa are going hungry due to a historic drought, risking a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations has warned.

Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have all declared a state of national disaster in the past months as the drought has destroyed crops and livestock. Angola and Mozambique are also severely affected, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said in a briefing on Tuesday, warning that the crisis is expected to deepen until the next harvests in March or April next year.

“A historic drought – the worst food crisis yet – has devastated more than 27 million lives across the region,” said WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri. “Some 21 million children are malnourished.

FG seeks N180 billion from bond market in October

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), is seeking to raise N180 billion from the bond market in October 2024. This is 20% higher than the N150 billion offered in the previous month.

According to the bond offer circular released by the DMO, two re-openings of previously issued bonds are being auctioned.

The first bond is the N90 billion 19.30% FGN APR 2029 (5-year reopening), while the second is the N90 billion 18.50% FGN FEB 2031 (7-year reopening).

Both bonds will be auctioned on October 21, 2024, with settlement set for October 23, 2024.

TCN begins probe as minister debunks grid collapse claims

The Federal Government, through the Transmission Company of Nigeria, says it would investigate the cause of the multiple power grid collapses that occurred on Monday and Tuesday.

This statement came because the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said there was nothing like a grid collapse but a ‘trip-off’.

TCN said the national grid experienced what it called a partial disturbance on Monday, saying efforts to fully recover the grid were still ongoing as of Tuesday.

TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, explained in a statement that although the recovery of the grid commenced immediately, with Azura power station providing the blackstart, grid recovery reached advanced stages at about 10.24 am on Tuesday when it encountered a challenge that caused a slight setback in the recovery process.

FG plans cash transfer for 20 million poor Nigerians

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that the increase in Nigeria’s revenue recorded in the 2024 fiscal year is being strategically allocated to various social intervention programmes aimed at improving the living standards of citizens and addressing pressing societal needs.

The minister said the social investment programme is targeted to impact 60 per cent of the poorest, reaching 20 million persons.

“The social investment programme is spearheaded by direct transfers to reach 60 per cent poorest in the population. And right now, 20 million households are being supported directly. And it’s going to rise to, well, 20 million people, four million households so far, and it will rise to 15 million households who will be paid directly by the government,” Edun said.