Lagos GAC approves Sanwo-Olu second term ambition
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been approved for a second term by the Lagos State Governance Advisory Council (GAC), which met behind closed doors Monday.
The Lagos GAC which is made up of former governors, their deputies, speaker of the house of assembly, and some selected key members gave him the pass mark and approved his bid for a second term after assessing his performance as Governor of the state and staying through to the development agenda of the state.
The governor who had sorted the support of key party stalwarts before the endorsement from the GAC had hoped his fate won’t be like that of his predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, who tweeted the news, said that the Lagos GAC saw his endorsement as a reward for his dedication to the development agenda of the state.
His tweet read, “Breaking news: Lagos GAC gives nod to Governor @jidesanwoolu’s second term bid.” The Governance Advisory Council at a meeting in Lagos today gave pass mark to Sanwo-Olu for staying through to the developmental agenda of Lagos. Congratulations, dear boss! ”
Before the announcement of the news, there were jubilant supporters of the Governor singing to the excitement of onlookers, canvassing for support for their principal. One of the songs heard loudly was, “Sanwo goody odi kwa nice…”
Before the endorsement by the Lagos GAC, during a South West mega rally for the endorsement of the national leader of the APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, for President come 2023, the former governor of the state had endorsed the Sanwo-Olu second-term bid to continue as governor come 2023.
On the Twitter page of Akosile, the endorsement read, “with the THEMES development agenda, 4+4 is assured.”
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Russia-Ukraine war forces World Bank to cuts its 2022 Global Growth Outlook
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has pushed the World Bank to cut its forecast for global economic expansion this year.
The bank decided to not only cut its forecast for global economic expansion but also draw up strategies to seek funding support to assist nations deal with the effects of the ongoing war. The organisation said that this would be bigger than its COVID-19 response.
According to Bloomberg, President David Malpass of the World Bank, who spoke to reporters on Monday, said that the bank has decided to lower its global growth estimate from 4.1 percent to 3.2 percent following the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
He attributed the drop to cuts in Europe and Central Asia estimates. While Europe is motivated by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, central Asia is motivated by the current Zero-Covid-19 policy of the Chinese government aimed at containing the spread of the virus.
As a proactive response from the bank’s management, the president said that he was going to have a meeting with the bank’s board to discuss “a 15-month crisis-response package of about $170 billion, which is to cover April 2022 through June of next year, with about $50 billion of this amount to be deployed in the next three months”.
He said he believes the new initiative will eclipse the $157 billion generated during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a continued, massive crisis response given the continuation of the crisis,”
The bank’s chief comment comes ahead of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings scheduled to take place in Washington, where debt, inflation, food security, and the Russia-Ukraine war will be discussed.
Malpass expects, amongst other things, the debt crisis for low and middle-income countries owing to the after-effects of the war to be discussed. He also expects the bank’s $3 billion relief funding package to get the approval of the bank.
Yellen to avoid Russian representatives at global meetings, to see Ukraine PM only
The United States Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has planned to avoid any form of contact with Russian representatives at the upcoming meetings of global economic leaders in Washington this week.
Instead, as a way to register the White House’s disapproval of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she will meet with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, to discuss several of the planned US government interventions.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the meeting which is to take centre stage in Washington at the spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank will discuss, amongst other things, how members of the G20 countries will manage the spillover effects of the Russian-Ukraine war, the global food crisis and the debt burden of some low and middle-income countries.
As part of her itinerary, the US treasury secretary will hold a meeting with a panel of finance ministers, the international development banks, and other institutions to talk about how they will address the global food crisis following interruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This year’s meeting, which is a week-long event, is expected to take place both virtually and in person.
An official from the US treasury department who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Yellen would not attend all the meetings because of the presence of Russian officials, but believed that the meeting should go on well regardless of the US position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, Russian officials will be expected to attend all the virtual events and some of the in-person meetings.
A source spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity that Yellen, along with Ukraine’s finance minister, is expected to attend the opening sessions of the meeting, but her presence in the other meetings won’t be guaranteed if Russian officials are expected to attend.to attend
Last week, President Joe Biden pleaded for Russia to be expelled from the group of G20 countries following its actions in Ukraine.
As part of the US government agenda, the treasury secretary is expected to work with allies to agree on a joint position on Russia. Many believe that the decision of such a meeting should mount intense economic pressure on Russia while addressing the spillover effects of any action against Russia.
Before now, many had feared that trade in agricultural products was part of the global response against Russia. It is, however, believed that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will this week make better clarification that “trade in agricultural products is not barred under existing sanctions, in response to the food security crisis that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused.”
The World Food Program (WFP) has reported that the number of people facing acute hunger is expected to rise this year as a result of the shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Wall Street extends losses following Fed’s interest rates hike
Investors’ decision to dump tech and other growth stocks in anticipation of higher interest rates impacted negatively on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the NASDAQ, as they all closed bearish or on a negative note at the close of trading on Monday.
The 10-year Treasury yield’s rise above 2.86 percent drove the market to respond in a way never seen since late 2018. This rise was motivated by speculation about the Fed’s position to raise interest rates as a way to address the heightened inflation worries. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that inflation had reached 8.5 percent, the highest level in 40 years.
Investors’ decisions were also influenced by the anticipation of the biggest corporate establishment’s earnings report release this week. The market will be looking forward to financial report releases from Netflix on Tuesday and Tesla on Wednesday.
According to Tradingeconomics, Bank of America, the last major bank to report earnings, earned 80 cents per share on revenue of $23.33 billion, which was higher than expected.
Zelensky says battle for Donbas has begun
Late Monday night, the Russian President’s quest to conquer Donbas, which is the eastern part of Ukraine, began as a large number of troops and military ammunition were seen moving into the coal capital of the country.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, has made it a point of duty to talk to the Ukrainian people every night since the war started. He said that it was clear that the invasion of Donbas had already begun following the movement of Russian troops in Donbas.
He said, “It can now be stated that Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time.”
He went on, saying that in the east and south of our country, the occupiers have recently been trying to attack in a little more thought-out manner than before. “They are putting pressure, looking for a weak spot in the defense of our state to go there with the main forces.”
According to Bloomberg, the invasion of the coal city kicked off late Monday night as Russian forces were seen shelling the area to scare off any resistance from the Ukrainian army.
However, the attack didn’t just happen this night, as it was reported that Putin has been assembling troops and military installations in the east of the country for weeks following its strategic pullout from Kyiv.
Meanwhile, the Russian army’s top brass has stated that they are waiting for an official order to launch a major offensive on the city.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Putin had discredited western sanctions on Russia, saying that the “economic Blitzkrieg” had failed to weaken Russia’s resolve to liberate Ukraine, citing the recovery in the ruble to pre-war levels. A recovery, which observers said was a result of the tight capital control over the financial system.
Unfortunately, many human rights activists who had condemned Russia’s genocide against residents of Bucha, a small village in northern Ukraine, were shocked to see Putin bestow a special elite designation on the army unit.
Taking control of Donbas for Russia would be a significant boost to the morale of troops on both sides. While Russia will see this as a show of strength and a re-emphasis of its stance against the west, and in particular Sweden and Finland, Ukraine will, however, see a likely war victory as a morale booster for the country’s resistance to foreign invasion.
According to Wikipedia, Donbas is a town in Ukraine’s geographical conclave with over 45 percent of its population being ethnic Russians. In 1990, the Interfront of the Donbas was started as a movement against Ukraine’s independence.
A part of Donbas is being controlled by separatist movements, namely, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.
