UK recovers $23m Abacha loot

In an unending twist, it was reported by Bloomberg that on Thursday, the British National Crime Agency (NCA) has recovered more than $23 million stolen from Nigeria by its ex-head of state, the late General Sani Abacha, his associates and family members.

Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Abacha’s loot and its discoveries have always dominated public discussion as revelations of recovered funds are sometimes made public.

Transparency International stated that the late dictator who ruled Nigeria for a 5-year period from 1993 to 1998 is alleged to have stolen up to $5 billion of public money. His death came as a relief to most Nigerians who watched helplessly as he pilfered away the country’s wealth.

The NCA said in a statement made available on its website that the recovery is part of “a larger pool of funds identified by the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) as having been misappropriated by Abacha and his associates”.

The NCA stated that its collaboration with the United States, Department of Justice enabled it to succeed in this recovery after nearly seven years of protracted litigation and international negotiation. The funds, according to it, have now been transferred to the Home Office for onward transmission to the USDOJ.

“The NCA is committed to ensuring that the UK is not a safe haven for criminals to launder their proceeds of crime, and civil recovery of assets is a powerful weapon in this fight,” said Billy Beattie, Asset Denial Senior Manager at the NCA.

“We work closely with UK and international partners to tackle the threat posed by corruption, which disproportionately impacts the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. We are committed to ensuring that those who perpetuate corruption do not benefit from their actions.” Billy concluded.

Bloomberg revealed that the “police say about 100 billion pounds ($123 billion) of dirty cash moves through or into Britain every year, buying everything from luxury homes to whole companies.”

Leaked troves of financial documents such as the Panama, Paradise, and Pandora Papers have documented London’s role as a global money-laundering hub.

We are not certain if the recovered Abacha loot will be transferred to the federal government or not.

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Gunmen storm Shell’s security checkpoint in Nigeria

Information made available through Dryad Global’s latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory (MSTA) has revealed that gunmen in three speed boats attacked a military checkpoint owned by the Shell Petroleum Development Agency recently.

A civilian was killed in the ensuing gun battle that followed the attack, while a military personnel was injured by gunshots. These were the only casualties from the attack.

Meanwhile, there is no information about whether some of the staff working at that facility were kidnapped. If there’s any case of kidnapping, we will be watching to see how Shell will respond following that the Nigerian senate just passed a bill imposing a jail sentence of at least 15 years for paying a ransom fee for someone who has been kidnapped.

Rigzone reported that it was yet to receive any reply from SPDC about the attack.

Covid positivity rate jumps to 4-month high in South Africa

The positivity rate from COVID-19 tests in South Africa is at its highest level since January this year, as the country heads into the fifth wave of infections.

Information gathered by Bloomberg revealed that the country, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, has 9,757 new COVID-19 cases identified. a figure that represents a 25.9 percent increase from those tested this year.

This increase in infection rate is probably influenced by the coming winter season as people stay indoors, probably enabling the virus to spread faster.

After the unprepared response to the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the government implemented a new health legislation that “will require proof of vaccination or negative tests for some gatherings and the continued wearing of masks in public gatherings.”

There is an array of hope in the country so far, following information that the omicron sublineages called BA 4 and BA 5 are less deadly than earlier omicron lineages like BA 2. According to Shabir Madhi, a vaccinologist from the University of Witwatersrand who spoke to Bloomberg, the new sublineages of omicron are not “even anything close” to the earlier omicron strain.

Despite information that the new omicron strain is not as deadly as the earlier version, the government and health experts are urging citizens to get tested and vaccinated.

Uganda ignores calls to introduce fuel subsidies

Harder times are here for the east African giant, Uganda, as the government, against pleas from civil society and others, has insisted that it won’t introduce fuel subsidies to cushion the effect on the suffering masses even after pump prices went up.

Yoweri Musuveni, through the acting director at the ministry of finance, Moses Kagga, has said that subsidies and lowering the fuel tax, which many have insisted that the government introduce , would affect government revenue and may force the government to borrow.

Kagga said that the state treasury receives 1,450 shillings, which is equivalent to $0.41 from every litre of fuel sold.

According to Bloomberg, since the reopening of the economy in January following the “pandemic-driven restrictions,” demand for fuel to power industries and everyday life in the country has grown.

Fuel prices have risen 19 percent this year to an average of 5,300 shillings per litre, owing largely to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kaggwa said that based on recommendations from all the relevant bodies, players in the oil and gas sector, they will be allowed to import petroleum products and sell them at competitive prices, with government intervention coming in when it is discovered that dealers are trying to make “abnormal profit”.

The reopening of the economy will drive economic growth, as trade is expected to grow by 4.5 percent to 7 percent this year through next.

Kaggwa promised the public that the government was investing in oil infrastructure projects that would allow the country to begin pumping petroleum in 2025.

US futures steady after tech-led selloff

Massive sell-offs on technology-led stocks on Wall Street weren’t strong enough to dictate the direction of US stock futures. Wall Street was perhaps reacting to rising Treasury yields, which were responding to expectations for larger rate hikes to bring decades-high inflation under control.

Tradingeconomics revealed that futures contracts for the three major indexes of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSC) moved within small gains and loss lines.

According to analysts, at the end of the trading session on Thursday, the Dow Jones lost more than 1,000 points and the Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 5 percent of its value, with both indexes registering their worst one-day drops since 2020.

The S & P 500 fared no better, losing 3.56 percent of its market value, making it the year’s second-worst day.

Thursday’s performance wiped out gains from the Fed Chairman’s statement of a 50 basis point increase in interest rates instead of the much feared 75 basis point to 100 basis point increase earlier touted.

Technology stocks sustained the most losses as they led the losers’ chart. Tesla led the table with an -8.3 percent loss, followed by Apple, Amazon, AMD, and Microsoft with-5.6 percent, -7.6 percent, -5.6 percent, and -4.4 percent, respectively.