Five things to know to start your Monday

Telcos’ new tariffs will fully commence in March

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said telcos will start charging new, higher rates in March.

Gbenga Adebayo, who leads ALTON, explained to reporters at a meeting that each phone company will set its own new prices. Right now, they’re going through the official process of getting approval for their new rates.

“So we are now following what is called the regulatory requirement, regulatory steps of filing, review and obtaining approvals,” Adebayo said.

“As soon as those approvals come through, different players will introduce new rates as the time comes.”

“I’ll say over next week, we start seeing some improvement in the prices.”

“Over the next month, we should start seeing some total introduction in what the new rates will be like, but it’s important that we’ve come to a point where what has to be done has to be done for the sector to survive.”

Trump will meet with Canada and Mexico’s leaders today regarding tariffs

The U.S. is heading into a trade war with its closest neighbours. President Donald Trump plans to talk with both Canadian and Mexican leaders on Monday, just before his new 25% import taxes on their goods start. These two countries are America’s biggest trading partners.

Canada didn’t wait long to fight back. Within hours of Trump’s Saturday announcement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would put its own 25% taxes on American products. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum hinted at similar actions, saying she was thinking about both tax and non-tax ways to “defend Mexico’s interests.”

When Trump arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland from his Florida home on Sunday, he told reporters: “I’m speaking with Prime Minister Trudeau tomorrow morning and I’m also speaking with Mexico tomorrow morning. They owe us a lot of money, and I’m sure they’re going to pay.”

The crypto markets lost over $2 billion in the last 24 hours

The cryptocurrency market took a big hit after President Trump announced new taxes on imports, which made investors worry about inflation. Traders lost about $2 billion as Bitcoin’s price fell to levels not seen since early January.

On Saturday, Trump said he would put a 25% tax on goods from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tax on Chinese products. These three countries are America’s biggest trading partners, and the new taxes start Tuesday.

The news sent Bitcoin’s price tumbling below $100,000 on Saturday. It kept falling until it reached $92,000. Another major cryptocurrency, Ethereum, fell even harder – dropping 24% to $2,300, according to CoinGecko.

The whole cryptocurrency market shrank by about 8%, with most digital coins losing more than 10% of their value in just one day. Two popular cryptocurrencies, XRP and DOGE, fell 30%.

Read Also: Trudeau details Canada’s retaliation plans in emotional rebuke of Trump tariffs

Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the US for talks with Donald Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to talk with President Donald Trump about defeating Hamas, dealing with Iran, and building better relationships with Arab countries. This meeting will happen at the White House on Tuesday and will be Trump’s first time meeting with a foreign leader since he returned to office.

The meeting happens as the U.S. and Arab countries try to arrange the next step in a deal to slow down the war in Gaza and free dozens of hostages held by militants.

Before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu said he and Trump would talk about “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components.” He believes that by working together, they can “strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength.”

Trump is cutting off funding for South Africa

President Trump said the US would stop providing funding to South Africa, claiming that “certain classes of people” in South Africa were being treated “very badly”.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”

No one knows exactly what made Trump post this message. In 2023, the U.S. gave South Africa almost $440 million in aid, according to official U.S. records.