National And International News Roundup – 10th February 2021

The Douala stock exchange has introduced the use of mobile money transactions. The body which is also a stock exchange for CEMAC states says the move is meant to attract more customers.

Jean De Dieu Momo, Minister Delegate to the minister of justice has defend Cameroon’s hosting of the African Nations Championship, CHAN. Those criticising the organisation of the just-ended competition he says, are blinded by hatred.

Some 150,000 facemasks have been confiscated by the forces of law and order in Cameroon’s Centre region. Customs officials say this was within the context on its ongoing HALCOMI operation meant to weed out contraband products from the country.

Still within the context of its operations, the customs sector says it has impounded illicit drugs worth over 27 million FCFA in Bertoua, East region. The products were set ablaze Uber the watchful eyes of the authorities.

A nationwide campaign is ongoing to drill students on responsible internet use. It was launched in the country’s economic capital, Douala by the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies, ANTIC.

The National Aluminum Corporation, ALUCAM is said to be witnessing a drastic drop in production and productivity. Reports cite the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, blaming the situation on debts.

South African drugs company Aspen has avoided an EU anti-trust fine after it agreed to slash prices on six cancer drugs. The firm agreed to cut by as much as 75% the cost for medicines used for the treatment of some forms of blood cancer including leukaemia. An investigation launched in 2017 by the European Commission found the company had abused its dominance and was at some point threatening to hike prices and even threatened to withdraw drugs if it didn’t get its way.

The head of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has called for much more help to reach the victims of the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Francesco Rocca said he was very concerned by the conditions and warned of rising malnutrition. The government has been criticised for preventing humanitarian agencies from reaching victims of the conflict. It has promised greater aid access.

South Sudan’s central bank on Tuesday introduced a banknote of 1,000 South Sudanese pounds (SSP), the largest denomination in the country, amidst high inflation. The local currency continues to depreciate against foreign currencies, but Bank of South Sudan governor, Dier Tong Ngor, said the new banknote “will partially restore the dollar value of SSP”. He said the new banknote will not increase inflation, but it will reduce the cost of printing lower denominations.

An attack by suspected militants in Mali’s central Mopti region has left 20 UN peacekeepers injured, some of them seriously.

There are unconfirmed reports that the soldiers are from Togo. Although the UN has not said who was behind it, Islamist militants have regularly targeted peacekeepers and Malian troops in the area. Last week at least nine soldiers were killed when an al-Qaeda linked jihadist group attacked another camp in the same region of central Mali.

A high court in Nigeria has ordered the authorities to unfreeze the bank accounts of 20 people linked to last October’s protests against police brutality. The Central Bank initially said the accounts had been frozen because it was investigating their owners. Government critics saw the move as intimidatory and aimed at preventing further demonstrations. A lawyer, Femi Falana, said he’d been instructed by his clients to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Foreign news: BBC