🔅 Oil theft tantamount to treason.
Exports have dropped to their lowest level.
Good morning,
Eritrea has moved troops into Ethiopia, launching a full-blown offensive. Read on to learn more…
Markets Today
📈 Johannesburg Stock Exchange: 13,051.00 (+0.19%)
📈 Nigerian Stock Exchange: 49,445.31 (+0.01%)
— Nairobi Securities Exchange: 133.04 (0.00%)
📉 S&P 500: 3,855.93 (-1.13%)
📉 Shanghai Composite: 3,117.18 (-0.17%)
🇳🇬 Nigeria's government debt increased by 3% to $103.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, primarily due to domestic borrowing to fund the budget deficit. Nigeria's deficit has increased this year due to the high expense of a gasoline subsidy at a time when oil revenue has decreased due to crude theft and pipeline vandalism.
Ethiopia
Eritrea moves troops into Ethiopia
According to forces in Ethiopia's Tigray region, troops from neighbouring Eritrea launched a full-fledged offensive on Tuesday, with heavy fighting taking place along the border.
Mike Hammer, the United States' special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said on Tuesday that the US was aware of Eritrean troops advancing into Ethiopia's Tigray region.
Eritrea withdrew its soldiers from much of Tigray last year after assisting the Ethiopean military in the early stages of a battle against Tigrayan forces that started in November 2020.
Getachew stated that Ethiopian troops and special forces from the southern Amhara area had also joined the operation.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government accuses the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia's ruling coalition until Abiy came to office in 2018, of attempting to reestablish Tigrayan dominance over Ethiopia.
Across the Continent
Other Headlines
🇬🇭 Ghana’s economy grew by 4.8% in Q2. The initial growth projection was to 3.7%, and the growth is welcomed considering the country is experiencing its worst inflation in 21 years. Ghana is the second largest economy in West Africa, second only to the Nigeria’s.
🇳🇬 A record 1.8 tons of cocaine worth $278.5 million was seized from a warehouse in Lagos, Nigeria. The pills, discovered in a warehouse at a residential estate on Sunday, were meant for buyers in Europe and Asia. West Africa serves as a major transit point for cocaine manufactured in Latin America and sold in Europe. Police in Ivory Coast confiscated more than two tons of cocaine in April, while authorities in Cape Verde nabbed 9.5 tons of cocaine in 2019. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, global cocaine seizures hit a record high of 1,424 tons in 2020.
🛢️ Crude oil theft in Nigeria is tantamount to treason, according to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. According to regulator data, oil production dipped below 1 million barrels per day in August. Exports have dropped to their lowest level in two decades.
Around the World
Putin announces partial mobilisation. Threatens nuclear retaliation.
Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, has announced a partial mobilization in a massive escalation that puts the country's people and economy on a war footing.
Putin also threatened nuclear reprisal for "western aggression against Russian territory." The Russian president's televised statement came a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced intentions to hold referendums on joining Russia. Four Russian-controlled regions announced intentions on Tuesday to begin voting this week to become full members of Russia, potentially setting the scene for Moscow to intensify the war in response to Ukrainian victories on the battlefield.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of Russia's security council, which is chaired by Putin, has warned that referendums that integrate territories into Russia will make revised borders irreversible.
In another evidence that Russia is preparing for a protracted and possibly extended conflict, the Kremlin-controlled lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to toughen legislation prohibiting Russian troops deserting and surrendering.