The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, has called for the development of a new public infrastructure to connect various payment systems, including digital currencies.
As more central banks across the world formally adopt digital currencies to function alongside traditional payment system, Georgieva, added that countries need to work together to build new ‘roads, railways, bridges, and tunnels’ — using public digital platforms to connect payment systems.
Georgieva said this in a report on the IMF’s website, themed “Confronting Fragmentation: How to Modernise the International Payment System”.
According to her, the new payment system would help counter the fragmentation of the international monetary system.
Digital Currencies: IMF Seeks to Modernise Payment Systems
Bank World Announces Planned Actions for Global Food Crisis Response
The World Bank has announced actions it plans to take as part of a comprehensive, global response to the ongoing food security crisis, with up to $30 billion in existing and new projects in areas such as agriculture, nutrition, social protection, water and irrigation. This financing will include efforts to encourage food and fertilizer production, enhance food systems, facilitate greater trade, and support vulnerable households and producers.
World Bank Group President David Malpass said, “Food price increases are having devastating effects on the poorest and most vulnerable”. “To inform and stabilize markets, it is critical that countries make clear statements now of future output increases in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Countries should make concerted efforts to increase the supply of energy and fertilizer, help farmers increase plantings and crop yields, and remove policies that block exports and imports, divert food to biofuel, or encourage unnecessary storage.”
The World Bank is working with countries on the preparation of $12 billion of new projects for the next 15 months to respond to the food security crisis. These projects are expected to support agriculture, social protection to cushion the effects of higher food prices, and water and irrigation projects, with the majority of resources going to Africa and the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia.
In addition, the World Bank’s existing portfolio includes undisbursed balances of $18.7 billion in projects with direct links to food and nutrition security issues, covering agriculture and natural resources, nutrition, social protection, and other sectors.
Altogether, this would amount to over $30 billion available for implementation to address food insecurity over the next 15 months. This response will draw on the full range of Bank financing instruments and be complemented by analytical work.
Though Countries have been adviced by world bank to make concerted efforts to increase the supply of energy and fertilizer as Russia -Ukraine crisis rages on, it is only expected that the reasons why Russia invaded Ukraine( NATO Expansion in Easter Europe) ceases, to avoid further damage to global food shortage.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a Thursday visit to Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, he was ”confident that we will come to a quick decision to welcome both Sweden and Finland to join the NATO family.”
U.S. President Joe Biden met the leaders of Sweden and Finland on Thursday in Washington and expressed full support for their membership.
Renewable Energy: Nigeria To Partner With UAE To improve Electricity Supply
Nigeria is set to collaborate with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on renewable energy to improve electricity supply in the country.
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this when he received SamPro Group, a delegation from Dubai in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The visit which was led by Dr Kassim Gidado was in furtherance of an earlier discussion on renewable energy during the earlier visit of the Minister to Dubai.
Speaking during the meeting, Aliyu affirmed the commitment of the Federal Government to see that there was effective power supply for Nigerians.
He further informed the meeting, that the Federal Government through its energy transition programme is working towards renewable energy through cutting edge technology which is able to store and convert energy into electrical energy through natural resources.
The Minister who was optimistic that the cutting edge technology as presented by the group will greatly improve electricity and fit into the mini-grid policy of the Nigerian Government welcomed the technical transfer of knowledge which Nigeria will benefit from when the technology is fully deployed across the country.
Aliyu directed further consultations between the Ministry’s officials and SamPro Group to determine the next step of engagement.
Nigeria’s Cabinet Approves N169 billion Private Sector Investments for Roads
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a N169 billion private sector investment for road infrastructure through the Nigerian government’s Tax Credit Programme.
Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, made the disclosure while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly meeting of the Council, held at the Council Chambers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the Programme was initiated in 2019 through Executive Order 7 signed by the President which allowed the private sector to finance public infrastructure in lieu of tax and then offset it over time using tax credits.
Fashola further disclosed that an existing N20 billion under NNPC Tax Credit Scheme would be used to kickstart the project immediately.
UNICEF says Nigeria, Ethiopia, others affected by severe Wasting
Data from a new report released by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has revealed that Nigeria is among the top 10 countries affected by severe wasting in children below five years.
According to UNICEF data, India accounts for the greatest number of children suffering from severe wasting with 5,772,472 while Nigeria with 482,590 cases comes fourth. Indonesia and Pakistan came before Nigeria coming second and third respectively.
Other countries are Bangladesh, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Philippines, Niger and South Africa.
According to the report by UNICEF, about one in five deaths among children under five is attributed to wasting which is caused by a lack of nutritious food and repeated bouts of diseases such as diarrhoea, measles and malaria, which in turn compromise a child’s immunity.
Read Also: New Moms: How to regain your Skin Colour after Birth
But UNICEF, the agency in charge of providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children, noted that wasting is only rising in countries facing humanitarian crises. In Uganda for instance, wasting has risen by 60 per cent since 2016, UNICEF noted
Wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height. It is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight. A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible, UNICEF explained.
The report partly reads, “Unlike famine or starvation, relatively few people have heard of severe wasting – also known as severe acute malnutrition – even though it affects around 13.6 million children globally under the age of 5.
“Ongoing conflicts and climate-related emergencies meant that this number was already likely to grow. But with so many countries heavily reliant on exports from Ukraine and Russia, the war in Ukraine is threatening to plunge the world even deeper into a food crisis.
Read Also: Lagos to end new HIV infections by 2030
“Meanwhile, the price of life-saving ready-to-use therapeutic food is projected to soar in the coming months, placing even more children’s lives at risk”
The agency noted that “the reality is that we already have the knowledge and tools to save hundreds of thousands of lives each year from this excruciatingly painful condition. Ending global hunger and malnutrition won’t happen overnight. But there is plenty we can do right now to stop children dying from severe wasting.”
New Moms: How to regain your Skin Colour after Birth
A professor of Fetomaternal medicine, Babagana Bako, has urged women whose skin darkened after pregnancy to embrace exercise to regain their skin colour after birth, noting that the darkening of the skin was due to hormones.
Bako, who is also an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, stated that engaging in exercise would help new mothers to quicken the process of regaining their once glowing skin.
He also urged new mothers to avoid using bleaching products in a quest to lighten their skin after birth.
According to Bako, these products may contain bleaching agents which are not good for the body.
Darkening of the skin during pregnancy is known as melasma. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘mask of pregnancy’ because it often appears on the face, especially the forehead, nose, and cheekbones, experts say.
According to a recent article titled: ‘Skin Darkening and Discoloration During Pregnancy’, published by Mom Loves Best – an online maternal care site, hormones are responsible for the darkening of the skin.
The article, however, noted that the particular hormone is still unknown.
“Some experts believe that melasma is caused by increased progesterone during pregnancy because it is fairly common in menopausal women who take progesterone supplements, others think it is the increased oestrogen levels that increase the production of melanin,” the article noted.
The writer noted further that melasma cannot be prevented because “you need the increased hormones that likely cause melasma to help your baby develop and grow.
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“Because these hormones are essential for your baby’s development, there is nothing we can do to entirely prevent skin darkening during pregnancy.”
To avoid the melasma from getting worse, the article suggested that women should take their vitamins, use sunscreen protection, cover-up, avoid waxing, and use chemical-free and fragrance-free soaps and skincare products.”
Speaking further, Bako said, “What happens is that when a woman is pregnant, the skin gets stretched out so the stretching out of the skin along with some hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy encourages the skin to be a bit darker than normal.
“Now immediately after delivery, it cannot retract back to its previous size immediately. So, what the woman needs to get back to her normal pre-pregnancy colour is to exercise those parts so that gradually she’d regain the skin tone, once the skin tone is regained, the skin will revert to its normal pre-pregnancy state.”
The gynaecologist stated that due to variations in different human bodies, it may take varying lengths of time for a woman’s skin tone to return.
Lagos to end new HIV infections by 2030
The Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to end new HIV infections by 2030.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke stated this at the Family Life and HIV Education quarterly coordination meeting held on Tuesday.
She said there was the need to sensitise the youth on abstinence and the use of condom.
She said, “Last year, the governor supported the state in the reactivation of family life on HIV/AIDS education in 354 public schools in the state. We trained 40 master trainers. All these trainers are teachers, they went back to all the districts and we are cascading it to the teachers in schools.
“Basically, what we are trying to achieve is increasing awareness in the public secondary schools. We are targeting the adolescent youth population which accounts for about 43 per cent of our population. They have very low-risk perception when it comes to risky sexual behaviours. We are emphasising on this education, because our target is to eliminate completely new infections on HIV by the year 2030.
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“Our emphasis is basically on abstinence but we know that is not going to happen completely, so, we also raise awareness on the use of condoms. We tell them about safe sex but this is not the first option.”
She said the event was organised for the teachers to identify challenges being face in HIV response as well as to provide solutions.
“We started with the index case in 1986, now we are about 1.3 per cent in terms of HIV burden. If you extrapolate that to our population, it is still a lot. We know that we have to attack it in every aspect. Yes, it is no longer a death sentence, but we are focusing on the youth to fight new infections,” Adeleke added.
Buhari silent as Malami, Sylva, others return to work
President Muhammadu Buhari has kept mute as his ministers who participated in last Friday’s valedictory Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, returned to the council on Wednesday.
The ministers were either physically present in yesterday’s meeting or participated virtually from their offices. They include Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, who attended physically, while Pauline Tallen, minister of women affairs, and Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, joined the meeting virtually from their offices.
Correspondents learnt that Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, is currently representing Nigeria at the meeting of the International Labour Organisations (ILO), in South Africa.
The four ministers were among other cabinet members seeking to contest various elective positions in the 2023 general elections.
Chris Ngige and Timipre Sylva had earlier picked the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential nomination forms to contest the party’s 2023 presidential primaries.
Abubakar Malami also picked the APC forms to contest the Kebbi state governorship primaries, while Pauline Tallen picked the forms to contest the Plateau South Senatorial elections ticket of the ruling APC.
Supreme Court fixes May 26 to hear electoral act section 84 (12) suit
The Supreme Court has fixed May 26 to hear a suit filed by President Muhammmadu Buhari and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, voiding the provisions of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022.
Buhari and Malami filed a suit on April 29 before the apex court through a group of private lawyers, including Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), hired by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The National Assembly is listed as the sole defendant in the suit.
The plaintiffs are contending among others, that the said section of the Electoral Act 2022 is in conflict with constitutional provisions.
They are contending that section 84(12) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2022 is inconsistent with the provisions of sections 42, 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 147, 151, 177, 182, 192 and 196 of the constitution as well Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
Stop IPOB from using your platform to incite violence, FG tells Facebook, others
Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has asked Facebook and other social media platforms to stop allowing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to use their platforms to incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in the country.
The minister, at a meeting with a team from Facebook, on Tuesday, said since the Nigerian government has proscribed IPOB, Facebook has no justification for yielding its platform to the organisation to further its campaign of hate and destabilisation of the country.
“I have called this meeting to enable us to discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria.
He said the actions of IPOB have real-life implications, adding that by purveying hate and inciting violence, people are getting killed while private and public property are being attacked and destroyed. Security agencies and other symbols of government are their choice targets.”
