Africa business news, business ideas, and product updates

2017 Hyundai Xcent facelift will be launched in India on the 20th of April 2017 with a host of feature updates and cosmetic changed. The Xcent will also get a new diesel engine. 2017 Hyundai Xcent facelift will be going on sale in India this week, on the 20th of April 2017. The car will come with some considerable cosmetic updates along with mechanical changes as well. We have already shown you what the new facelifted Hyundai Xcent looks like in the recently leaked spy images and even told you about the updated specifications and features of the car in our previous reports. Now, we are here to share all that we know so far about the upcoming Hyundai Xcent Facelift. Also read:  Barcelona has another mountain to climb after losing 1st leg Source:  auto.ndtv.com

Xiaomi Mi 6, the Chinese company’s 2017 flagship smartphone, is set to launch today at an event in Beijing, China. The launch of Mi 6 smartphone ends the long wait of its fans for a smartphone that can take on iPhone 7, as well as the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6. Along with the Mi 6, Xiaomi is expected to launch the Mi 6 Plus and Mi Max 2 at the launch event, which is being live streamed on the Xiaomi website. According to previous leaks, Xiaomi Mi 6 will be launched in 4GB of RAM + 64GB storage and 4GB + 128GB variants, priced at CNY 2,199 (roughly Rs. 20,500), and CNY 2,599 (roughly Rs. 24,300), respectively. The bigger Xiaomi Mi 6 Plus, on the other hand, is tipped to be offered in 6GB of RAM + 64GB, 6GB + 128GB, and 6GB + 256GB variants, which will reportedly be priced at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 25,000), CNY 3,099 (roughly Rs. 28,990) and CNY 3,699 (roughly Rs. 34,600), respectively. The big highlight of the Mi 6 is said to be the latest Snapdragon 835 processor inte...

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, opened for flights on Tuesday six weeks after it was closed for runway repairs. The Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, landed first on the rehabilitated runway on a Nigerian Police Force aircraft with registration number 5N- HAR, which flew in from Kaduna airport. An excited Sirika told journalists: “April 19, 2017 was the due date to conclude and open the airport based on our programme of work. “We were able to deliver the project earlier than anticipated so we cannot open late. There is nothing wrong in opening it a day earlier. “Here we are, we set out to achieve a target and we achieve the target. “We thank Allah for His benevolence. We are happy and thank Mr. President, His Excellency for his support, guidance and leadership. “And I also want to thank my colleagues who did it all, the media and the Nigeria people for bearing with us during the time of the closure.” Also read:  Ethiopian Airlines Lands Air...

THE Lagos State Government, yesterday said it is examining the judgement of the Supreme Court affirming the death sentence passed on the General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly known as ‘Reverend King’ as well as other murder convicts in the state. In a question and answer session with newsmen, at the flag off of the yearly ministerial briefing of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, said the decision becomes imperative with the briefing coming from the prisons authorities regarding the condemned inmates in the state. The Supreme Court recently, affirmed both the judgments of the trial court and the appeal court which convicted and sentenced Ezeugo to death by hanging for the murder of his church member, Ann Uzoh on January 17, 2007. The State Commissioner for Justice said it has become necessary for the government to look at the issues considering that some con...

African Rainbow Minerals tumbled 10.7 percent to R85, Assore dropped 9.4 percent to R221 and Kumba Iron Ore was down 8.89 percent to close at R170.04. Nedbank, the largest investor in Nigeria’s Ecobank, weakened 3.45 percent to R224.56 after it flagged the pan-African lender’s fourth-quarter losses. Ecobank reported a loss for 2016 blaming a recession in Nigeria and a strong US dollar. Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest generic drugmaker, dropped 4.14 percent to R268.50 after a report in Britain’s Times newspaper accused the firm of withholding drugs to try to drive up prices in European markets. Aspen declined to comment on specific allegations because it could be in breach of sub-judice laws that apply to matters that are the subject of legal processes. Source:  iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Gold Brands, the only listed fast-food retail company on the JSE AltX, is bringing Las Iguanas to South Africa. It is a UK mid-market restaurant brand that specialises in authentic Mexican, Brazilian and South American food and cocktails. The first outlet will open in Johannesburg in June. “Fewer South Africans can afford to spend money on indulgent holidays these days, and they’re spending their money on dining out instead,” says Nathanael. “Casual dining is becoming increasingly popular in South Africa, and Gold Brands is excited to be part of this booming market.” Mos Shamel, managing director of Las Iguanas, says it started in Bristol in 1991. Known for its vibrant colours and atmosphere, the outlet, now has 53 sites. An integral part of its identity is its extensive cocktail offer, which boasts a variety of classic South American serves, such as mojitos, caipririnhas and margaritas. Las Iguanas will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a...

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) realised N3.3 trillion in- tax revenue in 2016, the Executive Chairman, Tunde Fowler, has said. The FIRS chief, who spoke in Abuja yesterday at a training for journalists on tax reporting, praised the efforts of the Service for raising the amount at a most trying period in the country’s economic history. He praised the FIRS performed for attaining the feat at a time when oil prices dropped to less than $50 a barrel for over nine months, and when the value of stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) slid and purchasing power was slim. In achieving the goal, he said the FIRS implemented “waiver of Interest and penalty as part of efforts to promote voluntary compliance and shield taxpayers from the burden of carrying forward tax liabilities that arose from penalty and interest.” FIRS “successfully implemented a waiver of interest and penalty for three years (2013 to 2015),” he said, adding that the Service by engaging this entirely n...

Earlier in the day, Dutch investigators paid an unexpected visit to Shell’s headquarters in The Hague in connection with a $1.3bn deal in 2011 involving a Nigerian oil licence called OPL 245. “Apparently they have been in my office for about three or four hours going through everything,” Mr van Beurden told his colleague, in a call tapped by Dutch authorities and leaked to news organisations this week. “I have nothing on OPL 245, but anyway they managed to take one folder which they thought was of relevance . . . and apparently they have been in your office.” The raid by investigators from the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service and the public prosecutor’s office was the latest twist in a near two-decade saga since the rights to OPL 245 — one of Africa’s biggest undeveloped oil blocks — were awarded to a company, Malabu, allegedly controlled by Dan Etete, Nigeria’s then-petroleum minister. Shell’s subsequent investment in the asset, together with Eni of Ital...

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping urged President Trump to find a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula during a telephone call between the two leaders early Wednesday, Chinese state media reported. The phone call comes just four days after the pair held face-to-face talks in Florida but just hours after Trump tweeted that North Korea was “looking for trouble” and reiterated that the United States would “solve the problem” with or without China’s help. People’s Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece, said Xi had thanked Trump for his “warm hospitality and thoughtful arrangements” in Florida, but also took the chance to discuss their “common concerns” about the Korean peninsula and urge against any military escalation of the situation. “Xi Jinping stressed that China insists on realizing the goal of denuclearization of the peninsula, insists on maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula, advocates resolving the problem through peaceful means...

Africans trying to reach Europe are being sold by their captors in “slave markets” in Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. Victims told IOM that after being detained by people smugglers or militia groups, they were taken to town squares or car parks to be sold. Migrants with skills like painting or tiling would fetch higher prices, the head of the IOM in Libya told the BBC. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 Nato-backed ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Hundreds of young sub-Saharan African men have been caught up in the so-called slave markets, according to the IOM report. A Senegalese migrant, who was not named to protect his identity, said that he had been sold at one such market in the southern Libyan city of Sabha, before being taken to a makeshift prison where more than 100 migrants were being held hostage. He said that migrants held at the facility were told to call their families, who would be asked for money to pay for their release, and s...

The OPC member was set ablaze and police patrol van was also burnt during the two-hour shoot-out. Vanguard gathered that two members of the kidnap gang, who were felled during the cross fire, were carried into speed boats by their colleagues and ferried to an unknown destination in the creeks. Information at Vanguard’s disposal revealed that the kidnappers numbering over 20, stormed the area at about 1am in 10 speed boats. While some of them positioned themselves strategically around the creeks, others marched into an estate in the community where they broke into buildings and abducted occupants. The armed kidnappers fired sporadically, warning their victims to co-operate or be killed. Vanguard learned that no fewer than 18 persons – 14 men and three women were abducted . Among them were four landlords. However, while taking them to their operational speed boats in the creeks, security operatives comprising policemen from Owutu division and a Joint Military patrol codenamed Op...

The proposed 2018 national population census will cost an estimated N272bn, the Director-General of the National Population Commission, Dr. Ghaji Bello, has said. Bello told a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria in New York that the Federal Government was expected to fund the exercise by only 51 per cent while the international donor community would fund the remaining 49 per cent. “The submission we have made to the Federal Government is in the region of N272bn. But the good thing is that that the N272bn is not for one single year. “It is spread along a four-year tenure. There’s pre-census activities, that is the preparation; the actual census proper itself and the post-census enumeration activities. “So maybe you are looking at an average of maybe N40bn in the first year, another N100bn during the actual census itself and then the balance during the last year. “But the beauty again is that not all the resources are normally provided by the government of the federati...

The Kaduna Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested members of a notorious syndicate of fraudsters, made up of four Nigerians and one Nigerien who specialised in duping innocent persons. Those arrested are Salisu Rabiu, a.k.a Maimagani; Ibrahim Idris, a.k.a Dankano; Magaji Musa (Nigerien) a.k.a Maishayi; Haruna Abdullahi,a.k.a Balogun and Abubakar Umar, a.k.a Fulani. EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement said the suspects were arrested in a bush along Sabon Gari, Kurmin Kogi, Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna state. He said a search of their hideout which is suspected to be a kidnappers’ den led to the startling discovery of a sum of fake $570,000 and some charms. Continuing he said, “The five man gang met their waterloo when they conspired among themselves to lure an unsuspecting victim into believing that some unclaimed boxes containing huge amount of US dollars were kept with some herdsmen believed to be accomplices by...

Big Brother Naija housemates, Efe and Bisola on Wednesday spoke about their sex lives . Biggie had ordered housematesoutside to ‘play Truth or Dare’ till lights out. T here was no alcohol involved and any one who couldn’t go through with what he or she was asked to do had to drink a whole bottle of water . On her part, Bisola said she had always been keen to know what sex with more than one person would be like. She said: “ I would like to have a threesome with a guy I really like and a babe I d on’t know. I’m just curious”. The 2017 Big Brother Naija ‘See Gobbe’ edition will end on Sunday after over 2 months of competition, drama, betrayal and intrigues. The final will see the winner take home N25m aside other juicy prizes. Also read:  Big Brother Naija: 2Face, Tiwa Savage, Runtown to perform at finale Source:  dailypost.ng

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday issued an order unfreezing the Skye Bank account of a former First Lady, Patience Jonathan. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in November 2016, filed an application before the court, seeking an order freezing the account. The commission had contended that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime. On Thursday at the resumed hearing of the case, the court issued an order unfreezing the account following an application filed and argued before the court by her lawyer, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), who a team of lawyers. Adedipe had urged the court to unfreeze Jonathan’s account on the grounds that she was not a party in the suit leading to the freezing order. Citing judicial authorities, Adedipe contended that the suit was an abuse of court process as the court had no Jurisdiction to make an order against one who is not a party in a suit filed before the court. In her ruling, Justice Mojisola Olator...