Travellers arriving in England from several southern African countries will have to quarantine amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said from 12:00 GMT on Friday six countries would be added to the red list, with flights being temporarily banned. One expert described the variant, known as B.1.1.529, as "the worst one we've seen so far", and there is concern it has the potential to evade immunity. No cases have been confirmed in the UK. Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana so far. All flights from South…

Nigeria aims to launch a new national airline by April and will seek to sell a minority stake to a foreign airline or financial institution, Hadi Sirika, minister of state for aviation, said on Wednesday. The plan, one of President Muhammadu Buhari's 2015 election campaign promises, has been on and off the table. The government suspended it in 2018, with no reason provided. Sirika said the government will source a strategic partner via a procurement process to take a 49% stake in the new carrier, called Nigeria Air. The government would not own more than 5%, while local entrepreneurs would…

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that Nigeria’s non-oil revenue grew to N1.15 trillion, representing 15.7 per cent above the target rate in response to the federal government’s efforts at diversifying the nation’s economy. Ahmed made this known virtually at the Institute of Directors (IoD) 2021 Annual Directors Conference which was held physically and virtually on Wednesday in Abuja. The two-day event is with the theme: “Creating the Future: Deepening the Corporate Governance Practice through Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Generational Collaborations.” Ahmed said the development was in line with the Buhari administration’s commitment to further diversifying the…

PRESS RELEASE On November 18, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari held a meeting in Abuja with Anthony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State. During the meeting, Buhari said that the state governments in the country would have to take steps on the reports of their panels, before the federal government acts on the recommendations. In particular, the President said, “We at the federal have to wait for the steps taken by the states, and we have to allow the system to work. We can’t impose ideas on them. Federal government has to wait for the reaction of the states." But…