On Tuesday, Abdullahi Shehu, Nigerian ambassador to Russia, encouraged investors from the European nation to localise the production of their goods in Nigeria.

Mr Shehu, in an interview in Moscow, urged the Russian investors to explore the enormous potential in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

Speaking on the just concluded 2nd Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Summit, Mr Shehu identified trade as one area in which Nigeria would focus its economic cooperation with Russia.

“These include the area of trade. Almost all African countries are interested in trading with Russia. But the point that the Nigerian delegation made is that trade is good, but investment and financing are better,” the diplomat stated.

He explained this was because “under the current geopolitical situation, it is hard to buy and sell and transport goods from Russia to Africa because the logistic chains have been affected by the sanctions.”

The ambassador added, “Therefore, the best thing to do is to encourage Russia to understand the African market. They should explore the possibilities of investment in Nigeria and take advantage of its huge market and localise the production of their goods in Nigeria.”

Mr Shehu emphasised that there was a convergence of needs and opportunities in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, pointing out that the needs “are there and the Russian companies have the opportunities” to invest in ICT, food production, energy and mining and other sectors.

“So, this is why Nigeria came with a vision to see that they sensitise the Russian companies with respect to graduating from trading to investment. And this cooperation is in vast areas with other African countries,’’ Mr Shehu said.

The Nigerian official, who described the summit as a success, said it not only deepened the bilateral relations between Russia and African countries but also fostered continental cooperation.

“So, now we believe that a platform for strategic partnership has been created,’’ he said.

The Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum 2023, held on July 27 and July 28 in St. Petersburg, recorded the participation of 17 heads of state and over 15 African countries.

The new military rulers of Niger, who took over power in a coup last week, have detained at least l80 members of the ousted democratically elected administration, the previous ruling party said on Monday.

Energy Minister Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, Mines Minister Ousseini Hadizatou and the president of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), Foumakoye Gado, were among those detained, PNDS spokesman Hamid N’Gadé said.

He added that the coup plotters also detained Interior Minister Hama Adamou Souley, Transport Minister Oumarou Malam Alma, and his deputy, Kalla Moutari.

The “abusive arrests” were evidence of “the repressive, dictatorial and unlawful behaviour” of the military, Mr N’Gadé said.

On Wednesday, officers from Gen Omar Tchiani’s elite unit declared Niger’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum, of the PNDS, out of power.

Mr Tchiani then appointed himself as the new ruler on Friday.Shortly afterwards, the coup plotters suspended the West African country’s constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.

The coup has been internationally condemned.The West African regional bloc ECOWAS issued an ultimatum to the coup leaders on Sunday, saying that if Mr Bazoum was not released and reinstated within a week, ECOWAS would take measures that could include using force.

On Monday, the military governments of neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali warned ECOWAS against intervening.

A joint statement by the two transitional governments said that any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.

They said military intervention could have disastrous consequences that could destabilise the entire sub-region.Burkina Faso and Mali are themselves ECOWAS members.

The European Union said it supported the ECOWAS measures, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Bazoum remains the sole head of state of the country, and any other authority cannot be recognized, Mr Borrell said.

Up until the coup, Niger, a former French colony, was seen as an anchor of democracy in the Sahel region, which has been ravaged by Islamist terrorism.

Pakistani investigators late Monday pointed the finger at the extremist Islamic State group as the death toll from a suicide bombing at a political rally climbed to 46, officials said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among the crowd at the rally of an Islamic political party on Sunday in Bajaur, a mountainous area near the Afghan border that the Pakistani Taliban once controlled.

At least 40 people died on Sunday, and more than 150 were wounded.

At least six more victims succumbed to their injuries at hospitals overnight, bringing the death toll to 46, rescue official Bilal Faizi said.

Out of more than 150, around 90 injured people were still being treated at hospitals in the north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Faizi added.

Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan confirmed it was a suicide bombing, and DNA testing was being conducted to identify the bomber.

At least three suspects were arrested overnight in a possible link with the bombing and were being interrogated by the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, local police chief Nazir Khan said.

“What we have concluded from the initial investigation is that the attack carries the hallmark of Daesh [Islamic State],” Mr Khan added.

The Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIK), the local affiliate of the extremist group, has been active in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2015 and has been behind several deadly attacks.

The surge in violence by the Islamist militants ahead of the elections in Pakistan has been a trend since 2008.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will discuss security, trade and climate matters during his first visit to Nigeria, according to the UK foreign office.

He is expected to meet President Bola Tinubu and national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu to discuss the links between the two countries, including increasing bilateral trade and investment and strengthening security cooperation.

Mr Cleverly is on a three-country, four-day African tour, and his visit to Nigeria comes after a military takeover in neighbouring Niger which deposed the president.

The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Niger, while the Nigerian authorities have closed the Nigeria-Niger land border in response to the political situation.

Mr Cleverly plans to use his two-day stop in Nigeria to announce a support package to help make the country’s agriculture sector more climate resilient.

The Foreign Office said the funding would help develop heat and flood-tolerant crops and increase soil fertility, while efforts will also be made to alleviate some of the agricultural trade barriers to UK imports.

On Tuesday, Mr Cleverly will be in Lagos to announce a £10 million ($13 million) UK-backed facility in Nigeria intended to unlock funding for “climate-friendly” infrastructure projects, such as renewable energy services to homes in urban areas.

On Wednesday, the foreign secretary will head to the capital Abuja to outline a £55 million contract under a previously announced UK international climate finance programme – known as Propcom+ – which seeks to support the development of Nigeria’s rural economy.

Mr Cleverly said, “Nigeria has a booming population and the largest economy in Africa – there is huge potential for an even closer partnership between UK-and Nigerian businesses which will be of mutual benefit to both countries.”

He added, “Together, we are focusing on the future, putting in place green, clean measures, both in agriculture and infrastructure development, to create climate-resilient solutions for the global challenges we all face today and will increasingly face in the years to come.”

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned the deadly suicide bombing at a political rally in northwest Pakistan on Sunday.

Returns say no fewer than 54 people were killed and 83 injured in the attack, which occurred in Bajaur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

International media reported on Monday that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq at a news conference in New York said the secretary general commiserated with the victims’ families and wished a prompt recovery to the wounded. The UN chief also called on the Pakistani authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

“The secretary general denounces all instances of terrorism and deliberate, targeted attacks against civilians and stands in solidarity with the government and the people of Pakistan in combating this scourge,” Mr Haq said.

Also, in a post on Twitter, the UN Office in Pakistan strongly condemned the attack.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a quick recovery,” it added.

The UN secretary general’s special representative for West Africa, Léonardo Simão, will continue his consultations with all partners to restore constitutional order and consolidate democratic gains in Niger.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said this on Monday in New York while briefing journalists on the situation in Niger.Mr Simão was in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.

The envoy was in Abuja to participate in the extraordinary summit on the crisis, organised by the regional bloc ECOWAS.

At the Abuja meeting, ECOWAS demanded the immediate release of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum, who was seized by some of his guards at his official residence on July 26.

The bloc’s 15 members said they would “take all measures necessary,” including the use of force if Mr Bazoum is not reinstated in a week.

They have also suspended commercial and financial transactions with Niger and closed air and land borders with the country.Mr Simão condemned the coup and undermining of democratic governance, peace and stability in Niger.

“The unconstitutional change of government in Niger has come to further complicate an already worsening security landscape in the Liptako Gourma area and the region in general,” he said.

He added that the UN country team in Niger would continue assisting vulnerable people there, reiterating the commitment of the UN to work closely with ECOWAS to support the people of Niger.

Sweden and Denmark are considering banning Quran burnings, as the actions endanger their security and have provoked strong protests in Muslim countries.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he was in close contact with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, about a possible ban.

“We are in the most serious security situation since World War II, and we know here that both states, state-like actors and individuals can take advantage of the situation,” Mr Kristersson wrote on Instagram.

The Danish government announced it would consider legal remedies to ban Quran burnings before foreign embassies.Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said religions are allowed to be criticised.

“But if you stand in front of a foreign embassy and burn a Koran or in front of the Israeli embassy you burn the Torah scroll, it serves no purpose other than to ridicule.“This, however, endangers the collective security of the country,’’ he said.

Recently, small groups burned copies of the Quran during Islamophobic actions in Sweden and Denmark.This led to angry protests and threats in several Muslim countries.

Reactions were extreme in Iraq, whose government expelled the Swedish ambassador.

Earlier, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish embassy and set fire to it.

The Sudanese civil aviation authority extended the closure of Sudan’s airspace until August 15, except for humanitarian aid and evacuation flights, Khartoum International Airport said in a statement early on Monday.

Sudanese airspace was closed to regular traffic after a military conflict erupted between the country’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April.

The removal of long-time authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 had initially sparked great optimism for a return to civilian rule in Sudan.

But, a military coup two years later dissolved the transitional civilian government, triggering political and economic turmoil and reigniting intercommunal conflicts.

An armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, rival factions of the military government of Sudan, began on 15 April, with the fighting concentrated around Khartoum and the Darfur region.

So far there have been 11 failed attempts at bringing an end to the conflict.Sudan was the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa, until its split into two countries in 2011 after southern Sudan voted for independence.

This followed decades of struggle by the mainly Christian and animist south against rule by the Arab Muslim north. About 17.3 million people in Sudan lack adequate access to clean water, putting them at risk of diseases.

Approximately 24 million people lack access to proper sanitation facilities.

Hunger is a grave concern, with a third of the population already facing acute levels of food insecurity.

Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on Niger

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

The United States welcomes and commends the strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government to defend constitutional order in Niger, actions that respect the will of the Nigerien people and align with enshrined ECOWAS and African Union principles of “zero tolerance for unconstitutional change.”

We join ECOWAS and regional leaders in calling for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and the restoration of all state functions to the legitimate, democratically-elected government.

The United States further welcomes the dispatch of the special representative of the ECOWAS Chair to Niger and urges all parties to work with ECOWAS for a peaceful and expeditious resolution of the current situation.

The United States will remain actively engaged with ECOWAS and West African leaders on next steps to preserve Niger’s hard-earned democracy.

A 13-year-old programmer Joshua Agboola has emerged the youngest certified Amazon Web Services developer associate in Africa.

Master Agboola achieved the feat after a gruelling two-hour examination that tested his skills and knowledge in deploying, troubleshooting, and development on the AWS cloud platform.

Cloud services are infrastructure, platforms, or software that are hosted by third-party providers and made available to users through the internet.

Master Agboola, in an interview in Lagos on Sunday said he was inspired to achieve the feat because of his outstanding performance in his AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner examination earlier in the year and encouragement by his father to sit the next level of certification.

Master Agboola said though he had developed an interest in DevOps, the popular progression was to go for the Solutions Architect Associate certification.

“I was initially preparing for the Solutions Architect Associate certification which is the next certification most people take in their AWS cloud journey, but had a change of mind for a tougher developer associate certification due to encouragement from an older friend programmer,” said the child.

The light bulb went up in my head, and I began studying the next day.”

Master Agboola added, ‘’The possibility of clinching the title of the youngest developer associate in the world, which is an equivalent of a world record in the cloud space, also became a strong motivation for me.”

He prepared for the test by studying for about two to five hours daily for some six weeks.The 13-year-old internet sensation said his achievement in the cloud space was noticed by a tech company in Lagos offering to “provide me with further technical mentorship.”

A federal high court judge, Justice Peter Mallong, is dead.

Mr Mallong died on Sunday after a brief illness in Abuja.

The FHC chief registar, Hassan Amida Sulaiman, announced the death in a statement Monday morning.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the death of our own, Hon Justice Peter Hoommuk Mallong, a judge of the Federal High Court, who passed away on Sunday unexpectedly after a brief illness in Abuja,” said the statement.

It added,

“We will miss him more than words can express. Funeral arrangements will be communicated to the public in due time.”

Niger Republic’s army command on Thursday declared support for a coup instigated the previous day by soldiers of the presidential guard, saying its priority is to avoid destabilising the country.

In a statement signed by the army chief of staff, it said to “preserve the physical integrity” of the president and his family and avoid “a deadly confrontation that could create a bloodbath and affect the security of the population.’’

President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou earlier urged democratic forces in the country to resist the power grab, as Western officials said the status of the coup attempt was unclear.

In a late-night televised address, the soldiers said that Bazoum had been stripped of power and the republic’s institutions had been suspended, marking the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.

They cut off the presidential palace in the capital Niamey, with the president inside.Mr Bazoum, in a social media posting on Thursday morning, vowed to protect “hard-won” democratic gains in a country that is a pivotal ally for Western powers helping fight an insurgency in the Sahel region.

Mr Massoudou also called on “democrats and patriots” to make the “attempted coup” fail, according to a posting on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Niamey was quiet on Thursday morning as citizens awoke to heavy rain, closed borders and a nationwide curfew imposed by the coup instigators.

Mr Massoudou said not all of the army was involved in the coup attempt, and a number of Western officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there was no evidence on the ground that the armed forces supported it.

UN deputy secretary general Amina Mohammed has called for sustainable investments to build food sovereignty in Africa.

She also underscored the need to strengthen domestic resources, invest in climate action, and fix global financial architecture.

Deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general Farhan Haq told journalists on Tuesday in New York that Mohammed discussed this at the ongoing UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) in Rome, Italy.

The UN top official spoke at a high-level special event on Africa’s food sovereignty and resilience, organised by the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA) on the sidelines of the summit.

“Pollution, overfishing, over-exploitation, acidification and the impacts of climate change and increasing sea surface temperatures disrupt the ocean’s vital functions, imperil biodiversity, and deplete its resources that are vital for people and planet alike,” said Ms Mohammed.

She said the challenges facing the ocean, combined with economic and environmental burdens within small island nations, represent an “immediate threat.”

“For vulnerable people, the effects are all too immediate. For example, between June and September 2022, nearly 94 per cent of small island developing states faced food inflation levels above five per cent, with many experiencing inflation in the double digits,” added Ms Mohammed.

She stressed it was putting nutritious food out of reach, impacting children, women and those below the poverty line most of all.

“Together, let us recognise the urgency of protecting our oceans and coastal ecosystems, safeguarding the future of food systems in small island developing states, and forging a path towards a more sustainable and equitable world that benefits all people,” the UN deputy secretary general noted.

According to him, Mohammed later took part in a farmer’s market event together with Antonio Tajani, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy.

The death toll due to wildfires in Algeria has reached 34 people amid a heat wave roiling North African countries.

The interior ministry said 24 civilians and 10 soldiers were killed due to the fires.

Some 8,000 members of the civil defence were deployed to help people and put out the fires, which broke out on Sunday night.

The wind led to the spread of the fires into residential areas, with 1,500 people already evacuated.

The authorities are still evacuating people who live near forest areas, the ministry said in a statement late Monday.

In neighbouring Tunisia, fires also broke out this week in the western forest areas near the border with Algeria, amid record temperatures recorded in some parts of the country.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday reported that no fewer than 435 children had been killed and more than 2,000 others injured in 100 days of fighting in Sudan.

UNICEF stated that the figure is based on credible reports, noting that the true figure was likely to be far higher.

The UN agency added that there had been more than 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights – an average of more than one per hour – in a country where 14 million youngsters need aid relief.

“As we reach more than 100 days since the conflict in Sudan escalated, we know that it is taking an absolutely horrific toll on children and on families,” said deputy spokesperson for UNICEF secretary general Farhan Haq.

Mr Haq told journalists at UN headquarters in New York that the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has also reported that nearly 300 displaced children had died from measures and malnutrition in White Nile.

According to UNHCR, conditions are “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries harder.

More than 3.3 million people have been displaced within Sudan and across its borders, including to Egypt, where UNHCR said that most children continue to arrive without their parents.

Despite intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting – notably by the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body, the League of Arab States and the UN – clashes involving the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have continued across multiple fronts.

The UN response inside Sudan is only 23 per cent funded. UNHCR and UNICEF have urgently appealed for more donor support to assist vulnerable populations who have endured three months of fighting, concentrated around the capital Khartoum, but spreading far into restive Darfur and other regions.

According to the UN World Health Organisation, healthcare inside Sudan has reached “gravely serious levels” of collapse, with more than 67 per cent of the country’s hospitals out of service and with increasing reports of attacks on facilities and personnel.

There are now 51 recorded attacks on healthcare verified by WHO, resulting in 10 deaths and 24 injuries.

“It is a tragedy and an outrage that in the middle of this deepening crisis, fighters continue to attack health facilities and workers, denying life-saving services to innocent civilians when they are at their most vulnerable,” said the statement.

WHO warned that diseases such as malaria, measles, dengue and acute diarrhoea, which hitherto were well under control, were increasing due to the disruption of basic public health services.

The disrupted services include disease surveillance, functioning public health laboratories and rapid response teams.

Although the conservative People’s Party (PP) of Spain’s opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo won the most seats in Sunday’s general election, it fell short of claiming an absolute majority.

Spain now faces the difficult task of forming a government after the snap parliamentary elections produced no clear winner.

Even if the People’s Party formed a coalition with the right-wing populist Vox, it still fell short of having enough seats to govern.The situation in the left camp was not much better.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), with the help of several smaller parties, could mathematically form a majority.

But it was very unlikely that his coalition government would be re-launched.Observers were now speaking of a new election.

Mr Sánchez would need the support of the Catalan separatist party of former regional leader Carles Puigdemont, which was considered unlikely.

Meanwhile, a grand coalition between PP and PSOE was considered out of the question because of the strong polarisation of the two camps.

The EU’s fourth-largest economy, which held the Council presidency until the end of the year, is thus likely to face a deadlock and possibly another election.

Despite slim prospects, PP’s top candidate Mr Feijóo claimed the office of prime minister for himself on election night.

“I took on the task of starting negotiations to form a government,’’ he said, to the cheers of thousands of supporters in Madrid.

Although the PP gained 47 seats to claim a total of 136, that is far from the number needed for a clear majority of 176 seats.

Even with the 33 seats of the far-right party, Vox were insufficient, as the possible right-wing alliance would still be seven seats short of a majority in parliament.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital on Monday after heart surgery.

This happened hours before a key parliamentary vote on his planned judicial reforms.

A government spokesperson said the 73-year-old leader had left the Sheba Clinic near Tel Aviv.

During the weekend, he was fitted with a pacemaker (a small, battery-powered device that prevents the heart from beating too slowly).

Mr Netanyahu’s release came ahead of a crucial vote on a core part of his divisive judicial restructuring, scheduled for later Monday in the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

While in the hospital, Mr Netanyahu met with opposition leader Yair Lapid as part of efforts by President Isaac Herzog to reach a last-minute compromise ahead of the vote.

According to authorities, no fewer than 16 people died, and 40 others were injured after a four-storey building collapsed on a smaller one on Sunday in Douala, Cameroon.

“We heard people screaming … and struggled to help some out of the wreckage, but could not do it with our spades and (garden) hoes,” said Gaspard Ndoppo, a resident who lives close to the site of the collapse.

Fire brigade personnel from the military have been ordered to join the country’s Red Cross and others in searching for survivors.

The governor of the Littoral region, where the Douala is located, Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, said the number of casualties could rise as rescue operations continue.“The casualty figures may be higher,” said Mr Diboua.

He added, “Rescue workers, assisted by Cameroon government troops, are still digging the wreckage to see if more bodies can be recovered.”

Douala has been susceptible to building collapses recently, sometimes due to natural disasters such as landslides and poor construction, according to residents there.

Douala’s city council had begun to demolish houses in high-risk zones prone to floods and landslides before the collapse.

However, the building that collapsed on Sunday was not marked for demolition by the council.