The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Thursday that around one trillion dollars of debt owed by developing countries would be cancelled under a proposed global deal. The UN agency said that the plan was to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s developing economies, which were already struggling with a rapidly growing debt burden, must now confront a record global downturn, plummeting prices for their oil and commodities exports and weakening local currencies. At the same time, they need to spend more money on healthcare and to protect their economies. Some 64…
Author: Prompt News
Presidents of West African countries under the aegis of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government have appointed President Muhammadu BuhariChampion of the COVID-19 response. The appointment took place Thursday at the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on COVID-19 which was held via teleconferencing under the Chairmanship of His Excellency, Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger. During the teleconference, President Buhari called on fellow ECOWAS leaders to look beyond the challenges posed by the COVID -19 pandemic and tap into various opportunities that it presents for the betterment of lives in Member States: “In every challenging situation such as…
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau With the continued spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic despite the nearly one month of lockdown, health workers and other personnel in the frontline of the war against the deadly virus have decried lack of access to Personal Protective Equipments (PPE).A top nurse at the National Hospital Abuja told Prompt News that PPEs are scarce commodities as medical personnel at the hospital lack the PPEs to perform their duties.The nurse who pleaded anonymity revealed that she does not have the PPE hence she is not comfortable doing her job at the medical facility.Although she…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, on Thursday said Africa now has over 25, 000 COVID-19 reported cases with South Africa accounting for most cases. Moeti made this known during the WHO COVID-19 Africa Media briefing. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the WHO COVID-19 Africa Media is aimed at taking a look at how Africa has been handling the COVID-19 pandemic with focus on the situation in Nigeria. The media briefing was organised with the support from the World Economic Forum as part of the COVID-19 Action Platform and how to…
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, presided over the meeting of the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) set up to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Muhammadu Buhari had on March 30, set up the committee to develop a clear economic sustainability plan that would run til 2023. The meeting is the fourth for the committee after its inauguration by the vice president on April 2. The committee was tasked with identifying fiscal and monetary measures to enhance oil and non-oil revenues in order to fund the plan, develop a stimulus package and…
The Wanda Diamond League has suspended its two meetings in June as it continued to adapt the 2020 season calendar in the face of the coronavirus crisis. This is contained in a statement on the league body’s website on Thursday. ”The Wanda Diamond League has been forced to suspend its early-season meetings as a result of health and logistical concerns brought about by the global coronavirus crisis. ”Today (Thursday), we are sad to announce the postponement of further meetings scheduled for June 7 and Paris, June 13,” the statement said. It added that Oslo’s Bislett Games would now be staged…
Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, has announced the mandatory use of face mask in public places by residents as from April 24 as part of measures to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the state. Oyetola, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, on Thursday in Osogbo, said that the decision was part of the resolutions by the South West Governors at its virtual meeting. The governor noted that the South West states were the first to make wearing of masks mandatory, saying that the regulation would remain in place till the states were rid of the…
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Thursday distributed food items to 200 households as palliatives to cushion the effects of Coronavirus lockdown in its host communities in Bauchi State. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said the distribution of the palliatives was part of the ceremony to mark the 56th anniversary of the force in the country. Abubakar, represented by the Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Bauchi, AVM Charles Ohwoo, distributed the items to the vulnerable in the host communities of Gwallaga and Dorum. “The distribution is done to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in the…
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has donated 100 bags of rice and 300 bags of garri to the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON). Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, the General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), disclosed this in a statement in Lagos on Thursday. Emmanuel noted that the official distribution of the palliatives to the organised registered body of boat operators in Lagos was carried out on Thursday at the Victoria Island Head Office the association. According to him, the gesture is part of the state government’s palliative programmes to cushion the effect of the…
Like many others. I was preparing on how to confront the lockdown which has just been imposed on Borno. I managed to escape to my village, Marama, where I knew the consequences of the lockdown may be less, compared to what I may be exposed to in Maiduguri. I could not join my family in Abuja either, as they are also battling with their own version of the lockdown. On checking my messages, my heart sank when I saw the post” Alhaji Modu Sheriff, the Galadima of Dikwa in Borno State and father of some prominent people in Borno is…