BUSINESS ROUNDUP: China to forgive loans to 17 African countries; Nigeria needs $410bn for energy transition; other stories

Hello, and welcome to the Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

· China to forgive loans to 17 African countries

· Nigeria needs $410bn for energy transition – Osinbajo

· Nigerian govt dismisses reports on rejection of Naira by foreign airlines

· Court orders Twitter to submit thousands of user data to Elon Musk

Summary:

A United States court has granted Elon Musk’s request for Twitter to turnover some of its user data to enable his counsel defend his reasons for backing out of the $44 billion deal to acquire the social media company.

Musk had accused Twitter of misleading him and the public on the number of spam accounts on the social networking site. The company had stated that bot accounts were less than 5% of its monetised daily active users (mDAU).

However, Musk disagreed, as he argued that the fake accounts were more than the percentage Twitter released to the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He said the discovery was a breach of contract.

The Federal Government has dismissed reports on the rejection of Naira for flight tickets by international airlines operating in the country.

South African Airways had on August 10 informed passengers it would no longer accept Naira for purchase of flight tickets in the country.

The development might not be unconnected with the $450 million belonging to some foreign carriers trapped in the country.

However, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said none of the foreign carriers had notified the concerned agencies of any change in ticketing modalities.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Wednesday Nigeria would need at least $410 billion to achieve its energy transition plan by 2060.

Osinbajo, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, stated this at the virtual inauguration of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan.

The plan is a roadmap to tackle the crises of energy poverty and climate change in Nigeria.

The Chinese government has revealed plans to forgive 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries.

China also revealed its intention to provide food assistance to struggling nations.

Read also:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria spends N18.3bn daily on fuel subsidy. Emirates suspends flights to Nigeria. Other stories

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, disclosed the plans in a post on the ministry’s website.

On NSE ROUND UP: Investors sell N15.2bn stocks as First Bank, Access Bank top trades

Investors traded 914.443 million shares worth N15.263 in 18,021 deals this week.

This surpassed the 823.005 million shares valued at N12.228 billion which exchanged hands in 17,482 deals last week.

Top NGX performing sector

According to data released by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), the Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 723.125 million shares valued at N5.209 billion traded by investors in 9,122 deals.

The Consumer Goods Industry followed with shareholders trading 51.097 million shares worth N4.668 billion in 2,610 deals.

The Conglomerates Industry reported 36.089 million shares worth N72.383 million in 527 deals.

On the tech scene, Twitter, TrueCaller, iPhone, MTN, SubsBase, Unlimint, Sabi, Zywa, PalmPay, Jar were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Nigerian telecommunications operator, MTN, has officially launched its 5G service in the country targeting five cities in one month.

Also, a Nigerian early-stage B2B platform, Sabi, has announced an expansion into Johannesburg, South Africa.

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