LAGOS AUGUST 7TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Leaders of West Africa’s regional bloc said Monday that they would meet later this week to discuss next steps after Niger’s military junta defied a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president while its mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack. The meeting was scheduled…
LAGOS AUGUST 5TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The Republic of Niger’s coup leaders have announced they would end the mandates of ambassadors to four countries as they face international pressure to restore the democratically elected leader they ousted last week. According to France24, the West African defence chiefs were set to wrap up discussions about possible intervention in Niger…
LAGOS AUGUST 5TH (NEWSRANGERS)-West African defence chiefs have made a plan for potential military intervention to reverse last week’s coup in Niger, including how and when to deploy forces, a leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said on Friday. ECOWAS has given the junta until Sunday to reinstate ousted president Mohamed…
LAGOS AUGUST 4TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Petrol pump prices in Nigeria are likely to increase for the third time since subsidy removal as Platt benchmark price for petroleum products reached a staggering $979.75 per metric ton (MT) at the close of Wednesday’s trading session. Additionally, the Argus benchmark price trading platform reported prices of $960.86/MT and $1,010.86, including…
LAGOS AUGUST 4TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Nigeria is turning to gas as an alternative fuel after it scrapped a popular but costly subsidy on petrol that has seen pump prices rise sharply, angering motorists and businesses that use petrol to generate their own power. State-oil firm NNPC said late on Thursday it has partnered with NIPCO Gas to…
LAGOS AUGUST 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-Major cities in Niger are facing rolling blackouts following last week’s coup in the West African country. The power shortages are a result of Nigeria cutting supplies to its northern neighbour, Niger’s electricity company Nigelec says. The West African trading bloc Ecowas has imposed sanctions on Niger over the coup but has…
LAGOS AUGUST 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-President Bola Tinubu has barely been in power for two months but his radical reforms are already trying the patience of fellow Nigerians. Surging gasoline prices and rampant inflation following the abolition of fuel subsidies and exchange rate reform are hammering the poor in Africa’s most populous nation, where 40% of its…
LAGOS AUGUST 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-President Bola Tinubu, who is at the helm of regional superpower Nigeria, regards the coup across the border in Niger as a litmus test for democracy in West Africa. Having assumed the chairmanship of regional bloc Ecowas a mere three weeks ago, he was confronted with a major foreign policy challenge when…
