Daily Watch – B’Faso Islamists use Ghana as rear base, NBS to rebase Nigeria’s GDP & CPI

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced it will rebase Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November to ensure economic data accurately reflect current realities and structural changes. Nigeria’s statistician general and NBS CEO, Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed this while speaking at a media sensitisation programme at the NBS headquarters in Abuja. Adeniran noted that the initiative ensures the accuracy of growth measurements and supports better policymaking. BusinessDay recalls that the last GDP rebasing was done in 2014. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s foreign reserves hit $40.2 billion in October 2024 from $38.4 billion reported in September. This was disclosed by Olayemi Cardoso, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, during an investors’ meeting in the United States.

The CBN has said Nigerians should disregard claims that the old naira notes will cease to be legal tender on 31 December 2024. In a statement on X, Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN spokesperson, said the old series of ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 banknotes will remain legal tender as the Supreme Court ordered on 29 November 2023. The CBN said its directive to all its branches to continue to issue and accept all old and redesigned banknotes still stands. The CBN advised Nigerians to continue to accept all naira banknotes for their day-to-day transactions. The CBN further urged the general public to embrace alternative modes of payment, e-channels, to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash.

Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana’s north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters. Sources, including Ghanaian security officials and regional diplomats, said Ghanaian authorities seem to be ignoring insurgents crossing from Burkina Faso to stock up on food, fuel, and explosives, and to seek medical treatment for injured fighters. Boniface Adagbila, Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso, told Reuters the militants were taking advantage of porous borders and saw Ghana as a “safe haven,” but denied suggestions that the authorities had de-facto struck a non-aggression pact with the jihadists. He said Ghana was working with Burkina Faso to “flush them out.”

An Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo as part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Thursday, citing an unnamed official source. Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV said later that a Hamas delegation, headed by chief negotiator and deputy Hamas Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo to meet with the general intelligence agency head, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he welcomed Egypt’s willingness to advance a deal for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip. Earlier on Thursday, Qatar and Washington’s top diplomats said that the United States and Israeli negotiators would gather in Doha to try to restart talks toward a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza.