Daily Watch – Coup attempt in Chad, Ghana’s inflation rises again

Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, says telecoms tariff will be increased — but not by 100%. Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, Tijani said the telecommunications sector must establish proper regulations to ensure its growth. On 30 December 2024, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) warned of service shedding if tariffs remain unadjusted. Similarly, ATCON urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to review call tariffs upwards by the first quarter of 2025. At the stakeholders’ meeting, the Minister assured that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would approve and announce the new tariff after ongoing consultations and engagements. The Minister also said the Federal Government will no longer rely solely on private companies for infrastructure investments in the sector.

China Development Bank has released a $254.76 million loan to Nigeria for a railway project linking the two northern states of Kano and Kaduna, the bank said, ahead of China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Nigeria.  As part of his annual New Year tour of Africa, Wang Yi will arrive in Nigeria on Wednesday and meet President Bola Tinubu and senior government officials on Thursday, Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry said. China Development Bank said in a statement on its website that the loan would provide financial support for the smooth progress of the 203-kilometre (126-mile) standard-gauge railway. Nigeria’s parliament first approved China’s Exim Bank as financier for the rail project in 2020 but the bank later withdrew. The Kano-Kaduna railway project is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and is being constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

Ghana’s consumer inflation rose for a fourth month in a row in December 2024, to 23.8% year on year from 23.0% in November, the statistics service said on Wednesday. Government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told a news conference that the latest increase was driven by higher food prices.  “The rate of inflation is the third highest in the last 13 months and highest in the last eight months,” Annim said. Food inflation for December 2024 went up to 27.8% compared to 25.9%in November 2024. However, non-food inflation went down to 20.3% in December compared to 20.7% in November 2024. Inflation for locally produced items went up to 26.4% in December 2024 compared to 25.4% in November 2024. Inflation for imported items went up marginally in December to 17.9% compared to 17.6% in November 2024.

At least 19 people have been killed in Chad where security forces said they had prevented an attempt by armed fighters to storm the presidential complex in the capital N’Djamena. At least 18 of 24 armed men were killed in the failed assault on the president’s office on Wednesday evening, the government said, and one member of the security forces also died in the gun battles. “There were 18 dead and six injured” among the attackers “and we suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously,” Chad’s foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said. The attack coincided with an official visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Chad. A security source told AFP that the attackers were members of the Boko Haram armed group, but Koulamallah later said they were “probably not” rebels. A security source also told Reuters that the incident was likely an “attempted terrorist attack.”