Connect with us

Musings From Abroad

Former China’s Justice Minister gets death sentence commuted to life imprisonment for bribery

Published

on

Former China’s Justice Minister, Fu Zhenghua, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after a higher court suspended an earlier death sentence passed on him for taking bribes and “bending the law”.

Zhenghua’s death sentence was commuted to a life imprisinment term by the Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Changchun on Thursday after a two-year reprieve.

According China state media, Zhenghua’s high-profile sentencing is part of a “sweeping anti-graft campaign which is coming three weeks before a key political meeting where President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term.”

During the sentencing, the Intermediate People’s Court judge said the former Minister had abused his power while in a range of senior positions from 2005 to 2021.

“He is deprived of political rights for life and all personal property should be confiscated,” the judge said.

State prosecutors were able to establish that the 67-year-old Zhenghua had accepted bribes worth over 117 million yuan ($16.5 million) during a 16 year period he served in different capacities.

The State media reports that between 2014 and 2015, when he was head of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, Zhenghua hid evidence of suspected crimes committed by his brother, Fu Weihua, and failed to handle the case in accordance with the law.

“During his tenure as Beijing’s top cop, Fu is thought to have led the corruption investigation into Zhou Yongkang, the former security chief who was jailed in 2015 in one of the anti-graft campaign’s most high-profile cases.:

Zhenghua was a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the Minister of Justice before entering semi-retirement in May 2020.

He had also served as the Deputy Director of the Social and Legal Affairs Committee on the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) when anti-graft authorities launched an investigation into his dealings last October.

Musings From Abroad

Nigeria, China extend $2bn currency swap deal

Published

on

A 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) currency-swap arrangement between China and Nigeria has been extended to boost investment and commerce between the two countries.

According to the People’s Bank of China, the agreement is anticipated to strengthen financial cooperation and encourage the wider use of the yuan and naira in bilateral transactions, as reported by Bloomberg and Chinese local media on Friday.

“The agreement is valid for three years and may be renewed upon mutual consent,” the central bank said in a statement.

The bank stated that by lowering reliance on third-party currencies like the US dollar, the currency-swap agreement renewal is expected to strengthen economic linkages, promote investment, and ease cross-border commerce.

When the Central Bank of Nigeria and the People’s Bank of China inked an agreement worth renminbi (RMB) 16 billion (about $2.5 billion) in May 2018, the currency-swap framework was first implemented.

Yi Gang, the former governor of the PBoC, and Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the CBN, signed the deal.

The original agreement was intended to eliminate the need for third-party currencies like the US dollar by giving companies and industries in both nations direct access to the yuan and naira.

“This agreement will provide naira liquidity to Chinese businesses and RMB liquidity to Nigerian businesses respectively, thereby improving the speed, convenience, and volume of transactions between the two countries,” the CBN had said at the time of the signing.

To promote flexible and varied regional monetary and financial cooperation, including local currency swaps, to ease commerce between the two countries, President Bola Tinubu and President Xi Jinping of China met in September.

The leaders also talked about how currency-swap programs contribute to global financial stability.

Nigeria and China agreed to strengthen international collaboration on financial intelligence, emphasizing anti-money laundering and fighting the funding of terrorism, since commerce between the two nations makes up around 30% of Nigeria’s total trade.

Continue Reading

Musings From Abroad

World Bank suspends loan fees for impoverished countries

Published

on

To lower borrowing costs for vulnerable nations, the World Bank has announced the elimination of several loan fees. The action is a component of larger initiatives to increase financial capacity and tackle pressing global issues including inequality, climate change, and economic instability.

This was revealed by the international bank in a statement on Wednesday. The bank has extended its lowest pricing to tiny, fragile nations, removed the prepayment cost on International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loans, and instituted a grace period for commitment fees on undisbursed amounts.

“The bank is working hard to make it easier for countries to borrow and to pay back their loans more easily by removing some fees on IBRD loans,” the financial institution stated.

The financier claims that these adjustments are intended to relieve the financial strain on countries that require development funding the most.

“These measures are designed to make borrowing easier and more affordable for countries facing significant challenges,” the bank said. It added that the reforms align with its vision of building a “better, more efficient, and bigger” institution capable of addressing overlapping global crises.

The World Bank’s larger financial reforms, which include fee eliminations, are intended to boost lending capacity by $150 billion over the next ten years.

As part of the changes, the IBRD’s equity-to-loans ratio was lowered from 20% to 18%, allowing for an additional $70 billion in lending over ten years.

According to the statement, $1 billion was obtained through a guarantee from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and an additional $10 billion has been released through bilateral guarantees.

“The adjustments to our capital framework reflect our commitment to scaling up resources while maintaining financial stability,” the bank said.

The international lender highlighted that these adjustments are essential to tackling the billions of dollars that are required each year to help fragile governments, fight climate change, and advance digital inclusion.

It did concede, nevertheless, that states and multilateral organisations are insufficient to discharge these financial obligations on their own.

The Bank has created a Framework for Financial Incentives to close the gap, promoting investments in cross-border issues like pandemic prevention, energy access, water security, and biodiversity.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

VenturesNow3 weeks ago

Nigeria: Marketers predict further price cut as another refinery begins operations

Oil marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority expect refined petroleum product prices to reduce as another...

VenturesNow3 weeks ago

Kenya: Consumer inflation rises to 3.0% from 2.8%

Kenya’s statistics agency said on Tuesday that Kenya’s consumer price inflation increased slightly to 3.0% year-over-year in December from 2.8%...

VenturesNow3 weeks ago

South Africa’s Transnet’s half-year deficit hits $117m

Transnet, a state-owned logistics company in South Africa, announced on Tuesday that it had lost 2.2 billion rand ($117.48 million)...

Musings From Abroad3 weeks ago

Nigeria, China extend $2bn currency swap deal

A 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) currency-swap arrangement between China and Nigeria has been extended to boost investment and commerce...

VenturesNow3 weeks ago

Egypt’s central bank maintains overnight rates

As anticipated, Egypt’s central bank has maintained its overnight interest rates, stating that although inflation was predicted to drop significantly...

VenturesNow3 weeks ago

Illicit flows cost Nigeria, others $1.6bn daily— AfDB

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), illicit money flows and profit shifting by multinational corporations doing business in Africa...

Metro3 weeks ago

‘Don’t start what you can’t finish’, ex-Nigerian official replies President Tchiani

Former Nigerian Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has told President Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger Republic to refrain from making infantile and...

Tech4 weeks ago

Again, Starlink raises prices of its services in Nigeria

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service provider, Starlink, has again jacked up the prices of its services in Nigeria after an...

Sports4 weeks ago

Former President of Moroccan club Raja sentenced to 3 years in prison

The former President of Moroccan top club, Raja Casablanca, Mohamed Aouzal, has been sentenced to three and a half years...

Metro4 weeks ago

Zambia announces second case of Mpox as country battles cholera outbreak

The Zambian Ministry of Health has reported a second case of Monkeypox, popularly known as Mpox, in Kitwe region of...

Trending