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Angola issues international arrest warrant for late President dos Santos’ billionaire daughter, Isabel

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The Angolan Attorney General’s Office, in conjunction with INTERPOL, has issued an international arrest warrant for Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, daughter of late President José Eduardo dos Santos, who died in July after ruling Angola for almost four decades until he stepped down in 2017.

The billionaire businesswoman, according to local media, has been under investigations in the East African country and other countries for several years, with her bank accounts and shareholdings in several companies foreclosed.

The warrant document said dos Santos, 49, was wanted for various crimes, including alleged embezzlement, fraud, influence peddling and money laundering.

She has also faced corruption accusations for years, including allegations by Angola in 2020 that she and her husband had funneled $1 billion in state funds to companies in which they held stakes during her father’s presidency, including oil giant Sonangol.

The INTERPOL warrant requested the agency to “locate, arrest” and extradite dos Santos to Angola to face prosecution in which the state claims amounts in excess of $5 billion.

In December 2019, a Provincial Court in Luanda has decreed that decreed the preventive seizure of the personal bank accounts of dos Santos, her late husband, Sindika Dokolo, a Congolese and a Portuguese businessman, Mário da Silva, and several companies in which the she holds shareholdings, for alleged business that may have harmed the Angolan State, while her holdings relating to several companies in Portugal were also seized.

In January 2020, the International Investigative Journalism Consortium revealed more than 715 thousand files, under the name ‘Luanda Leaks’, which detailed the alleged financial schemes perpetrated by Isabel dos Santos and her husband, which would have allowed them to withdraw money of the Angolan treasury through tax havens.

However, Isabela dos Santos has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, believingshe is the victim of a “politically motivated attack” and maintains she will not have a fair trial or guarantees of personal safety if she returns to Angola from her base in Portugal, to defend herself against the accusations.

Metro

Nigerians plunged into darkness as national grid collapses again

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The hopes of many Nigerians celebrating the Easter period in the comfort of their homes may be truncated after the national electricity grid collapsed again on Thursday.

The national grid’s collapse was the fourth time
in the first three months of the year, despite assurances from the Minister of Power, Adelabu Adebayo, that everything had been put in place to curb the incessant collapse of the grid.

This recent blackout occured when the national electricity grid centrally managed from Osogbo, Osun State, suffered a collapse at 4:30 pm on Thursday, leaving millions of homes and businesses without power.

According to a statement from several distribution companies (DisCos) across the country, the collapse caused their feeders to become inactive resulting in widespread blackouts across the country.

Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN’s) further showed that the grid collapse had left to power dropping from 2,984 megawatts (MW) to zero in an hour, with all 21 plants connected to the grid ceasing operations by 5 pm.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), in a statement on the situation, said the power outage was due to a system failure from the national grid.

“The system collapsed at about 16:28 hours today 28 March 2024, causing the outage currently being experienced across our franchise area,” the AEDC said in a statement.

“We appeal for your understanding as all stakeholders are working hard to restore normal supply,” it added.

In a notice to its customers, the management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) said the system collapse resulted in a loss of power supply across its network.

“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as the power supply is restored. Kindly bear with us,” EKEDC said.

Major power generation plants which were affected by the grid collapse included th Egbin, Afam, Geregu, Ibom Power, Jebba, Kainji, Odukpani, and Olorunsogo, among others, which remained dormant, further exacerbating the electricity deficit nationwide.

Over the past 10 years since the privatisation of the electricity industry, the grid has experienced collapses a staggering 141 times, underscoring the magnitude of the systemic challenges facing the sector.

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Egypt’s population growth declines by 1.4%

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Egypt’s planning ministry has announced that the country’s population went down to its lowest rate of population increase in decades in 2023, at 1.4%.

 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt frequently emphasizes the need to control population growth, saying the country’s budget and services are being overburdened by the country’s high birth rate.

 

 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt frequently emphasizes the need to control population growth, blaming the country’s budget and services for being overburdened by the country’s recent high birth rate. The population is currently estimated by Egypt’s official statistics office to be just over 106 million.

 

It is believed that 60% of the population lives below or near the poverty line in a nation plagued by a shortage of water, a dearth of employment possibilities, and congested hospitals and schools.

 

World Bank data from 1961 indicates that Egypt’s population growth peaked in 1984–85 at 2.8%, declined to 1.9% in 2006, and then increased to 2.3% in 2014. It has progressively decreased since then, reaching 1.6% in 2022.

 

Sisi has started many massive projects that critics claim waste money and add to Egypt’s debt load, but he claims will create jobs and infrastructure for the country’s expanding population.

 

Egypt started a family-planning campaign called “Two Is Enough” in 2019 intending to question the customs of large families in rural areas.

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