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Finally, Shell to pay Niger Delta locals €15 million compensation after decades of legal battle

Published

1 month ago

December 23, 2022

Oil and gas giant, Shell, has revealed that it will pay 15 million euros in compensation to Nigerian farmers for oil spills that severely polluted three villages in the Niger Delta.

A statement by the multinational says “Shell and Milieudefensie have negotiated a settlement for the benefit of the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, which were impacted by four oil spills between 2004 and 2007.”

The group said Shell “will pay an amount of 15 million euros for the benefit of communities and individual plaintiffs.”

The agreement, which cannot be seen as an “admission of liability”, settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills, Shell said.

Recall that a Dutch court ruled in 2021 that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was liable for damages resulting from the spills and ordered Shell to pay compensation in the long-running lawsuit brought by four Nigerian farmers.

The legal battle dates back to 2008, when Milieudefensie – the Dutch branch of the international organisation Friends of the Earth – four Nigerian farmers and fishermen approached the court to demand that Shell – whose headquarters were then in The Hague – pay for the clean-up work and pay them compensation.

The plaintiff, Mr Eric Dooh remarked that the ruling “is a great relief to all of us that after years of a legal battle with Shell, we will soon receive this money as compensation for all that we have lost.”

Dooh in a statement by Milieudefensie said “companies will no longer be able to get away with polluting and ignoring human rights,” and can now “be called to account.”

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Progress as Kenya’s January 2023 inflation rate slows to 9.0%

Published

3 hours ago

January 31, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Kenyan statistics office has revealed that the country’s inflation rate slowed to 9.0% year-on-year in January from 9.1% a month earlier.

The latest inflation figure makes it the third straight month that inflation has fallen in the East African country. The figure hit 9.6% in October, its highest level since May 2017. January’s inflation is still above the government’s preferred band of 2.5%-7.5%.

The statement by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that on a monthly basis, inflation was 0.2% compared with 0.5% in December.

Inflation inched down to 9.1% in December, the second straight month of decrease, but still above the government’s preferred band of 2.5-7.5%.

Kenya’s central bank on Monday announced a new monetary policy holding its benchmark lending rate steady at 8.75%.

According to African Development Bank, Kenyan economic growth is projected to decelerate to 5.9% in 2022 and 5.7% in 2023, driven on the demand side by a decline in domestic and external demand caused by lower income and by an increase in food and fuel import costs and on the supply side by tepid economic activity across sectors due to cost-push factors.

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Nigeria’s legislature approves extra $2.2 bln central bank loans to government

Published

4 hours ago

January 31, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s debt crisis isn’t going away anytime soon as the country’s lower house of parliament has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to borrow an extra $2.2 billion.

According to the lawmakers, the approval is in temporary advance from the country’s central bank.

Nigeria’s minister of Finance in December made the revelation that the country will henceforth focus on concessionary loans from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, and others for external loans, Ahmed told Reuters in Abuja after a cabinet meeting.

The legislators plan to discuss with officials in order to turn central bank loans to the government worth 23.7 trillion naira ($52 billion) into long-term debt.

President Buhari asked parliament in December for approval to convert central bank’s temporary advance to government into 40-year bonds at 9% interest to cut interest payments but lawmakers questioned the plan.

Government debt in Nigeria averaged 73641.06 USD Million from 2012 until 2022, reaching an all-time high of 103312.80 USD Million in the second quarter of 2022 and a record low of 48361.37 USD Million in the first quarter of 2013.