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Musings From Abroad

Niger junta welcomes talks as Russia’s Putin calls for ‘peaceful resolution’

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Niger’s junta says it is open to talks to resolve issues around the political crisis in the country after it ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

“We are going through a period of change. While stressing the necessity for the nation to be independent, we have repeated our desire to stay transparent and speak with all parties, “said Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, who was last week given the position of prime minister by the military.

Zeine took the position after meeting Chad’s President, Mahamat Deby, who also staged his own coup in 2021. Niger’s takeover is the seventh in West and Central Africa in three years.

On the same day, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who is believed to be an ally to other countries under military juntas in the subregion, spoke with Mali’s military leader, General Assimi Goita, over the Niger situation.

The conversation between the leaders is capable of raising concerns among Western governments amid fear of Russia’s growing influence in the Sahel.

Putin “stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the situation for a more stable Sahel,” Goita said on social media.

While Putin’s comments appear to condemn the coup, the position of the leader of Russian mercenary, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is conflicting as he welcomed the army’s takeover and offered his services.

Niger is strategically significant for the United States, China, France, and Russia due to its wealth in uranium and oil, as well as its crucial role in counter-terror efforts against Islamist militants in the Sahel region.

Meanwhile, subregional body, ECOWAS has moved forward with the idea of exploring military options to restore democratic rule in the country.

Musings From Abroad

Prince Harry, Meghan treated to street-style dances in Nigeria as their trip winds down

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On Sunday, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were treated to street-style dances in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where they announced a partnership between their Archewell Foundation and the non-profit Giants of Africa, which utilizes sports to empower young people.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are making their first visit to Nigeria, where they were welcomed by the country’s chief of defence staff. The couple watched basketball practice at Ilupeju Senior Grammar School on Lagos Mainland, where Harry participated in ball-bouncing drills and shot a hoop.

“What you guys are doing here at Giants of Africa is truly amazing,” he said. “The power of sport can change lives. It brings people together and creates community and there are no barriers, which is the most important thing.”

The couple watched basketball practice at Ilupeju Senior Grammar School on Lagos Mainland, and Harry stepped on the court for some ball-bouncing drills and to shoot a hoop.

Former Toronto Raptors star Masai Ujiri, president of Giants of Africa, wished Meghan a happy Mother’s Day and said his organization was uniting communities and uplifting young people through sport, especially. Archewell Foundation and Giants of Africa will construct a basketball court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

“Talk about full circle again – never did I think we would be able to be here all those years later supporting the expansion of this incredible organization,” she said.
Harry and Meghan were set to round off their Lagos trip by attending a reception for a local charity. The couple live in the United States with their two children after Harry gave up working as a member of the royal family in 2020.

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Musings From Abroad

Binance accuses Nigeria of setting dangerous precedent with detention of its executives

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After its executives were invited to Nigeria and subsequently arrested as part of a crackdown on cryptocurrencies, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, warned that the African nation was creating a dangerous precedent.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, and two of its executives are being tried separately for tax evasion and money laundering, charges that the business is contesting.

CEO Richard Teng declared in a statement that it was time to voice opposition to the imprisonment of a US citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan.

Former executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan who works as a regional manager for Africa, escaped detention in Nigeria last month. While in Nigeria, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan were arrested by the country’s anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), after arriving on February 26, after which the country banned several websites that traded cryptocurrencies.

In a follow-up meeting on February 26, he stated that the authorities had declared the Binance concerns to be matters of national security and that they wanted the exchange to remove the naira from its site and disclose “granular-level” information on every Nigerian user. After that, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were taken into custody.

“To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide,” Teng said, in his strongest comments yet since the case started in February.

“For spurious reasons,” Teng said that Gambaryan had been detained in Nigeria for almost two months. Early in March, Binance declared that it will no longer be accepting any new naira transactions.

“Our hope when we took this drastic step was that our colleagues would be released and Binance could continue to work with the Nigerian government to resolve any further concerns. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” said Ten.

He stated that Gambaryan ought to be permitted to return home while Binance and the Nigerian government work out any kinks. “We will continue engagement with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on resolving potential historic tax liabilities,” he said.

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