Author: damazah@gmail.com

Egypt’s response to Ethiopia’s new Nile dam plans is centred on diplomacy, international pressure and cooperation with Sudan, rather than trying to stop construction outright. However, the experience of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has exposed the limits of Cairo’s influence.The revival of three proposed Blue Nile hydropower projects – Karadobi, Mandaya and Beko Abo – will test whether Egypt can turn more than a decade of opposition into practical leverage over how Ethiopia develops the river.The projects have been discussed for years. A 2024 academic study drawing on Nile Basin Initiative-sponsored work listed all three among proposed Blue…

Artificial intelligence (AI) could help developing countries achieve in a decade what might otherwise take a century, according to the World Bank’s report. The lender said governments must act swiftly to address gaps in electricity, connectivity, skills and institutional quality that could leave them behind. The World Bank disclosed this in its latest World Development Report 2026, titled ‘The Promise of Artificial Intelligence’. The report surveyed enterprises’ AI adoption in developing economies, sampling 777 firms in Nigeria. The World Bank, in its report, urged developing economies to adopt an optimistic mindset, noting that AI could help governments reach billions of…

Getafe midfielder Christantus Uche has undergone successful surgery after suffering a serious knee injury that has ruled him out for the remainder of the season. The Nigerian international confirmed on Wednesday that he had completed the procedure and shared a photograph of himself as he began what is expected to be a lengthy rehabilitation process. Uche suffered the injury on 6 August during Getafe’s pre-season friendly against Monaco, following a tackle from Monaco defender Christian Mawissa. Further medical examinations revealed that the 23-year-old had sustained multiple ligament and meniscus tears in his right knee, with the extent of the damage…

Afrobeats star Davido has suggested that he may step back from the centre of the music industry within the next five to six years, saying he does not intend to remain in the spotlight at 40 while competing with artists in their 20s. Davido made the remarks during an appearance on The Uncut Podcast. The 33-year-old singer, however, stopped short of announcing his retirement and stressed that his comments should not be interpreted as a call for established musicians to quit the industry. “This is my contemporaries’ and my last 5–6 years. I am not going to be 40, still…

An artisanal gold mine collapse in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Tuesday has now led to the death of more than 100 labourers. The toll rose from about 30 labourers to 107 as rescue officials recovered more bodies trapped under the mine in the past hours. Al Jazeera, quoting Red Cross volunteers and local media, reported that the landslide occurred in Zamboye, a village in Baboua, west of the country and a few kilometres from eastern Cameroon. Authorities expect the toll to rise further as several people are still missing or trapped beneath the rubble. “Finding them alive would…

Dialogue With Nigeria By AKIN OSUNTOKUN Going into reelection campaigns, incumbents are commonly burdened with propaganda deficit. Primarily, it has to do with the fact that opponents are the aspirational candidates running on the promises of meeting all public expectations. Whereas incumbents run on their records in office which are invariably a mixed bag of good and bad deeds, the effective and the ineffective policy initiatives. The non-incumbents of today are the incumbents of tomorrow who tend to fall short, some outlandishly so, of campaign bags of goodies, and come to terms with the reality and limitations of policy and…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his pledge to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027, accusing him of abandoning his previous position on the policy for political advantage. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, described the proposal as a desperate attempt by the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to win support ahead of the 2027 election. Mr Morka, in a statement posted on his X handle on Thursday, said Atiku had reversed his position on fuel subsidy after previously supporting its removal ahead of the 2023 presidential…

The JPMorgan Chase & Co. global headquarters building in New York, Jan. 20, 2026.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe U.S. government’s efforts to manage pressure in the Treasury market may merely shift the problem down the road as a surge in global debt issuance tests investor demand, according to JPMorgan.The Treasury is effectively buying back longer-duration bonds while issuing shorter-dated bills, a strategy that can provide temporary relief but leaves the underlying debt burden intact, James Sullivan, JPMorgan’s co-head of global fundamental research, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. The U.S. Treasury Department, led by Secretary Scott Bessent, on Wednesday…

A leading US distributor of China’s most popular humanoid robots and robot dogs now plans to produce its own robots at a facility on Long Island, New York. The business pivot comes amid the US government’s growing crackdown on foreign-made robots. The company RoboStore had previously become the main North American distributor for humanoid robots and quadruped robots from Unitree Robotics, a Chinese robotics company that produces some of the most affordable and popular humanoid robot models. Universities such as Harvard and MIT, along with tech companies like Amazon and Nvidia, purchased such robots made in China through RoboStore for…

The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill said it has started reviewing memoranda and position papers submitted by Nigerians as part of the plan to incorporate public input into the proposed legislation. The proposed legislation will guide the creation of state police, a key security reform by the administration of President Bola Tinubu. The submissions, received during a nationwide consultation, are being analysed alongside the ongoing drafting of the bill, according to a statement issued Thursday evening by Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and chairperson of the working group. He said the exercise…