The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the intensifying El Niño weather phenomenon could push nearly six million additional people in West and Central Africa into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027, deepening an already worsening hunger crisis across the region. According to the UN agency, erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, flooding and rising temperatures associated with El Niño are expected to disrupt agricultural production, reduce household incomes and increase food prices, leaving millions more vulnerable to hunger. The projection forms part of WFP’s latest global assessment, which estimates that a powerful El Niño could…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who is also the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), has called for an immediate investigation into the alleged assassination of Nigeria’s most senior Igbo Muslim Army officer, Col. Abdur-Razaq AbdlKarim Ode. The Sultan also condemned what he described as the growing hate and vilification directed at minority Igbo Muslims in the South-East, warning that such actions undermine national unity and peaceful coexistence. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Media Team and signed by Bashir Adefaka, the Sultan described reports of persistent hostility against minority Igbo Muslims as “a sad…
Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, expects its cocoa production to drop by at least 16% in the 2026/27 season, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has confirmed. The projected decline—covering the crop season beginning in September 2026—has intensified concerns over tighter global supplies and higher chocolate prices. Causes of the decline COCOBOD attributes the expected fall to a combination of adverse weather, disease, and structural challenges in key farming regions. Weather and crop cycle: The regulator cited the likelihood of El Niño conditions, excessive rainfall in May and June 2026, and the cocoa tree’s natural bearing pattern, which alternates between…
Dangote Industries Limited and Sinoma International Engineering Company Ltd. have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth over $800 million to expand the Dangote Cement Plant in Itori, Ogun State, doubling its production capacity from 6 million to 12 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA). The agreement was signed by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and the Chairman of Sinoma, Lin Zhong, reaffirming the long-standing strategic partnership between the two companies and their shared commitment to advancing industrial development across Africa. Under the agreement, the expansion project will significantly boost the Itori plant’s production capacity, enabling Dangote…
Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, has defended the performance of Governor Ahmad Aliyu, insisting that the administration’s development projects are spread across the state and not limited to the Sokoto metropolis as claimed by critics. Speaking shortly after arriving in Sokoto from Abuja on Friday, where he was received by supporters at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport before proceeding to his residence in Gawon Nama, the former governor said the administration had delivered infrastructure and social projects in both urban and rural communities. Wamakko said road construction projects had either…
A coalition of civil society organisations across West Africa has called for the immediate and unconditional release of prominent Nigerien journalist and human rights defender, Moussa Tchangari, following a United Nations finding that his detention is arbitrary. The organisations, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had declared Tchangari’s detention contrary to international human rights law. They said the UN finding reinforced concerns raised by civil society organisations, human rights defenders and international partners since Tchangari’s arrest on December 3, 2024, arguing that his detention was politically motivated and violated fundamental…
The Niger State Government has secured $150 million in financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for the development of a 100-megawatt solar power project aimed at expanding electricity access and improving energy reliability across the state. The Chairman of the New Niger Development Project (NNDP), Mustapha Abubakar, disclosed this on Tuesday at the second edition of the quarterly media briefing organised by the Niger State Ministry of Information and Orientation in Minna. According to Abubakar, the state government will provide an additional $10 million counterpart contribution, bringing the total investment in the project to $160 million. He attributed the…
The Kaduna State Ministry of Health has commenced a two-day Joint Annual Review (JAR) of the health sector to assess progress made in the implementation of its 2026 health programmes. The review, which began on Tuesday in Kaduna, brought together officials from the Federal and Kaduna State Ministries of Health, development partners, academia, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, health professionals, community representatives and the media. Declaring the meeting open, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Umma Kaltume-Ahmed, described the review as a vital platform for evaluating the state’s performance under the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Sector-Wide…
The claim that Nigeria is “running four budgets concurrently” is a simplified way of describing a real, documented fiscal practice—but it is not literally four full, separate annual budgets in the strict sense. What has been happening is an overlap of multiple budget instruments (main appropriation, supplementary budgets, and carry-over/carry-forward capital liabilities from prior years) being executed at the same time. Government officials themselves have acknowledged operating three concurrent budget instruments at points in 2025–2026 (2024 main, 2024 supplementary, and 2025 appropriation), while critics and analysts sometimes frame this as “four budgets” when they include: the current year’s main budget,…
A recent monitoring report released by the International Press Institute (IPI) has revealed that journalists across Africa who investigate illegal mining, deforestation, oil deals and land grabs are being assaulted, arrested, threatened with prosecution, and even targeted with attempted killings, with state security forces, powerful companies and armed groups colluding to silence critical environmental reporting. The report, covering October 2025 and March 2026, was released by the International Press Institute (IPI) and made available to ASHENEWS on Monday. READ THE FULL REPORT HERE According to the report, IPI documented 26 incidents of attacks, arrests and intimidation against reporters covering climate…