West Africa

Nigeria's economy shows mixed signals: Dangote refinery plans a $2bn listing, Lagos secures a permanent rail licence, but flooding shuts the Lagos airport terminal and oil price disputes persist. Regional energy activity continues with Murphy drilling offshore Ivory Coast and new Platts jet fuel symbols for West Africa.

• 5Belarus and Ghana discuss boosting trade and machinery deals
• 2Nigeria launches digital livestock platform and faces oil price disputes
• 2Lagos Island Fire: Polaris Bank Building Blaze Extinguished
• 2New Platts Jet Fuel FOB West Africa symbols
• 1NRC grants Lagos permanent licence to operate red line rail

Belarus deepens West African engagement: Lukashenko holds talks with Ghana's president and approves visa-free travel for Togo diplomats. Domestically, Lagos primaries disputes prompt APC stakeholders to seek Tinubu's intervention, while Ghana's president delays the anti-LGBTQ+ bill and protests Canada's visa denial to Thomas Partey.

• 5Lukashenko to hold talks with Ghana’s president
• 3Ghana protests Canada's visa denial to Thomas Partey
• 2APC stakeholders urge Tinubu’s intervention in Lagos primaries dispute
• 1Belarus approves visa-free travel for Togo diplomats
• 1Swiss minister returns Benin Bronzes in colonial restitution

Lagos police operations intensify against crime, cults, and explosives, with raids in Lagos and Ogun rescuing five and arresting 88 suspects. However, a false bandit alarm leads to a mob killing, and a suspected terror financier is arrested, highlighting volatile security conditions.

• 5Police operations in Lagos target crime, cults, and explosives
• 2Alleged terror financier shocker in Lagos: Suspect is a deeply religious man – Neighbours
• 2Lagos, Ogun police commands rescue five, arrest 88 suspects in forests raid
• 2False bandit alarm leads to mob killing of 24-year-old motorcyclist in Lagos
• 1VIDEO: Primate Ayodele warns bandits may block Lagos-Ibadan expressway

Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is the dominant social tension, with African lawmakers backing tougher laws after a Ghana conference. Concurrently, fire and floods hit Ghana's capital, and Nigeria evacuates citizens from South Africa amid xenophobic attacks.

• 2Fire and floods hit Ghana’s capital as residents are left stranded
• 2African lawmakers back push for tougher anti-LGBT laws after Ghana conference
• 1Cape Verde captain, Ryan Mendes, under probe for raping translator
• 1Sierra Leone child marriage: Landmark first trial since ban begins in Freetown
• 1Xenophobia: ‘South Africa is nothing without the rest of Africa’ — MTN Group Chairman condemns anti-foreigner sentiment