International
ECOWAS sends Togolese leader to engage Niger Junta
West African leaders yesterday took a step forward in their quest for the restoration of democracy in Niger Republic.
The sub-regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government raised a three-man negotiation team to mediate in the protracted political crisis in the country.
Led by President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, other members of the team are President Macky Sall of Sierra Leone and President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic.
The ECOWAS Authority, which is chaired by President Bola Tinubu, took the decision during its 64th Ordinary Session at the State House Conference Center in Abuja.
The team’s terms of reference are to negotiate Niger’s speedy return to democracy with the junta that seized power from the legitimate government led by Mohammed Bazoum, who is in detention, encourage the coup plotters to release a transition programme and facilitate the monitoring of the programme.
Besides, the ECOWAS Authority resolved to prevent any attempt to break the sub-regional group through foreign-sponsored alliances and set up a standby force for counterterrorism across region.
According to its communique read by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, the leaders mandated the three-man Committee to interface with the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), which is the military administration in Niger Republic.
It said the team was expected to rally the CNDP and other stakeholders to agree to a short transition roadmap and the establishment of transition organs and goals.
The Abdourahamane Tchiani-led CNSP had about a month ago requested that Togolese President Gnassingbe should lead the team to negotiate with it in resolving the impasse.
That followed the ousting in July the democratically elected administration of President Bazoum.
ECOWAS Authority said the outcome of the engagement with the CNSP will determine its subsequent resolutions; either to commence the progressive relieving of the imposed sanctions or sustain the sanctions, including the use of force, as well as requests for more actions against the junta from other international bodies.
The communiqué reads: “On the political situation in the Republic of Niger, the Authority recalled its decision at its extra ordinary summit of 30 July, 2023, and 10th August 2023.
“The Authority commends the efforts of the Chair of Authority, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, towards a peaceful resolution of the political crisis.
“The Authority deeply deplores the continued detention of President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates by the CNSP administration. The Authority further deplores the lack of commitment on the part of the CNSP to restore constitutional order. Consequently, the Authority calls on the CNSP to release President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates immediately and without condition.
“The Authority decides to set up a committee of heads of state, made up of the President and Head of State of the Republic of Togo, the President and the Head of State of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the President and Head of State of the Republic of Benin, to engage with CNSP and other stakeholders, with a view to agreeing on a short transition roadmap, establishing transition organs, as well as facilitating the setting up of a transition monitoring and evaluation mechanism towards the speedy restoration of constitutional order.
“Based on the outcomes of the engagement by the committee of heads of state with the CNSP, the Authority will progressively ease the sanctions imposed on Niger. Failure by the CNSP to comply with the outcomes of the engagement with the committee, ECOWAS shall maintain all sanctions, including the use of force and will request African Union and all other partners to enforce the targeted sanctions on members of the CNSP and their associates.”
The ECOWAS Authority also rejected new moves by external interests to balkanise the region by creating alliances among member-states.
President Tinubu frowned at an attempt to distract the efforts at entrenching democratic culture in the region through the creation the ‘Alliance of the Sahel States’ among military-run member-states.
International
EU ready to hit US with 21-billion-euro tariff list
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
MILAN (Reuters) -The European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods if the two sides fail to reach a trade deal, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a newspaper interview on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive deal.
Tajani also told daily Il Messaggero that to help the euro zone economy the European Central Bank should consider a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying-programme, and more interest rate cuts.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.
Tajani said the 21-billion-euro package of tariffs the EU has already prepared could be followed by a second set if a deal with the U.S proves impossible.
He added, however, that he was confident that progress could be made in negotiations.
“Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States,” he said. “If stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans.”
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
International
Senegal scraps Akon’s $6bn Wakanda-inspired city project
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
• Akon
The government of Senegal has cancelled Akon’s $6 billion plan to build a futuristic “Akon City” on the country’s Atlantic coast, after years of inaction and missed payments by the Senegalese-American singer.
Bloomberg reports that the project, first announced in 2020, was pitched as a tech-driven smart city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda and promised to transform the quiet village of Mbodiène into a modern hub powered by solar energy and Akon’s own cryptocurrency.
But five years later, the Senegalese government has reclaimed most of the 136 acres of land initially allocated to the singer, after construction failed to begin and financial commitments were not met.
“That project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency responsible for developing coastal and tourism zones, told L’Agence de presse sénégalaise.”
Bloomberg reports on Wednesday that SAPCO said it would now pursue a scaled-down, state-backed tourism project in the same area, with a budget of 665 billion CFA francs (about $1.2 billion), largely sourced from private investors.
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
Despite the setback, officials say the revised plan could generate up to 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering long-awaited economic hope for Mbodiène residents.
International
Russian minister commits suicide after sack by Putin
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoyt killed himself Monday, July 7, 2025, hours after being officially dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.
The country’s Investigative Committee confirmed the incident via a statement on Monday.
Authorities said Starovoyt’s body was found in a Moscow suburb after the firing was announced, with “suicide” being considered the most likely cause of death.
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
He was previously the governor of the Kursk region, where Russia had battled a Ukrainian incursion.
The Investigative Committee said: “Today, the body of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in his private car with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district.
“The main version (considered) is suicide.”
Russian state media and news agencies said Starovoyt shot himself.
It was not clear exactly when Starovoyt died.
(The Star.ng)
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