The promise by Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, that China will work with other G20 members to implement the debt service suspension initiative to ease the debt burden of Nigeria and other African countries and the plan by Nigerian agency to continue the experiment on Hydroxychloroquine, are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has said that China will work with other G20 members to implement the debt service suspension initiative to ease the debt burden of Nigeria and other African countries.
The reports said that the China’s Consul General in Lagos, Chu Maoming, said in a statement that the minister stated this while responding to a question asked by an African journalist at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual Chinese national legislative session on Sunday.
Yi, who is concurrently a state councillor (equivalent of deputy prime minister) of China’s cabinet, stated that China and Africa were good brothers.
The newspaper also said that Foreign Direct Investment into Nigeria dropped to $214.25m in the first quarter of 2020 from $257.25m in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Thereport quoted the National Bureau of Statistics as saying in its report on ‘Nigerian capital importation’ for the first quarter of 2020 on Tuesday that the FDI which stood at $247.37m in Q1 2019, fell to $223.14m and $206.58m in Q2, 2019 and Q3, 2019 respectively.
The FDI is an investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country.
ThisDay reports that the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mr. Mohammed Barkindo, has urged member countries not to flout last April’s deal to cut their crude oil production quotas, despite recent noticeable improvement in the international market.
Barkindo, who spoke with Energy Intelligence, according to the international oil cartel yesterday, also advised OPEC+ members to remain committed to the pact, triggered by a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, not to “take their foot off the gas,” now that things appear to be picking up.
Nigeria announced in April that it will join OPEC+ to cut global supply by 9.7 million barrels per day between May and June 2020, 8 million bpd between July and December 2020 and 6 million barrels daily from January 2021 to April 2022, respectively.
The Vanguard says that barely 24 hours after the World Health Organisation, WHO, suspended all clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19, Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has said the trial will continue in Nigeria. The Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this yesterday in an interview on a private television station.
Mrs. Adeyeye said there were proven records that hydroxychloroquine had been effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. According to her, this is most effective in those at the mild stage of the virus. “There is data to prove that hydroxychloroquine worked for many COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we would continue our own clinical trials in Nigeria.
The Nation says that the National Assembly will resume on Thursday from its Sallah break to consider President Muhammadu Buhari’s Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Both chambers had on May 20 adjourned plenary to June 2 for the Eid-el-Fitr festivities.
The Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said Senators and House of Representatives members are expected to resume tomorrow to consider the reviewed budget.
GIK/APA