Saudi Arabia

SCORECARD: How Nigeria’s oil sector fared under Buhari as petroleum minister

admin — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 04:00:01 +0000

SCORECARD: How Nigeria’s oil sector fared under Buhari as petroleum minister

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__12803.jpg

admin Sun, 06/04/2023 - 04:00

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Original Publisher

Business Archives | Premium Times Nigeria

Original Article

SCORECARD: How Nigeria’s oil sector fared under Buhari as petroleum minister

As the Muhammadu Buhari eight-year reign ends on 29 May, Nigerians continue to reflect on the various challenges faced in the petroleum sector and how it affected their livelihood.

During the electioneering period in 2015, Mr Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), criticised the incumbent government of Goodluck Jonathan for failing to solve the country’s unending petroleum sector crises.

At the time, Mr Buhari made a series of promises to Nigerians, which include fixing the nation’s moribund refineries, passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) within one year, ending fuel importation, addressing the corruption in the subsidy regime, among others.

To achieve these objectives, six months after he was elected president in 2015, Mr Buhari appointed himself as Minister of Petroleum Resources, a move that many Nigerians said would engender transparency and accountability in the nation’s opaque oil sector.

Addressing some select reporters in New York at the time, Mr Buhari said, “I will remain Minister of Petroleum. I will appoint a minister of State for Petroleum”.

According to him, the step was taken as part of efforts to sanitise the country’s oil sector, which is said to be bedevilled by corruption, massive fraud and crude oil theft.

Although the PIB was passed under his administration, the sector faced different challenges, including fuel scarcity disruptions that caused suffering for many Nigerians while fuel subsidies continue to gulp huge resources.

Failed Promises

Fuel Subsidy Removal

Mr Buhari, before his victory in 2015, had consistently opposed the fuel subsidy regime under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He also called for a reduction in the prices of petroleum products amidst efforts by the Goodluck Jonathan government to deregulate prices and end subsidy payments. He said there was no such thing as “subsidy” and dismissed it as a scam used by government officials to steal public funds.

Earlier in January 2012, Mr Jonathan’s administration had announced the removal of subsidies from petroleum products, thereby, adjusting the benchmark price of petrol from N65 to N141 per litre. The move triggered mass protests, known as #OccupyNigeria, as hundreds of thousands of Nigerians took to the streets.

Following the protest that lasted some days, the Jonathan administration was forced to reverse the fuel pump price to N97. Just before leaving office in 2015, it was further reduced to N87 per litre.

In his campaign promises, Mr Buhari assured Nigerians there would no longer be payments of subsidy.

In December 2015, Mr Buhari’s government began its move against subsidy by scrapping the Petroleum Support Fund and declaring an end to the era of subsidy payment. The president and the Minister of State for Petroleum at the time, Ibe Kachikwu, assured Nigerians that even with the removal of the subsidy, the price of petrol would remain as low as N85 per litre.

Mr Kachikwu said the government could no longer pay the subsidy due to the fraud tainting the scheme, adding that the government would channel its resources instead into getting the refineries up, and saving the trillions of naira past governments squandered on fuel subsidy payments.

However, Mr Buhari took the nation by surprise a year later when his administration suddenly increased the price of petrol to N145 per litre in 2016, with subsidy payment still in place. The government persuaded Nigerians to accept the increase.

When fuel queues resurfaced during the Christmas and New Year celebration of 2018, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the landing cost of petrol was for months about N171.40 per litre, which is N26.40 above the official pump price of N145.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt mulls national summit on removal of petroleum subsidy

At the time, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the fuel marketers traded blame on who was responsible for the scarcity, and it resulted in rising retail prices that averaged about N200 per litre in most states, except Abuja and Lagos where filling stations in the metropolis sold for N145.

In December 2018, it became evident that the government was quietly continuing with the subsidy regime and earmarked N305 billion for petrol subsidy in the 2019 budget proposal. But the administration did not admit it was paying for subsidy and introduced a new tagline for subsidy, calling it “under-recovery”.

“We have allowed N305 billion equivalent to one billion US dollars for under-recovery by the NNPC on Premium Motor Spirit in 2019,” Mr Buhari stated in his budget presentation speech to a joint session of the National Assembly.

Africa

Business

America’s mess

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 19:40:01 +0000

America’s mess

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__12589.jpg

admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 19:40

Friday, June 17, 2022

Original Publisher

Searchlight

Original Article

America’s mess

Anyone who has never worried or thought about the future of the US must be doing so following the revelations of the January 6 panel on the US Capitol riots, which so far reveal what has been an attempted political coup. Something of course which the US has condemned in the ‘s-hole’ countries as Trump had described some countries of the world. And why should we be concerned about what is happening in the US? For one, the US still has a commanding position in the world, and whenever it sneezes many countries catch a cold. It has played a leading role in organising a coalition among European countries to defend Ukraine as it faced and is still facing an invasion by Russia. Certainly not a ‘Special Operation’! Already we are facing, like the rest of the world, increased prices that are creating enormous problems for our people. There is a shortage, among other things, of wheat, affecting particularly many African countries.

When the Ninth Summit of the Americas took place in California from June 7-10 one of the talking points was the exclusion of three countries of the Americas. The host country apparently reserves the right to decide which countries should attend and the Biden administration decided to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela because it claims to be concerned about strengthening democratic rule in the Americas. Some leaders stayed away in protest, including our own Prime Minister, who was recently awarded Cuba’s highest National Award, the Order of José Marti. Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados who attended spoke to the issue of exclusion of countries. She did not sock it to them, but politely drew attention to the matter, stating that it was wrong to exclude the countries and decried the policy of talking at rather than with each other.

But where am I going with this? While the Biden administration professes to be concerned about democracy in the Americas, the US is facing an assault on its own democracy. So, the US needs to clean its house first before urging others to do so. In fact, it has a history of ‘shacking up’, metaphorically speaking, with countries to which democracy is a bad word. Isn’t he supposed to visit Saudi Arabia, an authoritarian regime, as it is described by human rights activists. Has the Crown Prince not been linked to the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi?

There is much more. Former president, Donald Trump is seen as the one behind the attempted coup, an effort on his part to remain in power. The findings of the January 6 Panel are revealing a dark side of the US. Now we know that many of Trump’s closest allies had been warning him about his claims of election fraud. His former Attorney General, William Barr indicated to him that his claims about an election stolen from him “were completely bogus and silly and usually based on complete misinformation; . . . the stuff that his people were shovelling out to the public was ‘bullshit’ – I mean that the claims of fraud were bullshit . . . “

His efforts to take those claims to Court were all dismissed even by his own appointed judges. Hopefully justice will take its place and Trump will have to defend himself in Court. But it goes beyond Trump. His continuing claims about stolen elections have found a home among many Americans. In recent Republican Primary elections, over 100 of the GOP winners are backing Trump’s false claims of election fraud. One can only hope that in November elections most of them fail. But a number of States have already put in place measures to control the outcome of the elections. In New Mexico over the past week State Commissioners refused to approve tallies from ‘primary’ elections. Fortunately, the New Mexico Supreme Court has ordered the Commissioners to certify the election results and they were given until today to do so. Would they comply or continue their political shenanigans as dictated by Trump?

This year’s Congressional Elections and State Elections will reveal a lot. Control of both houses of Congress by Republicans will admit a number of persons who still maintain that the last presidential election was stolen from their man, while all the evidence indicate otherwise. But the real story of American democracy has never truly been told when one looks at the difficulties over the years experienced by Blacks and minorities, including the indigenous people.
There will be more startling revelations by the January 6 Panel. We already know that there is some method to Trump’s apparent madness since he has been profiting financially from his “Big Lie”. We have to stay tuned!

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian

Caribbean

News

America’s mess

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 15:00:02 +0000

America’s mess

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__12126.jpg

admin Sat, 06/18/2022 - 15:00

Friday, June 17, 2022

Original Publisher

Searchlight

Original Article

America’s mess

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian

Caribbean

News

One of suspected killers of Saudi journalist Khashoggi arrested in France

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:10:01 +0000

One of suspected killers of Saudi journalist Khashoggi arrested in France

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__10404.jpg

admin Sat, 12/11/2021 - 05:10

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Original Publisher

ALSO READ: Trial resumes in Istanbul in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

It quoted French police as saying they were still unsure if they had detained the right man. “It’s still possible that this is the right person, just as it’s still possible that it’s the wrong person,” a police spokesperson reportedly said. “At this point, we don’t know.”

But the BBC confirmed that the suspect is Mr Al-Otaibi, a former Saudi royal guard who was travelling under his own name. This marks the first time that any individual linked to Khashoggi’s murder is arrested outside Saudi Arabia.

In 2019, a Saudi court convicted eight unnamed people over the murder. Five of them were found guilty of directly participating in the killing and handed death sentences that were later commuted to 20-year prison terms, while three others were jailed for 7 to 10 years for covering up the crime.

The Saudi trial was dismissed by the then-UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard, who said that Mr Khashoggi was the “victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution for which the Saudi state was responsible.”

The arrest of Mr Al-Otaibi is coming just few days after French President Emmanuel Macron became the first major Western leader to meet the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman since Khashoggi’s murder.

“We talked about absolutely everything, without any taboos and we were obviously able to bring up the question of human rights,” Mr Macron reportedly said after the meeting on Saturday.

In February, a U.S. intelligence report concluded that Mr Khashoggi’s murder was ordered by the crown prince. Riyadh denied that Bin Salman had any knowledge of the plot or its botched cover-up.

Africa

News

How Tanzania can benefit from greater fuel storage

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 23:20:01 +0000

How Tanzania can benefit from greater fuel storage

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__9645.jpg

admin Thu, 12/09/2021 - 23:20

Friday, December 3, 2021

Original Publisher

The Citizen

Original Article

How Tanzania can benefit from greater fuel storage

Dar es Salaam. The government is considering several options, including building massive storage capacity for oil reserves in an effort to cushion the country from frequent fuel price rises.

“That (boosting reserves capacity) is being considered,” Energy Minister January Makamba told The Citizen yesterday.

He was responding to calls by some analysts who said Tanzania, as an oil importing country, needs a massive storage capacity that would help prices to remain affordable at a time when global prices are rising.

Among those who raised the proposal yesterday was economist-cum politician Zitto Kabwe who said that, considering the current global fuel prices surge, Tanzania has an opportunity to capitalise on the demand and price hike.

According to him, Tanzania can become a hub for fuel supply in the African Great Lakes region if the government creates a reserves hub by working with the private sector and supply the fuel to other countries. This would also reduce complex procurement and supply chains.

“The government can discuss with foreign countries and reach an agreement, then get an investor to build massive reserves facilities. This would mitigate price fluctuations due to global market shifts,” he said.

The proposal comes at a time when the Energy and water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) has revised pump prices upwards in response to rising global prices.

In the new prices, which became effective on Wednesday this week, petrol, diesel and kerosene that have been imported through the Dar es Salaam port will cost Sh84, diesel Sh29 and Sh18 more than last month’s prices.

Analysts’ views are based on the fact that, with enough storage capacity, Tanzania would import massively when prices are down and store the fuel for use when prices rise.

The point in focus was that, on April 20, 2020, there was a historic drop in global fuel prices that had West Texas Intermediate crude dropping by almost 300 percent, trading at around negative $37 per barrel.

The crash in demand that followed the Covid-19 spread - along with a price war between oil giants Saudi Arabia and Russia in early March - spurred negative prices.

The fall was good news for non-oil producing countries like Tanzania where the price fell to 10-year lows of Sh1,520 and Sh1,546 for a litre of diesel.

University of Dar es Salaam economist Abel Kinyondo said the government needs to suspend all charges and taxes to be able to stabilize fuel prices.

“Starting a price stabilisation fund is more applicable theoretically than in practice because the norm is that prices are more likely to increase than decrease,” he said.

Another incident that calls for enough storage capacity is what Ewura announced on Tuesday: that Tanzanians will get a relief in January 2022 following the November downward trend in the global oil market prices.

However, some analysts are of the view that the country only needs a price stabilisation fund to get things moving smoothly.

The Executive Director of the Tanzania Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Mr Raphael Mgaya, said the only way to address the issue of fuel price increases is for the government to establish a Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) for which the State introduces temporary charges when prices go down.

“When the prices are down, customers will not feel the pinch of the charges and when the prices go up the money from the Fund is used to cushion the prices. This is currently being practised in Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia and South Africa,” he said.

He noted that, following the recent hike in prices, the government suspended Sh1 on every litre, but if there was a price stabilisation fund, it could have been used to cushion the prices.

Among the steps taken by the government in an effort to reduce the impact of rising global fuel prices on the local economy included President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directive to reduce a total of Sh102 billion on levies, fees and charges on petroleum products.

The government had last October formed a team of experts from Ewura, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and the Ministry of Energy - among other experts - which it tasked with the responsibility of reviewing the levies, taxes, fees and charges on fuels.

Africa

News

Gas prices to remain high

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:50:01 +0000

Gas prices to remain high

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__9581.jpg

admin Thu, 12/09/2021 - 12:50

Friday, December 3, 2021

Original Publisher

Jamaica Observer

Original Article

Gas prices to remain high

Jamaicans are being told to brace for continued high prices at the pumps as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allied oil-producing countries decided Thursday to maintain the amount of oil they pump to the world even as the new Omicron variant casts a shadow of uncertainty over the global economic recovery from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Officials from OPEC countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their allies, led by Russia, voted to stick with a pre-Omicron pattern of steady, modest, monthly increases in oil releases - a pace that has frustrated the United States and other oil-consuming nations as gasoline prices rise.

The OPEC+ alliance approved an increase in production of 400,000 barrels per day for the month of January.

President of the Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) Dianne Parram, reacting to the decision, said OPEC+ only acted because the United States issued the 50 million barrels of oil from its special reserves to ease supply and bring down prices, but added that, despite the move "high prices will continue to affect us".

Pump prices in Jamaica are up 44 per cent since the start of the year, driven not only by higher cost for the fuel but also the exchange rate. The Jamaican dollar has depreciated 9.5 per cent against the US currency since the start of the year.

Commenting on the proposed increase in production by OPEC+ countries in January, Parram said it will take a while before we see an impact on prices. "The results will be slow in coming. You have to look at the impact of what OPEC has done as well as the action of the United States. It's the combination of both. So we have global implications and national challenges."

"Demand is constant. It is the supply which is constrained. That was the issue. Now that supplies are increased, it will take a while for prices to fall. Both actions will act in concert."

However, Rystad Energy - a Norway-based oil research firm - said, in an Associated Press story on the OPEC+ decision, that how the world reacts to the fast-mutating Omicron variant that emerged late last week could also help determine what happens to oil prices. In a worst-case scenario, lockdowns triggered by Omicron could cut oil demand by nearly three million barrels per day in early 2022, according to projections by Rystad Energy.

Positive news about drugs to treat the variant or the vaccines' effectiveness against it could improve that outlook. But, even with positive news, a decrease in oil demand is likely because, "the distribution of these remedies may not actually reach all markets with extreme immediacy, which would still necessitate the lockdowns in much of the developing world," said Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst for Rystad.

The price of a barrel of US benchmark crude fell with news of the variant and then fell further as OPEC+ revealed it wasn't going to curtail production. It was about US$78 a barrel a week ago and was trading at about US$66 a barrel Thursday. International benchmark Brent crude followed a similar path, falling from US$79 a barrel a week ago to about US$69 on Thursday.

The decision by OPEC+ to stay the course sends a signal that "the group does what it says and that they will continue their policy on their own terms", Dickson said. "It also really signals that OPEC+ needs a bit more time to really dig into the numbers on the Omicron variant."

Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier this week played down any impact the little-understood variant would have on oil demand, telling the kingdom's Asharq al-Awsat newspaper: "We are not worried."

But OPEC ministers briefly postponed one of their meetings this week, hoping for more insight into whether the variant is likely to push the world back toward pandemic lockdowns or leave markets relatively unscathed.

Some analysts had predicted that the OPEC+ alliance - made up of OPEC members and allied non-members like Russia - would act cautiously Thursday, pending more clarity from medical experts on the new variant.

Before Omicron's appearance, the OPEC+ meeting had been shaping up as a potentially fraught moment in a growing dispute between oil-supplying nations and oil-consuming ones as the global economy rebounds from the worst of the pandemic downturn and demand for oil surged.

Angering the US and its allies, OPEC+ has stuck to a plan to open the petroleum taps bit by bit - even as oil prices surged to seven-year highs - until deep production cuts made during the depths of the pandemic are restored.

With rising gas prices putting him under political pressure at home, President Joe Biden last week responded to OPEC's refusal to increase supplies more quickly by announcing the US and other nations would release tens of millions of barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, boosting supplies and temporarily lowering prices. But gasoline prices in the US barely moved. OPEC+ will meet again January 4.

Caribbean

Business

Mean Joe Biden’s and sleazy Suzie Rice’s “ceasefire” and “sanctions” scam and con game in Ethiopia

admin — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:30:01 +0000

Mean Joe Biden’s and sleazy Suzie Rice’s “ceasefire” and “sanctions” scam and con game in Ethiopia admin Tue, 10/05/2021 - 05:30

Friday, October 1, 2021

Original Publisher

Business-Market – Ethiopian Press Agency

Original Article

Mean Joe Biden’s and sleazy Suzie Rice’s “ceasefire” and “sanctions” scam and c…

PART THREE

Biden-Rice rules of the “ceasefire” con game The tactical approach to achieve the strategic goals is:

1) Give lip service to African Union mediation between the Government of Ethiopia and the terrorist TPLF.

2) Buy off African leaders to apply pressure on Ethiopia.

3) Use the AU as a weapon to pressure Ethiopia.

4) Seek observer and facilitator status during the ceasefire negotiations.

5) Offer to underwrite the entire negotiation process by pledging to commit funds.

Ceasefire is easier said than done

Biden (Susan Rice) talks about a ceasefire. But they are willfully clueless. With ceasefires, the devil is in the details, a fact that should be as clear as a day in hell to Susan Rice, the DUCHESS OF DARKNESS. Anyone who has studied ceasefires knows they are exceedingly complex processes with a near certain degree of failure.

The data is compelling. For instance, in Ukraine there were 4 ceasefires that led to new offensives. In Yemen, of 9 ceasefires 7 led to offensives. In Syria, out of 20 ceasefires, 19 led to new offensives. In South Sudan, between 2014 and 2020, there were numerous ceasefire agreements which failed leading to new offensives.

Biden and Susan Rice know full well the TPLF will honor no ceasefire agreements. Certainly, the Ethiopian Government knows as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that for the TPLF agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

Ceasefire agreements are a can of worms

Ceasefire negotiations and agreements are perilous and problematic issues. Ceasefires almost always fail because of complex issues related to

1) Command and control for ceasefire implementation;

2) Demobilization and disarmament of combatants;

3) Designation of independent monitors (agreement on which countries will supply monitors);

4) Rules of engagement;

5) Composition of verification teams;

6) Establishment of process for presenting breach of the agreement complaints;

7) Establishment of neutral and independent investigative bodies for breaches of ceasefire terms and conditions;

8) Modalities for the exchange of information by opposing forces on troop movement, training exercises and so on;

9) Integration of force elements from combatants; and

10) One-upmanship to take advantage of the each other’s political and military weaknesses, among others.

The fact of the matter is coming to a ceasefire agreement and implementing it will take many months (under the most idea circumstances), which will provide the TPLF an opportunity to rebuild its military capacity while handcuffing Ethiopia from taking action to eliminate the TPLF terrorist threat.

Let there be no mistake! The Biden administration is not interested in a ceasefire. It is interested in using ceasefire negotiations as a TROJAN HORSE to trick and bamboozle the Ethiopian Government into dropping its guard while allowing the terrorist TPLF to sneak into power stealthily.

It is interested in using a ceasefire to facilitate rebuilding and strengthening of the TPLF’s military might so that it can continue its terrorist war in Ethiopia until it is restored to power. The terrorist TPLF is not interested in negotiations. It is interested in using negotiations to buy time and destroy its opponents.

If there is a ceasefire, the TPLF will have to face the fire and fury of the people Tigray for the needless deaths of their children in a pointless war and the suffering they endured over the past 10 months!

I have demonstrated the TPLF’s 11 doctrines of “dialogue” and “negotiations” in my commentary, “Negotiating with the TPLF is Negotiating with the devil.” The fact of the matter is that the TPLF has always, always played zero-sum negotiation games. They must win negotiations 100 percent of the time. They sneer at good faith bargaining, negotiation, compromise and conciliation. Negotiation for the TPLF is about one-upmanship. It is about hoodwinking and crushing their adversaries.

Biden (Sleazy Suzie’s) Hail Mary pass with economic sanctions

Desperation is driving Biden’s (Susan Rice’s) policy in Ethiopia. Sleazy Suzie has run out of options. Sleazy Suzie has her man Friday Jeffrey Feltman running from the Emirates to Saudi Arabia to Djbouti and now to Turkey begging the leaders of these countries to pressure Ethiopia to negotiate with the TPLF terrorists. Nobody wants to talk to Feltman because everyone knows he is Sleazie Suzie’s gofer.

Sleazy Suzie is coordinating action in Congress to for a declaration of genocide. (Who gives a damn whether Biden declares genocide or not!) Biden and rice know they have crossed the red line on the green, yellow and red flag. That is what all the sanctions sound and fury is all about.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, Biden is… a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the world stage And then is heard no more: it is an economic sanction Issued against Ethiopia by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Sleazy Suzie has tried to use Biden to delegitimize the elections and PM Abiy’s leadership. It failed. Sleazy Suzie has tried to use the Western press-titutes to demonize and ostracize Ethiopia. It failed. Sleazy Suzie has tried to get the UN Security Council to sanction Ethiopia. She was laughed out of the hall. Sleazy Suzie has tried to bully, intimidate, threaten and harass the Ethiopian Government. It has failed miserably.

Now, Sleazy Suzie is threatening MOAS (Mother of All Sanctions).

Africa

Business

VI petition opposes United States’ Cuba embargo

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 23:30:01 +0000

VI petition opposes United States’ Cuba embargo admin Mon, 10/04/2021 - 23:30

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Original Publisher

Local News – The BVI Beacon

Original Article

VI petition opposes United States’ Cuba embargo

Deputy Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley, H. Lavity Stoutt Community College President Dr. Richard Georges, and 33 other Virgin Islands residents were among the signatories of an Aug. 30 petition urging the United Kingdom to pressure the United States to lift its economic embargo against Cuba in part to facilitate humanitarian aid during the pandemic.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office responded eight days later, largely agreeing with the petitioners and saying that the UK has been pressuring the US for years to do exactly that.

The US has enforced an economic embargo against Cuba since the 1960s, starting shortly after Fidel Castro seized power. Through a variety of laws dating back to 1917, the system prevents most US companies from operating in Cuba and vice versa, and it incentivises other countries and businesses to take a similar approach.

The US claims that the embargo is designed to pressure Cuba’s government to move toward democracy and uphold human rights by putting an end to practices such as arbitrary imprisonment and unfair trials.

But other countries, including the UK, have long called for an end to the sanctions, which they say hinder Cuba’s economic development and endanger its population, especially during crises like the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution demanding the end of the embargo. Most recently, the UK and 183 other countries voted for the resolution in June, with only the US and Israel voting against it.

VI petition

In the Aug. 30 petition, which was delivered to the VI Governor’s Office but addressed to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, VI residents called on the UK to up the pressure given the current circumstances facing Cuba.

“We, the undersigned people of the Virgin Islands, write to you to express our grave concern over the continuation of the United States’ sanctions on Cuba and the impact they are having on a Caribbean country that has ever been unstinting in its support of Caribbean and African peoples,” states the petition. “We call on you to urge your ally, the United States, to lift or ease the sanctions, especially given the detrimental impact they are having on the brave and courageous people of Cuba during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.”

The petition goes on to call the US sanctions “hypocritical” given the “numerous and continuing extra-judicial killings of black and brown people in the US itself” as well as US voting restrictions that have curtailed “the rights of black and brown people to vote.”

“No other country is subject to such a wide range of sanctions by the US — not even Saudi Arabia, which is responsible for the death and dismemberment of a journalist in its embassy and the origin country of most of the 9/11 terrorists,” the petition states.

UK response

The UK FCDO responded in a Sept. 7 letter, thanking the petitioners and noting that the UK largely agrees with their position.

“The UK opposes the US embargo against Cuba,” the letter states, noting the UK’s support of the UN General Assembly resolution calling for its end. “The UK’s view is that the embargo is counterproductive, including because it negatively affects the living standards of the Cuban people and impedes the political and economic development of the country.”

The UK, the letter adds, has made its position clear and “regularly” engages US officials on the issue through its Washington embassy and through the US embassies in Havana and London.

“We look forward to further discussions on Cuba with the US administration, and to sharing our thoughts on the positive developments in the UK’s relationship with Cuba in recent years,” the response states.

The VI petition was organised by Eugenia O’Neal and Mohammed Tarabay, according to a press release they issued.

“Cuba has been a good friend to the Caribbean and is now a friend in dire need, so we must respond,” Mr. Tarabay said.

Signatories

Besides Ms. O’Neal and Mr. Tarabay, the signatories included Geli Maynard, Uschi Mikoleiczik, Katherine Irish, Jessica Mikoleiczik, David Penn, Amin Tarabay, Natasha Chalwell, Aurelius Wright, Marlon Abner, Terry Donovan, Kim Huish, Verna Penn Moll, Deputy Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley, Russell Jones, Derek Corea, Alton Bertie, Presenda Polius Williams, April Glasgow, Zebulon McLean, Ehab Tarabay, Bashaar Tarabay, Dr. Richard Georges, Albert “Pop” Stevens, Ian Clark, Delma Tavernier, Patricia Turnbull, Tiffany Brewley, Abraham Tarabay, Milton Creque, Kirsten Lettsome, Jannel Cannonier, Sara Hussein, and Cindy Rosan.

The post VI petition opposes United States’ Cuba embargo appeared first on The BVI Beacon.

Caribbean

News

Ex-World Bank bosses cited in faking Doing Business reports

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:30:01 +0000

Ex-World Bank bosses cited in faking Doing Business reports

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__6255.jpg

admin Fri, 10/01/2021 - 12:30

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Original Publisher

Business

Original Article

Ex-World Bank bosses cited in faking Doing Business reports

World Bank indicated it would discontinue publication of the Doing Business report over falsification of data entries to favour particular countries, among them China and Saudi Arabia

Africa

Business

Naira gains at official market

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 05:40:01 +0000

Naira gains at official market

/sites/default/files/imported_articles_images/node__3735.jpg

admin Fri, 10/01/2021 - 05:40

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Original Publisher

Business – Premium Times Nigeria

Original Article

Naira gains at official market

Naira gained significantly against the U.S dollar at the official market on Thursday, after the local currency experienced a profound fall against the hard currency in the previous session Wednesday.

Data from FMDQ securities exchange window, also known as the Investor and Exporters (I&E) window where forex is officially traded showed naira which opened at N413.71 closed at N413. 38 per $1.

The currency’s performance on Thursday implies N1.35 or 0.33 per cent appreciation from N414.73 it exchanged hands with the greenback currency on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia

SCORECARD: How Nigeria’s oil sector fared under Buhari as petroleum minister

Failed Promises

Fuel Subsidy Removal

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt mulls national summit on removal of petroleum subsidy

America’s mess

America’s mess

One of suspected killers of Saudi journalist Khashoggi arrested in France

ALSO READ: Trial resumes in Istanbul in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

How Tanzania can benefit from greater fuel storage

Gas prices to remain high

Mean Joe Biden’s and sleazy Suzie Rice’s “ceasefire” and “sanctions” scam and con game in Ethiopia

VI petition opposes United States’ Cuba embargo

VI petition

UK response

Signatories

Ex-World Bank bosses cited in faking Doing Business reports

Naira gains at official market

READ ALSO: Naira hits new all-time low at black market