By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa, says the capture of a key Malian town by rebels poses a threat to West Africa that requires foreign intervention to prevent the insurgency from spreading.

A series of coordinated attacks by militants in late April left Mali’s Defence Minister dead and forced Malian and Russian mercenary forces to withdraw from the northeastern stronghold of Kidal.

Mr Musa, a retired army general, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the international community must come together to deal with the insurgents before they wreak havoc on the region.

The deteriorating situation in Mali may trigger a wider regional crisis, the defence minister said.

His admittance comes as the border region of Nigeria, Benin and Niger on the southern edge of the Sahel region is becoming a new stronghold for jihadists, as militants turn forests and pastoral networks in West Africa into bases for recruitment and international attacks.

“If they allow them to get any foothold in Mali, completely, they are not stopping there,” he warned.

He called for a joint campaign style like that of the United States against the Islamic State in Syria as a way to root out terrorists in West Africa.

General Musa noted that the collapse of states across the region has been the main driver of arms proliferation, with coastal West African states, including Ghana and Togo, becoming increasingly vulnerable.

He cited the fall of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 as a turning point that released vast stockpiles of weapons into circulation, a problem compounded by ongoing instability in Sudan.

The combined crises have created an open corridor across the Sahel, allowing small arms, light weapons and ammunition to flow largely unchecked.

He added that this has worsened due to weak border controls and the ease of movement across the region.

Attacks in Nigeria have also risen, with data from the website of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring group, affirming that the number of suicide bombings in Nigeria by March already matched the annual average over the past six years.

The Nigerian military has also been dealt a blow to its military bases and senior figures targeted. In April, Brigadier-General Oseni Omoh Braimah was killed when Islamist fighters attacked a base in Borno State.

The minister said disruptions linked to global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing war in Iran, have made it harder to source weapons even when funding is available. To meet its defence goals, Nigeria is stepping up efforts to build domestic arms-manufacturing capacity.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A former Minister of Power in Nigeria, Mr Saleh Mamman, has been convicted by a Federal High Court in Abuja over his connection with a N33.8 billion fraud.

He was found guilty of a 12-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

While delivering his judgment on Thursday, Justice James Omotosho declared that the former government official is guilty of all the charges levied against him by the agency.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024, the EFCC informed the court that the convict, who served under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, conspired with ministry staff to divert about N22 billion meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects.

He was removed from office by the late president in 2021 and arrested by the anti-money laundering organisation four months after. He was said to have used embezzled funds of up to N33.8 billion to acquire properties.

At the court today, the judge confirmed that Mr Mamman made a cash payment of $655,700 (equivalent to N200 million) for landed property in Abuja, without recourse to a financial institution.

He was also found guilty of criminal breach of trust in relation to funds released by the federal government for the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant projects.

“The evidence of the prosecution is overwhelming against the scanty and almost absent defence of the defendant.

“The defendant did not offer any credible evidence to rebut the prosecution’s case,” Justice Omotosho held.

“Rather than creating a legacy to tackle the epileptic power supply in the country, the defendant was living large at the expense of ordinary citizens.

“Little wonder that Nigerians have remained in darkness till today,” the judge added.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian industrialist and businessman, Mr Aliko Dangote, is planning to foray into electricity generation with a 20,000 megawatt project in the pipeline.

He currently has business interests in cement, sugar, salt, fertiliser, and petrochemicals, with his latest project being the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in Lagos, which refines about 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

Speaking during a conversation with International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director, Mr Makhtar Diop, the businessman said, “We are now going into power… 20,000 megawatts,” adding that Africa’s most pressing needs remain energy, fertilisers, and industrial inputs.

His plan to enter one of Nigeria’s most difficult sectors comes as the nation continues to face chronic power challenges, with generation capped at around 6,000 megawatts to serve a population of around 200 million.

In March, Mr Dangote announced that his empire will be making an entry into a number of fields, including steel production, electricity generation and port development to support large-scale manufacturing and trade.

The businessman said his long-term goal is to deepen the continent’s manufacturing base beyond oil refining and position it as a global industrial force.

“We have to industrialise Africa,” Mr Dangote said, noting that his next focus areas include the steel industry, expanding access to electricity and building additional port infrastructure to support large-scale manufacturing and trade.

The project will need sufficient capital, and recent dialogues with lenders like the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will give Mr Dangote the needed boost.

Already in its long-term growth strategy, Vision 2030: Supercharging Dangote Group for Long Term Success, the African bank outlined a two‑phase expansion programme spanning 2025–2028 and 2028–2030 that will see it back into new venture interests, including ports, pipelines, data centres, and mining.

To drive the growth over the five years, the Dangote Group predicts that it will require at least $40 billion in new investments to realise its continental ambitions.

“This is the very purpose for which our institution was created. As is deeply rooted in our DNA, we do not only listen—we execute and convert aspiration into action,” Afreximbank President, Mr George Elombi, said in April, backing the group’s ambitions.