<p>The president of Nigeria&#8217;s upper house of parliament is to be investigated by lawmakers over allegations that he attempted to evade payment of customs duties on a car, after parliamentarians voted on Tuesday to examine the matter.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The allegations, which could lead to Senate President Bukola Saraki, Nigeria&#8217;s third-ranking official and a member of President Muhammadu Buhari&#8217;s party, being impeached if found guilty, are the latest in a series of such claims levelled at him. He has denied any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Saraki still faces charges of falsely declaring his assets when he was a state governor from 2003 to 2011, to which he has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>The car duty allegations relate to newspaper reports that the Senate failed to pay import duties of 74 million naira ($240,650) on a bulletproof car worth 298 million naira. The reports said the car belonged to Saraki.</p>
<p>&#8220;We refer the matter to ethics and privileges (committee) to investigate, so that our colleagues would be cleared and this senate will stand as it supposed to,&#8221; said Ali Ndume, a senator who raised the motion to investigate Saraki.</p>
<p>The committee of lawmakers is expected to report its findings within four weeks.</p>
<p>&#8220;The allegation raised today by Senator Ali Ndume linking Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki to the importation of vehicle lacks basis as it was outright falsehood,&#8221; said Saraki&#8217;s spokesman, Yusuph Olaniyonu.</p>
<p>($1 = 307.5000 naira)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Hugh Lawson)</p>
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Nigeria’s Senate president to be investigated on customs allegations

<p>South Africa&#8217;s National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched a probe into the local unit of U.S. automaker Ford over the recall of 4,500 Kuga SUVs after dozens of reports of the vehicles catching fire spontaneously.</p>
<p>&#8220;The National Consumer Commission says that it has instituted an investigation into the activities of Ford Motor Company Southern Africa and its dealerships, for alleged prohibited conduct,&#8221; the commission said in a statement posted on its website.</p>
<p>&#8220;The NCC received more than 130 complaints against Ford SA relating to various issues, including the combusting of Kuga vehicles, since December last year,&#8221; it said.</p>
<p>Ford could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>
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<p>(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Kim Coghill)﻿</p>
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S.Africa's consumer watchdog to probe Ford after Kuga recall

<p>U.S. auto-maker Ford will recall 4,500 of its Kuga SUV models after dozens of reports of the vehicles catching fire spontaneously, the head of the company&#8217;s South Africa unit said on Monday.</p>
<p>In a joint statement with the National Consumer Commission, Ford&#8217;s Southern Africa President and chief executive Jeff Nemeth said the company could confirm 39 incidents of the cars catching fire, as well as one death, which Nemeth said was not directly linked to the defect.</p>
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<p>In October, the company&#8217;s North American arm recalled 400,000 units of the Ford Escape &#8211; the U.S. version of the Kuga &#8211; also due to engine problems.﻿</p>
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Ford S.Africa recalls Kuga SUV models after cars burst into flames

<p>Some 11 factories and flower farms and more than 60 vehicles have been damaged in unrest in Ethiopia in recent days, a local broadcaster said on Friday, adding to the list of businesses hurt by a wave of protests over land grabs and political rights.</p>
<p>Fana Broadcasting, seen as close to the state, reported on its website that the companies affected had created 40,000 jobs in a nation where an industrial drive has been hit by unrest in the Oromiya region.</p>
<p>The list of damaged factories included Turkish textile firm Saygin Dima, whose manager said this week a third of his plant was destroyed by fire. The radio also said two flower farms, a textile company and plastics maker had their sites damaged.﻿</p>
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Factories, flower farms and vehicles damaged in Ethiopian unrest

<p>Kenya&#8217;s removal of excise duty on locally assembled cars will boost the industry, but the government must make power supplies cheaper and address other concerns to draw more investment, the automobile industry association chief said on Thursday.</p>
<p>With little growth in mature markets, automakers are looking to tap into emerging African markets, but there is plenty of competition on the continent for where they might invest.</p>
<p>Kenya&#8217;s East African neighbour Ethiopia, for example, is building an assembly industry and boasts rapidly improving transport links and plentiful, cheap hydro-electric power.</p>
<p>Kenya currently mostly assembles trucks, pick-ups and buses from kits supplied by foreign manufacturers. Some 2,258 vehicles were assembled in the first four months of this year, the statistics office said.</p>
<p>However Volkswagen said this month it would resume car assembly in Kenya after closing a plant in the 1970s.</p>
<p>Rita Kavashe, the chairwoman of the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Association (KVMA), said scrapping excise duty offered an incentive to investors in Kenya, where economic growth of 6 percent a year is helping drive vehicle demand.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are anticipating now an increase in purchases of motor vehicles as a result,&#8221; she said, although the slow start to the year meant sales of both imported and locally assembled vehicles would be 14,000 in 2016 compared to 19,500 last year.</p>
<p>But she told Reuters the government had to address other issues that deterred manufacturers, by making electricity supplies cheaper and more reliable and improving efficiency at Mombasa port, a heavily congested regional trade gateway.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cost of electricity has not gone down at all &#8230; The cost is still very high in Kenya so that is a real challenge that needs to be addressed,&#8221; said Kavashe, who is also head of General Motors East Africa, a big assembler in Kenya.</p>
<p>Sales of locally assembled cars plunged 30 percent in the first six months of this year, partly due to the excise duty introduced in January at a flat rate of 150,000 shillings ($1,483) on each assembled vehicle.</p>
<p>The government reversed that decision this month saying it wanted to foster local assembly of vehicles, in which kits supplied by foreign brands are bolted together.</p>
<p>Kavashe said investors also needed reassurance about next year&#8217;s election in Kenya, a nation that has long suffered from political strife.</p>
<p>($1 = 101.1500 Kenyan shillings)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Potter)﻿</p>
<p> </p>


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Nigeria’s Senate president to be investigated on customs allegations

S.Africa's consumer watchdog to probe Ford after Kuga recall

Ford S.Africa recalls Kuga SUV models after cars burst into flames

Factories, flower farms and vehicles damaged in Ethiopian unrest

Incentives to attract investment in Kenya's automotive industry

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vehicles

Nigeria’s Senate president to be investigated on customs allegations

S.Africa's consumer watchdog to probe Ford after Kuga recall

Ford S.Africa recalls Kuga SUV models after cars burst into flames

Factories, flower farms and vehicles damaged in Ethiopian unrest

Incentives to attract investment in Kenya's automotive industry

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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