Aliko Dangote, Africa's wealthiest person, has selected Lamu Island on Kenya's northern coast as the location for a planned US$17 billion oil refinery that would eliminate East Africa's dependence on imported fuel; no construction timeline or financing arrangement was disclosed

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu announced on August 7 that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as part of a plan to use the capital market to finance a one-trillion-US-dollar economy, framing the NNPC IPO as the centerpiece of a broader reform push

A Federal High Court in Abuja remanded Nwaogu Ihechimere Ezeakolam, a retired operative of Nigeria's Department of State Services, in Kuje Prison on August 6 on charges of membership in the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB); IPOB publicly distanced itself from the defendant, raising suspicion about the circumstances of the case; trial is set for October 29

An earth tremor shook parts of Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, on August 6; The Cable reported Nigeria's federal government activated enhanced seismic monitoring; Minister Dele Alake called for calm and ordered hourly updates on seismic activity

Jessica Oji, 19, won the women's shot put title at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon on August 7, throwing 18.08 metres; Premium Times called her the first Nigerian to win a world title in a field event at the competition; Leadership said she ended Nigeria's 24-year wait for a women's field-event medal at the Under-20 level

Nigeria's women's national team, the Super Falcons, defeated Egypt 6-2 in Rabat on August 6 to advance from Group C at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and set up a quarter-final against Cameroon; all eight WAFCON 2026 quarter-final fixtures are now confirmed after the conclusion of the group stage

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu approved salary increases of 30 to 80 per cent for all armed forces personnel on August 4, lifting the annual military payroll to ₦924bn; the increase covers roughly 250,000 officers and soldiers and comes as Nigeria fights concurrent insurgencies in the north-east and north-west

Nigeria's military and police rescued 308 people abducted from Kwara and Niger states on August 5, in what President Tinubu's office called the largest single-day rescue operation ever conducted by Nigerian security agencies; Tinubu directed agencies to intensify early warning systems and community intelligence after the operation

Three more teams, Cameroon, Morocco, and Algeria, qualified for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2026 quarterfinals on August 3-4 in Morocco; Algeria sealed Kenya's elimination with a draw in Rabat; Senegal finished third in the group with four points; the quarterfinal line-up is now set

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said on August 2 that Nigeria's Tinubu administration's defense of its economic record bears no resemblance to the hardship confronting millions of Nigerians; Nigeria's Presidency fired back on August 3, dismissing his N7.98 trillion oil windfall claim as based on outdated data and demanding evidence

The headquarters of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria in Abuja was gutted by fire on the evening of August 1; the blaze reportedly started on the fourth floor of the building, which also houses a Zenith Bank branch

Australia dominated Glasgow 2026 with 70 gold medals and 171 overall, ahead of England and Canada; India finished fourth with 39 medals despite leading the table after Day 10 on the strength of its women's boxing sweep; Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo ended a 32-year Commonwealth medal drought; the closing ceremony on August 2 passed the hosting baton to Ahmedabad for the 2030 centenary edition

Nigeria's Super Falcons defeated Zambia 1-0 in their Group C second fixture at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat, Morocco on August 1, with Asisat Oshoala scoring the winner while Nigeria played with ten players after a red card; in Group B on the same day, South Africa rallied from 2-0 down to draw with Côte d'Ivoire, while Burkina Faso narrowly beat Tanzania

Nigeria's Super Falcons crushed Egypt 6-2 in their Group C finale at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations on August 5, reaching the quarterfinals against Cameroon; Asisat Oshoala left injured; South Africa beat Burkina Faso 1-0, with Thembi Kgatlana scoring in the 21st minute, to set up a quarterfinal against hosts Morocco; Côte d'Ivoire topped Group B after beating Tanzania 2-1

A classified intelligence alert from Nigeria's Department of State Services warning of planned major Boko Haram and bandit attacks on officials, pastors, and residents in Michika (Adamawa) and Askira-Uba (Borno) was leaked and published by multiple Nigerian outlets on July 30-31; the Nigerian Army launched an internal investigation into the breach rather than confirming or denying the threat itself

All major party candidates contesting Nigeria's Osun State governorship election on August 15 signed a peace pact on July 30 brokered by INEC chairman, and political parties separately sealed a peace accord under the National Peace Committee chaired by former head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar; the Accord Party then petitioned President Bola Tinubu and the Inspector General of Police over alleged police intimidation of its members in the weeks before polling day

Dangote Cement reported half-year 2026 net profit of roughly NGN638.5-639 billion on July 30, a 23% rise from NGN520.5 billion in H1 2025, on revenues of NGN2.5 trillion; strong Nigerian domestic demand and a 10% increase in production volume drove the result; Pan-African operations reported a profit decline, creating a split performance within Africa's largest cement producer

Exclusive reporting by Nigeria's Premium Times on July 29, 2026 reveals new details from the ongoing trial of six men accused of plotting to overthrow Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in 2025; the alleged mastermind paid millions of naira to Islamic clerics to seek spiritual backing for the coup, and the plotters planned to recruit repentant Boko Haram fighters and Civilian Joint Task Force members to form an armed force

Suspected gunmen attacked the Naridon community in southern Kaduna State, Nigeria, overnight on July 27, killing at least 30 people including eight children and burning houses; SOKAPU, a group representing southern Kaduna communities, condemned the attack and wrote to the state's Commissioner of Police calling for urgent security measures

South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola delivered a personal message from President Cyril Ramaphosa to Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, as both governments announced joint measures to protect foreign nationals after a wave of anti-immigrant attacks strained bilateral ties.

Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate and former Anambra governor, said on July 26-27 that President Bola Tinubu is 'tired' and should be 'allowed to retire' rather than seek a second term in 2027, citing the president's inability to address Nigeria's worsening hunger, poverty and insecurity

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on July 26, asking a court to compel the state oil firm to account for N211 trillion recorded as 'Sundry Receivables' and 'Accrued Expenses' in its 2023 audited financial statements, saying the unexplained entries undermine transparency and public oversight

Nigeria's Monetary Policy Committee retained the Central Bank of Nigeria's benchmark Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5% at the 306th MPC meeting on July 21, 2026, its second consecutive hold; CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso presented the communique, and businesses and economists backed the decision, per Punch Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria's Monetary Policy Committee voted on July 21 to keep the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5%, the same level set at its May meeting, as the Iran conflict and global trade disruption pushed the MPC toward caution

Nigeria and Germany confirmed they will hold high-level bilateral talks covering trade expansion, security cooperation, and climate action, with Nigeria's foreign ministry describing the engagement as a push for deeper cooperation with Europe's largest economy

Nigeria's Independent Corrupt Practices Commission questioned Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, on July 20 over his alleged links to the PFIPC, a fictitious government agency that was funded from Nigeria's national budget; Tinubu himself ordered the ICPC to investigate

Nigeria's Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced Ansaru commanders Mahmud Usman (known as Abu Bara'a) and Abubakar Abba (known as Mahmud Al-Nigeri) to life imprisonment on July 20, 2026, after both men changed their pleas to guilty on a 32-count terrorism indictment; Nigeria's Department of State Services said it would appeal the sentence and seek the death penalty

Leaders at an ECOWAS summit in Freetown signed an agreement on Sunday July 19 endorsing the Nigeria-Morocco African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, which would carry 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year from Nigeria through West Africa to Morocco and on to Europe; the project, launched by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, carries an estimated cost of US$250 billion

Nigeria and Ghana's foreign ministries issued a joint condemnation on July 20 of ongoing anti-immigrant violence targeting African nationals in South Africa, describing the incidents as 'Afrophobic,' and called for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the next African Union summit; the two governments said the attacks undermine the ideals of African unity

Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Ghana's foreign minister agreed at an ECOWAS summit bilateral meeting to deepen cooperation against anti-immigrant violence in South Africa and to table 'Afrophobia' at the next African Union summit.

A Nigerian court ruled on July 15 that 48 properties tied to former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami must be permanently forfeited to the government, finding the respondents failed to rebut the EFCC's case that the assets were proceeds of crime

All the schoolchildren and teachers abducted from three schools in the Oriire local government area of Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, were freed on July 10 after a joint security operation; eight bandits were arrested and several others were reported killed; the abduction, which happened in early May, was one of the few large-scale school kidnappings recorded in southwestern Nigeria, a region historically less affected by banditry than the northwest.

Nigeria Revenue Service data published July 8 shows the country's external reserves rose from US$3.99bn to US$50.11bn and federal tax collections rose from ₦12.3tn to ₦28.3tn since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023; the Federal Ministry of Industry simultaneously reaffirmed Nigeria's readiness for global energy investment

UTM Offshore signed a 15-year gas supply agreement with NNPC and Seplat in Abuja on July 8, securing 200 million standard cubic feet per day of feed gas for Nigeria's first floating LNG project; the deal is expected to unlock a final investment decision in Q4 2026 for the US$3 billion-plus project, which will produce 1.8 million tonnes of LNG per year

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate how a fictitious government body secured close to US$1m in public funds, with a full report due within 30 days; civil society groups, opposition politicians and senior lawyers have called for a fully independent inquiry instead

The Nigeria Immigration Service ended its contract with Online Integrated Solution, the third-party company running Nigeria's visa application and submission centres in the United States, effective July 1; people in the US seeking Nigerian visas or travel documents must now go directly to Nigerian embassies and consulates; no reason was given for the suspension and no review timeline set

WFP reported a 2-million increase in acutely food-insecure people across nine conflict-affected northern Nigerian states; Borno alone has 3 million in crisis, and WFP can reach fewer than 1 in 8 at-risk people

H1 crossed US$1bn for a third straight year but fell from US$1.45bn; June's US$415m was 65% Spiro; capital concentrated in about 15 cities

Africa's richest man unveiled a 2,000 MW coal plant, urea factory and port in Tanzania after talks with President Suluhu; Congo's national oil company separately opened supply talks with the Lagos refinery, part of a US$46 billion 2026-2028 expansion

The University of Zurich's Ethnographic Museum, Museum Rietberg Zurich, and Geneva's MEG handed over 18 looted Benin artefacts at the National Museum in Lagos on June 29, the first transfer under a March 2026 agreement; four Ikom monoliths and a bronze bracelet seized as criminal proceeds were included

Fighters arrived on motorcycles during NECO exams on June 29, shot dead a teacher, and took approximately 50 people; the Army rescued 10; this is the third mass school abduction in northeast Nigeria since May

Finance Minister Oyedele confirmed the first tranche of a total-return swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank after the Federal Executive Council meeting; the IMF has warned the structure is hard to monitor and could hide the true scale of public debt

Nigeria's 16th president since May 2023, who built the APC coalition and launched the continent's most closely watched fuel-subsidy and currency reform.

Recurring friction between central governments and subnational units over fiscal, police, and legislative authority, reshaping democratic federalism in India, Nigeria, and the United States.

Nigeria's commercial capital is Africa's fastest-growing tech ecosystem, home to five unicorns and the continent's densest concentration of fintech startups.

Nigeria's 17-year jihadist conflict in the northeast, led by ISWAP and Boko Haram, has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and entered an escalating phase in mid-2026.

Hivemind Capital leads with the Aptos Foundation, Lattice and Alliance; ex-Circle and Helicarrier founders offer virtual dollar accounts settling into the naira

Tinubu's executive bill clears the upper house; 24 of 36 state assemblies must still ratify before governors can run their own forces

Gunmen seized pupils aged 2 to 16 and seven teachers in May; one teacher murdered, the rest still captive in June, amid a wider wave of mass abductions and Middle-Belt killings

NewTrails, an affiliate of smartphone maker Transsion, tops up a round that also drew Afreximbank's FEDA; Spiro runs 100,000+ EVs and 2,500 swap stations across seven markets

A manual vote after the electronic system failed ratified a dual policing structure giving Nigeria's 36 governors power to appoint their own commissioners; two-thirds of state assemblies must still endorse it

81 villagers killed in Gubio on 9 June; 20 soldiers in Monguno and 40+ civilians in Nganzai on 13 June, as critics call the Presidency's 'sign of desperation' framing a cover for a major security failure

A ceremony in Aoulef, Algeria on June 4 marked full construction commencement on the 4,128-kilometre pipeline; at $13 billion and 30 billion cubic metres per year of planned capacity, it is the largest gas infrastructure project in Africa in a generation

Markets and FAAC allocations have surged since the subsidy was cut and the naira floated, but petrol has risen more than fourfold and households are still squeezed

Atiku takes the ADC ticket; Obi and Kwankwaso bolt to the NDC, handing the president two rival challengers instead of one, just as the 2027 race opens