By Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan authorities will start to crack down on informal remittance inflows as the country seeks to bolster its reserves to meet more than $4.5 billion in debt repayments due next year.

Central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said he has seen a $300 million drop in remittances in just the last month, and vowed to use anti-money laundering laws to stop informal channels from funnelling away millions of dollars of vital foreign exchange reserves from the banking system. read more

Here are details of Sri Lanka's precarious forex position and the reasons it seeks to halt flows via informal channels:

WHY DOES SRI LANKA WANT TO BOLSTER REMITTANCES VIA FORMAL CHANNELS?

Remittances and tourism, traditionally among the top sources of foreign exchange earnings, have been hit hard by the pandemic. Tourism receipts slumped to $92.5 million in the first nine months of 2021 from $4.3 billion in 2018.

Remittances, which were robust in 2020, fell 9.3% as of Sept. 30 to $4.5 billion from $5.1 billion over the same period in 2020, and declines have accelerated since October.

Sri Lanka's sovereign ratings have been downgraded multiple times in recent months by major rating agencies as it struggled with low public revenues, sluggish growth and reserves that slumped to $2.3 billion as of Oct. 31.

The country must make an estimated $4.5 billion in debt and interest payments in 2022, including servicing a $500 million international sovereign bond maturity in January. Meanwhile, its trade deficit in the first nine months of the year ballooned to $6 billion from $4.3 billion in the same period last year.

WHY HAVE REMITTANCE FLOWS INTO SRI LANKA VIA FORMAL CHANNELS SLUMPED?

In early September, as the Sri Lankan rupee weakened sharply the central bank directed banks to unofficially set the exchange rate at between 200 and 203 Sri Lankan rupees to a dollar.

However, currency pressure caused by an expanding trade deficit, limited foreign exchange earnings and concerns around debt repayments have resulted in the rupee changing hands at between 255 and 265 rupee per dollar via informal channels. Migrant workers remitted money via the informal "hawala" system, and remittances via official channels fell to $353 million in September from $703 million in the same month last year.

The central bank is now offering migrant workers 10 rupees extra for every dollar they remit via formal channels, but there are doubts this will work given the more attractive exchange rate in unofficial channels. read more

HOW DO INFORMAL CHANNELS WORK?

The "hawala" or "undiyal" transfer system allows migrant workers to remit funds, usually cash in the currency they earn in is given to a middleman who in turn ensures that the person's family in Sri Lanka receives the equivalent amount in rupees.

The central bank is now threatening to freeze accounts that receive any unexplained cash transfers or deposits.

WHY SRI LANKA DOES NOT WANT TO LET THE RUPEE DEPRECIATE FURTHER?

Sri Lanka's retail inflation has accelerated to nearly a decade-high of 9.9% in November, well above the central bank's 4%-6% target range.

Allowing the rupee to float freely could sharply accelerate inflation for the largely import dependent island economy.

HOW DOES THE CENTRAL BANK HOPE TO FIX ITS WEAK FINANCES?

The central bank wants to boost reserves by capturing more remittance inflows and is counting on a revival in tourism.

Having a greater share of remittance flows is vital as it plans to securitise a portion of the remittances and use this as a guarantee to borrow additional funds. The country is also exploring swap deals with other central banks and credit lines to support imports of essential goods such as food, medicines and fuel. read 

Editing by Euan Rocha and Jacqueline Wong

By Dennis Erezi

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK has described the Britain’s decision to put the West African country on its red list as a “travel apartheid”.

Britain added Nigeria to its travel red list and will enforce stricter entry rules starting Monday, over concerns of the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.

All travellers from Nigeria to Britain will also have to quarantine on arrival in hotels for 10 days regardless of  vaccination status. The Guardian UK reported that quarantine would cost of £2,285

The new restrictions were put in place to slow down the spread of Omicron variant of COVID-19, Britain’s health minister Savid Javid said.

“We’ve kept the data under review over the last week or so since we learned about Omicron, and we’re seeing increasing number of cases linked to travel,” Javid said in a broadcast.

Sarafa Tunji Isola, who is Nigeria’s ambassador to the UK told the BBC that “the reaction in Nigeria is that of travel apartheid.”

“Because Nigeria is actually aligned with the position of the UN secretary general that the travel ban is apartheid, in the sense that we’re not dealing with an endemic situation, we are dealing with a pandemic situation, and what is expected is a global approach, not selective.”

Isola added that Omicron “is classified as a mild variant – no hospitalisation, no deaths. So the issue is quite different from the Delta variant.”

UK  minister for policing Kit Malthouse said the wording “travel apartheid” was “very unfortunate language”.

“We understand the difficulties that’s created by these travel restrictions, but we’re trying to buy a little bit of time so that our scientists… can work on the virus and assess how difficult it’s going to be for us to cope with as a country,” Malthouse said.

The Nigerian government, however, said the UK’s decision was “unfair” and “discriminatory”.

“I can say, without mincing words, that the decision by the British government to put Nigeria on the red list, just because of less than two dozen cases of Omicron which, by the way, did not originate in Nigeria, is unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible and discriminatory,” Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohammed told a press conference in Abuja.

Mohammed argued that the UK’s “decision is also not driven by science.”

The Nigerian government has said it is not considering the imposition of travel restrictions despite the growing threat of Omicron, a recently discovered COVID-19 variant.

The government’s position was stated by the health minister, Osagie Ehanire, on Sunday night.

After the discovery of the new variant in late November, the European Union and countries in the Americas and Asia announced flight restrictions to many African countries, including Nigeria.

The flight restrictions have, however, been condemned by many experts including the World Health Organisation as being discriminatory. The experts say that although the Omicron variant was first isolated in South Africa, it had been detected in other non-African countries.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced three cases of Omicron in the country on Wednesday, saying they were detected in recent travellers to South Africa.

Speaking on this development on Wednesday night, on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme, Mr Ehanire said the imposition of the travel ban is not being considered by the Nigerian government yet.

He said it would be wrong to describe the Omicron variant as deadly, for now.

“Up till now, it cannot be classified as deadly because of zero fatalities…no severe illness has been reported as about 246 (cases) have been identified. I think about 86 In the last 24 hours but have not reported any fatalities or any severe illness, not to my knowledge,” the minister said.

“And of course, not rushing into judgment. And we’re also not applauding any lockdowns or any prohibition, banning of flights or movement of people until we know more.

“We believe that the harm it will do to livelihoods and to plants and to economists might be more than the pursuit value that might be derived from shutting down the movement between countries,” he said.

Mr Ehanire said Nigeria had, as of the time of the interview, recorded only six cases of the Omicron virus while over 300 persons have been identified as carriers in South Africa.

Vaccination
The minister said about seven per cent of Nigeria’s over 250 million population have taken their first doses of the COVID19 vaccine.

He said the government was committed to vaccinating 70 per cent of its eligible population.

Mr Ehanire admitted that some people were using fake COVID19 test results in the country but identified it as a global problem; saying travellers from other countries, including the UK, have been caught with fake COVID19 test results.

With the spread of the coronavirus and its variants, Mr Ehanire said, Nigeria now requires travellers to the country to undergo the COVID-19 test maximum of 14 hours before the departure to Nigeria.

The minister urged Nigerians to continue to take COVID-19 protocols including the use of face masks and social distancing, including during the festive season.

By Felix Onuah

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria on Monday criticised Britain's decision to add the country to a travel "red list" due to coronavirus concerns as unjust and not driven by science.

Nigeria joined South Africa and nine other Southern African countries on the list as of 0400 GMT on Monday after the British health ministry said most of its cases of the new Omicron variant had clear links to overseas travel from Nigeria and South Africa.

The addition means only UK citizens and residents traveling from Nigeria are allowed entry to Britain and they must quarantine for 10 days in a hotel upon arrival.

"The decision by the British government to put Nigeria on the red list, just because of less than two dozen cases of Omicron...is unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible and discriminatory. The decision is also not driven by science," Information Minister Lai Mohammed said.

The move was "a knee-jerk reaction" that would be detrimental to efforts to fight the pandemic, he said. Western countries should focus on aiding vaccine access in Africa rather than closing their borders, he said.

First reported in southern Africa, the Omicron variant has highlighted the vaccination gap between rich nations the developing world. Nigeria last week confirmed its first Omicron cases.

Canada and Hong Kong also barred non-resident travelers from Nigeria due to concerns over the Omicron variant, while South Korea said it detected the Omicron variant in fully vaccinated travellers who arrived from Nigeria.

(Reporting By Felix Onuah, writing by Libby George, editing by Angus MacSwan)

Changes to the testing and quarantine rules are being introduced.

Following the recent approval of the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA), Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, has announced the commencement of scheduled flights into the airport on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

Revealing this to journalists in a news release issued on Saturday, Air Peace’s Spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, stated that Anambra people can heave a sigh of relief as they can now fly directly from Lagos and Abuja into the Umueri located Airport, adding that the airline would kick-off with four flights per week.

“This is great news for the people of Anambra State as we are launching four flights weekly into the new airport on Tuesday. For a start, we shall be operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and as operations gather momentum, we shall increase frequencies to daily flights”.

Olisa, who said that passengers can start booking on Air Peace’s website or its mobile app, stressed that the airline plans to connect Anambra to other cities not only Lagos and Abuja.

“By the end of January 2022, we will have commenced the following connections: Anambra-Kano-Anambra, Anambra-Ibadan-Anambra and Anambra-Port Harcourt-Anambra. Air Peace is unwaveringly determined to interconnect Nigeria, providing connections which facilitate seamless economic exchanges and foster unity”.

He asserted that the consistent route expansion by the airline is a reflection of its no-city-left-behind initiative which has seen the airline expand its footprints both in Nigeria and beyond while easing the transportation burden of Nigerians.

Air Peace currently services 19 domestic routes, 6 regional routes and two international destinations, and operates an increasing modern fleet of 32 aircraft, including 4 brand new Embraer 195-E2 jets and 2 Airbus 320s.

BY  Dan Murphy and Emma Graham  and Abigail Ng

KEY POINTS

A view of a street in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Valery Sharifulin | TASS | Getty Images

The United Arab Emirates will move its weekend to Saturday and Sunday starting next year, the UAE media office said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The shift is significant, given Friday has long been a sacred day for worshippers of Islam. Most countries in the Gulf have Friday to Saturday weekends.

The country will have a four-½-day working week, with the weekend starting on Friday afternoon and lasting until Sunday.

According to the tweet by the government’s media office, the longer weekend is meant to “boost productivity and improve work-life balance.”

The changes will kick in from Jan. 1, 2022, and will apply to federal government entities.

Friday working hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., the government media office said. Working hours from Monday to Thursday will start at 7.30am and end at 3.30pm.

“Adopting an agile working system will enable the UAE to rapidly respond to emerging changes and enhance wellbeing in the workplace,” state news agency WAM said in a report.

“From an economic perspective, the new working week will better align the UAE with global markets, reflecting the country’s strategic status on the global economic map,” and is designed to smooth trade, financial and economic transactions with other countries, it added.

The country will also be hoping the move boosts “not only trading opportunities but also add to the flexible, secure and enjoyable lifestyle the UAE offers to its citizens and residents,” according to WAM.

BY  Oyetunji Abioye and Okechukwu Nnodim

…BA reschedules Lagos-London flights over quarantine rule

The travel bans imposed by Canada and the United Kingdom on Nigeria passengers have hit foreign airlines operating in the country, with many of the carriers now perfecting plans to cut flights into Nigeria in coming days or weeks.

Aside from Canada and the UK, Singapore and Indonesia had also imposed travel ban on travelers from Nigeria, following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings from airline officials revealed that majority of the foreign carriers were already making necessary arrangements to reduce significantly their flight frequencies into Nigeria.

The development, according to airline officials, follows massive cancellations of flight reservations by intending passengers who had confirmed ticket bookings for travels in December, January and beyond.

Specifically, they said the travel bans imposed by Canada and the United Kingdom, which are two main destinations popular with Nigeria passengers, were impacting adversely on their flight reservations for the next one to three months.

“Canada and the United Kingdom are popular destinations for Nigeria travelers. These are key markets for us as international airlines operating in Nigeria. Hundreds of Nigerian passengers fly in and out of these two countries on a daily basis. So, the ban by the two countries is affecting our numbers significantly,” an official of KLM, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said.

It was learnt that the European carriers were hit most by the travel ban.

Also, an official of AirFrance who confided in one of our correspondents, disclosed that many of the carriers might reduce their frequencies from daily flights to twice or three times a week.

“Imagine! We used to have about 80 passengers going to London on our Lagos-Paris flight. On Monday when the ban commenced, passengers transiting through Charles de Gaulle to London were just 10 in number. This is bad for business. We will definitely cut flights,” the official added.

Moreover, another official said BA flew very scanty number of passengers from Lagos airport on Monday when the ban commenced, adding that flights might be cancelled outright if the situation persisted.

“I learnt BA left Lagos airport with less than 50 passengers. How can a jumbo plane of such go with that kind scanty number of passengers?” the official queried.

Meanwhile, British Airways has informed travel agencies in Nigeria about a change in its flight schedules on the Nigerian route, following the ban on Nigeria by the UK government.

British Airways plane which used to arrive at the Lagos airport around 6pm and depart 11pm on daily basis will now arrive early in the morning to depart a few hours later.

The development is to allow the passengers arriving in the UK to have access to quarantine facilities, according to officials.

BA made this known in a notice, titled, “Restrictions for travel from Nigeria to the UK,” which was sent to the local travel agencies.

This came as it was gathered in Abuja on Monday that most passengers of the airline stayed away from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, due to the restrictions by the carrier and the travel ban on Nigeria travelers by the UK government.

The notice by British Airways to travel agencies read in part, “As a result of the UK government placing Nigeria on to the red list, we continue to closely monitor the situation and adjust our schedule accordingly.

“All flights from Lagos to London Heathrow have been re-timed. This is due to restrictions at London Heathrow to support arrivals from a red-list country.

“All customers travelling from Nigeria must follow the UK government’s rules on arrivals from a red-list country and have a negative PCR test result within the 48 hours prior to their departure from Nigeria.”

It added, “Only British or Irish nationals or customers who have residence rights in the UK will be allowed to enter the UK, where they will be required to quarantine in a government facility.”

The airline further explained that arrivals from Nigeria would land at Heathrow Terminal 5 where any customer whose journey terminates, would be taken on a bus to Terminal 4 for processing.

This, it said, would be prior to being escorted to their pre-purchased quarantine hotel, adding that the customer’s bags would also be taken directly to Terminal 4.

It stressed that any customer wishing to transfer must follow the rules for their final destination.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Amb. Oludare Awoniyi,  has said that both countries are in talks to establish direct Air link to foster trade relations between Africa and South America.

Awoniyi made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Caracas.

He noted that presently, it takes an exhausting 40 hours of travel across both continents for a journey that should take only eight hours.

The Ambassador said that the Air link will not only be beneficial to Nigeria and Venezuela, but also other countries of Africa, South America and the world in general.

He said both countries would serve as transit hub for travellers, thereby, boosting their economies.

“Right now, we have to travel about 40 hours to get here through Turkish Airlines and we are thinking of the possibilities of linking Nigeria with Venezuela direct.

“Caracas to Lagos, Abuja and maybe a city like Maracaibo here so that we have two stops in Nigeria and two stops in Venezuela to bring our people closer.”

“The distance is particularly important because the air travel does not necessarily in itself generate much income for nations, but it does generate the links to do business.

“You can now ship and link goods and products after meetings and agreements. You can now use ships to move goods in mass because airlines cannot meet the quantities.

“But that ability to quickly go and come helps businesses. For example, if we have direct links we will be flying to Nigeria in eight hours because of the equatorial winds.

“And if you can travel fifteen hours to and fro, it means that technically, you can live in Lagos, come to Caracas, visit a factory or a farm, do your agreement and fly back, then the business itself will continue.

“It is easier for Nigeria to get in a different direction now because they can get it faster there, but if we get an air link, it will strengthen the relationship more,” Awoniyi said.

The envoy said Nigeria and Venezuela have good bilateral relations which could be further strengthened by establishing an air link.

He said the bilateral relations improved radically when late President Hugo Chavez visited Nigeria twice and the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo also visited twice.

“There were also visits by Venezuela’s Vice President and Ministers.

“We have very good relations with them and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here is interested in fostering the relationship with Nigeria.

“President Nicolas Maduro has expressed the desire to strengthen relations with Nigeria and improve what we have.

“We have a lot of MoUs and agreements pending their implementation. We have twenty-five of them, 10 have been signed,15 are been reviewed.

“We are hoping that we can begin implementation of those agreements and when we do, the relationship is even going to be closer,” Awoniyi said.

BY  Sami Tunji

The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has urged the United Kingdom, Canada and other Western nations to lift the travel bans imposed on African countries.

He said this through his Twitter handle @akin_adesina on Sunday.

He said, “Now that Omicron has been found in many non-African and developed countries, why are travels from those countries not banned? Why single out African countries? Singling out African countries is very unfair, non-scientific and discriminatory. Lift bans on African countries! @WHO”

He said the bans were endangering lives and hurting economies in the continent.

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“Global vaccines and travel Apartheid against Africa are endangering lives, hurting economies, lives, jobs and livelihoods, from a pandemic Africa did not cause. End the Apartheid. Respect Africa! @WHO @antonioguterres,” he added.

The PUNCH had earlier reported Adesina as saying that Africa should not be punished for the Omicron variant.