A source told Al Jazeera that four people were killed on Saturday in the northern Gondar region, in addition to two people killed in the area on Friday. Located 700km north of Addis Ababa, Gondar is a region dominated by the ethnic Amharas.

Ethiopian authorities would not confirm the death toll.

The reported deaths come as dozens of ethnic Oromo protesters were arrested in Addis Ababa on Saturday.

At least 500 Oromo people – protesting against alleged economic inequality and discrimination – gathered amid a heavy police presence on the capital's main Meskel Square.

The protesters, who shouted slogans such as "we want our freedom" and "free our political prisoners", were dispersed by police using batons. Dozens were arrested.

A Reuters news agency video of the confrontation showed unarmed protesters being beaten and kicked by police officers, as protesters ran to evade arrest.

Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn on Friday announced a ban on demonstrations, which "threaten national unity" and called on police to use all means at their disposal to prevent them.

The rally was organised by opposition groups from the Oromo, Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, who have held protests for months against what they say is government discrimination. They have been joined recently by ethnic Amharas, and protests have been reported in other parts of the country.

The Oromo and Amhara together make up some 80 percent of Ethiopia's population and claim they suffer discrimination in favour of ethnic Tigrayans, who they say occupy the key jobs in the government and security forces.

Ethiopian authorities told the AFP news agency that at least a dozen people have been killed in clashes with police over territorial disputes in recent weeks.

Local people told AFP there had been rallies and clashes with police in the city of Ambo and Nemekte, in the Oromo region, as well as a calls for protests in Baher Dar in the Amhara region.

 

The Management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Lagos Region, on Sunday announced a one-day power outage in some parts of Lagos on Monday to effect repairs.

TCN announced the outage in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Celestina Osin, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

The statement said the areas that would be affected include Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Alagbon, Apapa, Ijora, Surulere, Itire, Oshodi, Mushin, Nigerian Air Force Base, Shogunle and all their environs.

It said that there was an urgent need by the company to disrupt electricity supply to them from the Akangba 132KV Transmission Substation on July 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The statement said the reason for the planned outage was to enable the MBH contractor carry out important repairs on the Itire 132KV Transmission Line 1 and the Ojo 132KV Transmission Line 2.

It noted that it was from the lines that the areas were fed electricity.

“During the period the outage will last, the 4×90 MVA power transformers and another 150MVA power transformer will be out of service at the Akamgba 132KV Substation to provide a safe working space for the workers.

“We promise to restore supply to all the affected areas as soon as the work is concluded.

“We sincerely apologise for the short notice for the outage and regrets inconveniences this will cause all that will be affected,” the statement said.

Abuja — The federal government Monday disclosed that it was already making efforts to generate electricity from nuclear materials, particularly through the exploration, exploitation and utilisation of uranium.

It said to achieve this it has invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct a one week training for nuclear practitioners as well as security officers in the country on the extraction, exploitation and utilisation of the substance.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said at the opening ceremony for the national training course on nuclear security for the uranium extraction industry in Abuja, that it was important for Nigeria to exploit available resources to meet her power needs.

Fayemi, who was represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr. Wuyep Karnap, said: “Last week at the National Council on Power conference in Kaduna, the issue of uranium for power generation was actually canvassed as a vital component in the energy mix equation.

“So, this training is coming at the right time where capacity to explore, exploit and utilise uranium for power generation and other uses cannot be overemphasised. And apart from the exploration, exploitation and utilisation, the security and health aspects of uranium needs to be taken care of, and that is why we have security delegates here.”

The government in March, announced it was working towards generating 4,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity using nuclear energy.

It stated then that the plan was to start a programme in the coming years that will give the country 1,000MW in the first instance, which will be increased to 4,000MW thereafter.

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NNRA), Prof. Lawrence Dim, however told journalists that the latest training would expose participants on how to improve uranium for power generation, as the country does not have the required technology to do that at the moment.

When asked if it was now safe to explore the nuclear substance across the country, Dim said: “Uranium exploration in Nigeria is quite safe. We have not had any cause to find out that there is any high level of radiation or exposure relating to that.

“The issue is that the uranium we get in our soil is the natural uranium; although it has radioactive material, the concentration is low. So we don’t have any situation where the level of radiation coming out from it is detected to be harmful.”

He added: “This course is also to enlighten our people on the implication of uranium mining. For if somebody gets a substantial part of uranium, that will trigger security concern. So we have developed regulations and have gazetted them to practitioners to serve as a guide in the usage and movement of uranium materials.”

Also, the Senior Nuclear Security Officer for IAEA, Mr. Robert Larsen, stated that the exploration of uranium in Nigeria does not pose any threat to global security.

“I don’t think so, I have no reason to believe that at all. As a matter of fact I believe Nigeria is a good nuclear partner and that’s is why the agency is here to see how we can assist in uranium extraction,” Larsen said.

South Africa has flexed its economic muscle, telling Zimbabwe to reduce duty and surtax on 112 products in response to Harare’s recent trade restrictions.

Last month, Zimbabwe promulgated Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016 that restricted the importation of many products in a bid to protect local industries.

The import restriction has riled regional neighbours and the matter came up for discussion when Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha met his South African counterpart Rob Davies in South Africa last week.

The meeting was a follow up to the bilateral meeting of officials from the ministry of Industry and Commerce and their South African counterparts on July 20 on trade matters.

Briefing journalists on Friday on the meeting, Bimha said in response to the request of a review on surtax and duty, government offered to get back to them in an official capacity in “two weeks”.

“There are 112 products which they [South Africa] want us to consider in terms of phasing down duty and surtax,” he said.

“We would want to carry out consultations because some of these products would require input from other ministries and institutions.

“There was no communication to me that there was going to be a retaliatory response from South Africa to SI 64 of 2016.

“We have not banned anything; we are only regulating.

“In terms of the World Trade Organisation, provision is made for a country to resort to a safeguard measure if there is evidence of a surge of imports that will affect a country’s manufacturing sector.”

Bimha said the proposed review on duty and surtax on the 112 products was not in retaliation to the import ban.

However, Bimha’s remarks were in contrast to a statement posted by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in which Davies tells his counterpart of the continued introduction of trade restrictive measures on South African exports destined to Zimbabwe.

It said the two ministers agreed that Zimbabwe would respond to South Africa’s request that where there was no productive capacity in Zimbabwe, such products should not be subjected to trade restrictive measures.

“Zimbabwe committed to provide a response in preparation for the extraordinary committee of ministers meeting scheduled for August 24 2016. Furthermore, Minister Bimha indicated that Zimbabwe will apply for a derogation and will provide greater clarity on the duration of these measures,” DTI said.

At the meeting, Davies reminded Bimha that the integrity of the Sadc Trade Protocol was placed at risk by the introduction of a range of trade restrictive measures that limited intra-Sadc trade, but “have the effect of opening the Zimbabwean market to non-Sadc imports into Zimbabwe.”

“South Africa hopes that the government of Zimbabwe will respond positively to the concerns raised by South Africa to ensure that the Zimbabwean market remains open to South Africa while at the same time being sensitive to Zimbabwe’s industrial development and balance of payments challenges,” it added.

Early this month, Zimbabwe removed many products from the open general import licence, a move which riled regional neighbours, notably South Africa with DTI warning that such restrictions would have negative implications on intra-regional trade.

Goods that have been removed from the open general import licence and now require a permit to be brought into the country include coffee creamers (Cremora), camphor creams, white petroleum jellies and body creams.

Goods categorised as builders’ ware like wheelbarrows (flat pan and concrete pan wheelbarrows), structures and parts of structures of iron or steel (bridges and bridges section, lock gates, towers, lattice masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors, windows and their frames and threshold for doors, shutters, balustrade, pillars and columns) and plates, rods, angles, shapes section and tubes prepared for use in structures of iron and steel ware were also included.

Zimbabwe is South Africa’s fifth biggest export market in Africa. In 2015, Zimbabwe imported goods and services worth $1,8 billion from South Africa, according to DTI statistics.

South African firms like trading with Zimbabwe due to the strong currency the country uses at a time when the South African rand has been volatile.