Africa

The National Sports Commission confirmed on Monday 2 November 2026 that the Super Falcons' players have received — and begun receiving — the naira equivalent of President Bola Tinubu's $100,000-per-player reward pledge, with members of the technical crew receiving the equivalent of $50,000 each, completing the cash component of the reward package for the team's 10th WAFCON title.

The pledge was made at a presidential reception for the team at the State House in Abuja on 28 July 2025, two days after the Super Falcons came from 2–0 down to beat hosts Morocco 3–2 in the WAFCON final in Rabat on 26 July 2025, winning a record-extending 10th continental title; the President approved the naira equivalent of $100,000 for each of the 24 players and $50,000 for each member of the technical team.

NSC chairman Shehu Dikko said: 'The Super Falcons made Nigeria proud, and Mr President has honoured his commitment to them in full,' adding that some Nigerian sports heroes had endured years of waiting for promised rewards; team captain Rasheedat Ajibade thanked President Tinubu for keeping his word, describing the payment as recognition of the team's achievement.

The cash was the final part of the package to land: the title documents for the three-bedroom Abuja apartments in the package, and the certificates of the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), had been received by the players earlier, and a parallel $100,000-per-player reward for the women's basketball team, D'Tigress, was paid in September 2026 after their fifth straight AfroBasket title.

Niger State Police Command spokesman Wasiu Abiodun confirmed on Monday that suspected bandits invaded Tungan-Bako village via Rafi LGA at about 12:30pm on Saturday 31 October 2026 and abducted people working on a farm; the abducted were about 14 students of an Islamiya who were helping their Mallam harvest maize, and joint security rescue efforts are ongoing.

Abiodun clarified that the number abducted was 14, not 50 as reported in some quarters.

Some reports say the students' teacher was also abducted.

Separate reports describe other abductions in Rafi LGA the same weekend — pupils of Madarasatul Nurul Islam taken at Maikujeri (numbers given variously as about 12 to 18) and 14 women taken on a farm at Mekunjeri, with captors said to be demanding food supplies.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Monday 2 November 2026 that President Trump had notified Congress and the governments of South Africa and Rwanda of his intention to terminate their AGOA eligibility, and confirmed the US intention to end their inclusion effective 1 January 2027.

Greer said the annual interagency review led by USTR found that the governments of Rwanda and South Africa are engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA's eligibility criteria, and that the administration is working to ensure its African partners take the steps needed to meet the criteria.

The statement's stated concerns: for both countries, barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign-policy interests; for South Africa additionally, corruption; for Rwanda additionally, trade and investment barriers, the rule of law, political pluralism, internationally recognised workers' rights and human rights.

South Africa is AGOA's largest beneficiary: it exported about $1.7 billion of goods to the US under AGOA in 2025, and AGOA covers duty-free access for more than 1,800 products; bilateral US–South Africa trade was $24.1 billion last year, with America South Africa's third-biggest trading partner after China and the EU.