Situation Reports

China’s consumer goods trade-in programs for 2024 saw sales of home appliances, electric bicycles, automobiles and other related goods hit 1.3 trillion yuan ($179 billion) in 2024, sales which raised China’s overall annual retail sales growth by 1 percentage point to 3.5% in 2024, according to China’s Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping on Jan. 24.

The Federal High Court in Abuja officially declared the Lakurawa insurgent sect and similar groups in Nigeria, particularly in the North West and North Central regions, as terrorist organizations, Punch news reported on Jan. 23.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to mediate the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda during a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the Daily Sabah reported on Jan. 24.

Ian Bird, the head of transport and logistics for the Business for South Africa alliance, said several mining companies aimed to strike agreements with state-owned transport company Transnet in February that could pave the way for significant private sector investments in the country's railways, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 24.

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Ahmad al-Sharaa, the de facto leader of Syria's provisional government, said Syria might turn to Turkey to combat the remnants of the Islamic State, the Daily Sabah reported on Jan. 24.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that its ongoing negotiations with the government are on hold, revising its earlier decision to call them off entirely, Geo News reported on Jan. 24.

Argentina lowered export taxes for agribusinesses by 20% until June amid growing farmers' and some governors' complaints about lower commodity prices and a stronger peso, El Pais reported Jan. 24.

Marco Rubio will visit Central American and Caribbean countries in his first official tour as U.S. Secretary of State, meeting with authorities in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic by the end of January, El Pais reported on Jan. 23.

A spokesperson for French multinational energy company TotalEnergies confirmed reports from the Financial Times that the $20 billion Mozambique LNG project would not be operational by 2029, Reuters reported on Jan. 22.

Pakistan's National Assembly passed amendments to the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act granting the government extensive control over social media, including the ability to imprison users for disseminating disinformation, Geo News reported on Jan. 23.