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South African Billionaire Family Buys Nigeria’s Top Can-maker Firm

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A South African billionaire family popularly known as Oppenheimer has acquired a controlling stake in one of Nigeria’s prominent can makers, GZ.

The acquisition was completed by Jonathan Oppenheimer, one of the sons of the second richest man in Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer, who reportedly secured the full control of GZ Industries Ltd., Nigeria’s prominent beverage can manufacturer, signaling a bet on the potential revitalization of Africa’s largest economy.

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According to a report by Bloomberg, the acquisition of the remaining shares in GZ Industries from Affirma Capital (formerly Standard Chartered Private Equity) was completed through their company, Oppenheimer Partners Limited.

Although the financial specifics of the deal remain undisclosed, the private equity firm had held a significant 37.5% stake in GZ Industries, a key supplier of cans to major entities such as Coca-Cola Co.

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GZ first began operations in Nigeria in 2019. Ayodeji Adelakun is the Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the company.

This move is poised to empower Jonathan Oppenheimer to steer the trajectory of GZ Industries’ expansion within sub-Saharan Africa.

The region stands as a pivotal market, with urban, educated adults boasting the world’s highest consumption of sugary drinks, averaging 12.4 servings per week, according to research published by Nature Communications.

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The acquisition strategically aligns with tapping into this lucrative consumer base.

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Oppenheimer Partners initially entered the GZI venture in 2018, coinciding with the establishment of a GZI factory in South Africa.

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Presently, GZI holds a 20% market share in the South African market, engaging in competition with the financially challenged Nampak Ltd., which is in the process of selling assets and restructuring debt.

Affirma Capital’s initial investment in GZI dates back to 2012.

GZ Industries holds significant production capacity, churning out 3 billion aluminium cans annually in Africa. Out of its production figure, 1,800,000,000 of those cans are produced in Nigeria.

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NGO Says Starving Gaza Children Too Weak To Cry

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The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.

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When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.

READ ALSO:Israeli Strike Kills Al Jazeera Journalist In Gaza

She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive, and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.

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Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.

She insisted that aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.

READ ALSO:42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

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Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.

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The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
AFP

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Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

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The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

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Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.

READ ALSO:Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.

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After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.

READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks

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Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.

Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia

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US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi

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A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.

The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

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The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.

“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.

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The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.

The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.

Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.

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One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.

READ ALSO:Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.

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“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.

The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”

Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.

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He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.

In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.

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The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.

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