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Africa Live: Thousands join Nigeria cost-of-living protests - BBC News Africa Live: Thousands join Nigeria cost-of-living protests - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Jose Tembe Will Ross
BBC News, Maputo Africa editor, BBC World Service
Scamming victims in Mozambique say they've been conned out of thousands of dollars by a fraudster who promised them jobs in Portugal that didn't exist. Nigeria's Central Bank has raised interest rates in an effort to curb inflation on a day when thousands of people have been protesting against the government's handling of the economy.
Thirteen people in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, each paid between 20,000 and 60,000 meticais (between $310 and $940; or £250 and £740) to a man who said he would arrange their travel and papers. Inflation has reached almost 30%, leaving many millions struggling to afford food.
A Portuguese suspect found with 13 Mozambican passports in his possession has been detained by the police. Two other Mozambican nationals are also being held. Last year, President Bola Tinubu scrapped a costly subsidy causing the price of fuel to triple. He also devalued the Nigerian currency - the naira - prompting a hike in the price of imports.
One of the victims said he was desperate to work in Portugal, and so like many others he paid the fake fixer by remote transfer, despite never meeting him in person. Those reforms have led to widespread anger.
"Whenever I phoned, he said 'in a meeting and I can't talk now'," the victim says. Nigeria's finance minister Wale Edun told the BBC that people needed to be patient as the measures would in time benefit Nigeria's economy.
Another woman who was conned says she is now jobless after ending her contract in Mozambique because she thought a new one awaited her in Portugal.
"The message I would like to give to others is just be very careful about this", she says.
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