The Moroccan authorities have blocked the commissioning of the first store of Swedish DIY furniture giant IKEA in the kingdom which was initially scheduled for 29th September, on the official basis that the project “did not have a certificate of conformity”. “The shopping mall project of the company Ikea in Zenata has no certificate of conformity, which must be issued by the municipality...

The French group Bouygues and the Swiss hotel chain Mövenpick will form a partnership with the Société Abidjanaise de Promotions Industrielles et Immobilières (Saprim) to invest € 55 million in a 5-star hotel in Abidjan, the three companies announced in a joint communiqué published on 21t September. The construction works will start within the next 6 months and should be completed...

Resolution of the crisis in Burkina Faso is becoming clearer. The military has sided with the democratic interim government and has converged on the capital. Entering Ouagadougou without violence, it surrounded the putschists and is negotiating for their surrender. "We now need the surrender of the RSP, without firing a shot, without spilling any blood", declared Colonel Serge Alain Ouédrago,...

Aïn El Kebira cement company in Sétif, a subsidiary of Ciments d’Algérie group will go public in 2016, CEO Laid Khaber announced on 10th September. “The Ain El Kebira cement factory IPO is scheduled for 2016”, he declared to the press, adding that this operation open 35% of its capital to institutional investors (banks, financial institutions and insurance companies), as well as...

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), granting China the status of market economy could endanger up to 3.5 million jobs in the European Union. According to Robert E. Scott, who led the study, if Europe grants China the status of market economy which it claims, Chinese exports to Europe would then increase by 25 to 50% per year: “By giving up the possibility of rectifying the...

The London Appeal Court authorised Ecobank group to lodge an appeal on the decision taken by the London High Court in July. To recall, in his legal battle with the Ecobank group, ex-General Manager Thierry Tanoh (photo), unceremoniously dismissed, won the trials in Abidjan for defamation, and in Lomé for unfair dismissal. The Pan African banking group, sentenced to pay him consequential...

Visiting Dakar, Senegal on 9-10 September 2015, Charles H. Rivkin (photo), Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business affairs, informed that the Senegalese project of becoming an emerging market by 2035 has the full support of the American administration. “We fully support its Plan Sénégal Émergent and its other goals, and we are ready to support economic reforms, infrastructure...

Moroccan banking group Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) announced, in a press note released on 9th September, having made a net profit of 1.2 billion dirhams (USD 123 million) during the first half of 2015, an increase of 9.3% compared to the same period in 2014, despite an increase in allowances for doubtful accounts. The bank, which faced a soaring of doubtful accounts on its domestic market...

The foreign exchange reserves of Algeria are standing at USD 159.027 billion at the end of June 2015 against USD 193.269 billion at end June 2014, the Governor of the Bank of Algeria, Mohamed Laksaci, announced on 8th September. The foreign exchange reserves were at USD 178.938 billion by the end of December 2014. Mr Laksaci explained this "strong tightening" of official foreign exchange...

Tunisia will ask for a new aid program for a minimum of USD 1.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the economy of the country struggling to get back to form due to an unstable climate of social security, the Governor of the Tunisian Central Bank, Chedly Ayari, announced on 9th September. "Yes, we are going to ask for a new plan", Mr. Ayari declared during a joint press...