On March 23, the Moroccan central bank, Bank al-Maghrib, published a release forecasting that the country’s economy would grow by 5.3% in 2021 before consolidating to 3.3% in 2022. According to the central bank, the growth will be spurred by a revival of activities in the various economic sectors. However, the main contributor will be the agriculture sector, which is expected to grow by 17.6%...

Bolloré Transport & Logistics in Kenya has renewed its BRC Global Standard Certification for Storage and Distribution at its dedicated FMCG Warehouse in Nairobi. The certification scope covers storage of ambient stable food products and consumer products as well as re-packing of pre-packed food and fully assembled consumer goods. Following an audit made by DNV GL Kenya Limited, the Bolloré...

In 2020, the performance of Bank of Africa (BOA)’s West African subsidiaries was affected by the rising cost of risk. Indeed, the net banking income of almost all of the subsidiaries (listed on the BRVM) rose during the period, showing the resilience of the banking group in a context marked by the coronavirus pandemic. However, their net profits were down year-over-year. This drop in their net...

On March 29, 2021, France will reopen its Libyan embassy in Tripoli. This was announced on March 23, 2021, by French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of a meeting held in Paris between the head of the Libyan presidential council Mohammed El-Menfi and the French president. He also announced that Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, who is currently France’s ambassador to Libya with residence in...

Amethis Mena Fund II, which is exclusively dedicated to North Africa and the Middle East, announces its first investment in Morocco, in the agricultural sector notably. Indeed, the Luxembourg-based Amethis that manages the fund acquired a majority stake in Magriser, a company specializing in the distribution of micro-irrigation equipment and solar pumping systems. The...

The agreement between Libya's two sides has more than political consequences. The conflict had led to the division of the national news agency (LANA) and a dichotomy in the coverage of events by the public media. This issue is being resolved. In Libya, the national news agency (LANA) has been reunited after it was split in two for six years. This was disclosed by the Libyan Media Corporation,...

In a statement issued earlier this week,  Somalia's Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Khadija Mohamed Diriye (photo), called on the international community to urgently scale up aid operations to help more than 2.7 million Somalis. "The food insecurity situation is already extremely concerning and unless aid providers can immediately scale up aid operations in some pre-drought-hit...

After a year marked by the launch of its solar computer Jirodesk II, the Malagasy company joins the Seedstar and Shell Foundation's acceleration program. This is an opportunity for the socially and ecologically committed solar startup to open a fundraising round. Jirogasy delivers a new integrated and innovative solar computer Jirogasy, the first company to manufacture connected objects and...

Britam (an investment holding that has stakes in the asset management, real estate, and insurance industries) is planning to sell part of its 48.2% stake in the mortgage bank HF Group. "The plan is to have one of the big banks acquire a majority stake in HF and run it. The partial exit from HF is to allow Britam to focus on its core insurance business [...] Britam could retain a small stake...

François Bozizé (photo), former President of the Central African Republic, is now the new leader of rebel group Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC). This was announced on Sunday, March 21, 2021, by Serge Bozanga, spokesman for the rebel group. The spokesman told news agency AFP that François Bozizé has decided to agree to the rebel group members’ request to see him...