In its yearly report, the Moroccan indirect taxes and customs office (ADII) revealed a very good performance for the past year. Indeed, custom revenues surged more than 4% to stand at 90.5 billion dirham ($9.2 billion) in 2016 with 500 million dirham ($51 million) worth of confiscated goods. The customs office attributes the increase to record imports revenues which stood at about 400 million...

Zimbabwe must pay compensation to German farmers who have been stripped of their lands in the framework of agricultural reform. This was declared by Germany’s ambassador near Zimbabwe, Thorsten Hutter, in an interview with BBC. “We have a number of German nationals who invested here in Zimbabwe after independence who are not here anymore. We have a particular case where the issue of...

In a statement released on May 18, State-oil Company NNPC said it has reopened its depot in Kano to boost petroleum products supply to the Northern part of Nigeria. The infrastructure was initially shut due to attacks from militants in the region. “Today is a historic day for us in Kano. With the depot now back on stream, our people would have abundant petroleum products at their doorstep,”...

Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) said it will provide up to 20,000 new loans to small firms in its first year of activity. This aims to facilitate access to credit in Nigeria, according to the lender’s chief executive, Tony Okpanachi. “The focus is on new loans. We know agriculture is a focus area, we will encourage that. We know other small industries. We would also try to encourage those...

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”), the private sector arm of IDB Group, and Coris Bank International have entered into a Joint Strategic Collaboration to establish Islamic window. The CEO of ICD, Mr. Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr. Idrissa Nassa, CEO and Chairman of Coris Bank International signed the advisory agreement. Through this collaboration, ICD is...

It is the turn of the populations of Ziguinchor, in the Southern part of Senegal to voice their anger at the selling-off of their lands. On May 17, the populations protested violently. According to local media Rfm, “protesters burned tires near the Assane Seck University but many were arrested after the police’s arrival”. The situation currently is subsequent to the leasing of 10,000...

In a statement released on May 17, 2017, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) announced that it has imposed a Rwf7 billion ($8.5 million) fine to MTN Rwanda for infringing terms of telecom license. The regulator accused the operator of moving its IT unit to Uganda. Prior to issuing the sanction, RURA said it has given MTN Rwanda a chance to explain. Following a court audience the...

Chinese firm Dongfang Electric will construct in the Ethiopian state of Somali a 120-MW wind park. Ethiopia’s government expects works for the project to begin in July as pre-construction work is undergoing. “The wind farm project is expected to need 18 months to finish, cost about $257 million to construct with 85% of the funding coming from the China’s Export-Import Bank and the...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) is about to seal $6 billion worth deals to swap more than 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day for imported gasoline and diesel, Reuters reported citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The contracts are to come into execution starting from July 1. So far, at least 10 groups have signed these, with more to follow by Friday, the sources...

Due to a lack of raw materials, the Dangote Farms Ltd tomato-processing factory in Kano had to shut. This was disclosed by Abdulkareem Kaita, manager of Dangote Farms. “We don’t have enough supply,” Kaita said. “We are hoping to reopen when we get the supplies that meet our demand,” he added. According to the executive, tomato farmers contracted by the group to supply the input...