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...

Following the drop in oil prices which will impact on the budgetary forecasts, the Algeria government decided to make some adjustments in various sectors. In the ICT and Telecommunications sector, the draft 2016 Finance bill provides for a Value Added Tax increase (VAT). In other words, the VAT for accessing mobile 3G internet will jumped from 7% to 17%. For landline internet access, the tax...

According to an official release dated September 11, 2015, the president of the Inter-professional council for cocoa and coffee (CICC) of Cameroon, Apollinaire Ngwé, will be leading from September 13 to September 19, 2015, which will be held in Trieste, Italy, a delegation of 20 Cameroonian coffee-roasters. Cameroon’s inter-professional council for cocoa and coffee highlighted the goal of...

In Togo, Israeli Elenilto, subsidiary of Engelinvest group, and Chinese Wengfu are the winners of an invitation for tenders of USD 1.4 billion on a phosphate deposit capable of producing over 2 billion tons. To operate this deposit, which Elenilto says “is probably the biggest phosphate deposit south of the Sahara”, the company will install a phosphoric acid and fertiliser plant which...

After the Pan African Institute for Citizenship, Consumers and Development (CICODEV), the Senegal Association of Users of ICT (ASUTIC) also criticised the introduction of portability of mobile numbers in the country. It judges that the launch of this telephone service was done without the pre-requisite conditions to enable it functioning well being in place. The Association is therefore...

Madagascar Oil SA, oil and gas company listed in London, announced on 7th September having equipped itself with a technical data-room in order to attract the maximum number of strategic partners for the financing and realisation of the initial phases of the development of the Tsimiroro oil project. It showed a constant progress in its search for partners, with the support of its strategic...

Armadale Capital Plc, an investment company with assets in the mining sector and listed in London, is on the right path to start production on its Mpokoto project holding 678,000 ounces of gold in DR Congo during the first half of 2016. Peter Marks, president of Armadale, disclosed on 10 September this development indicating that a significant step has been taken with the signing of an agreement...

West African Resources Ltd, gold company with a double listing, announced on 8th September having discovered, at shallow depth, a high gold content oxide mineralisation in the Mankarga 3 prospect in the Tanlouka licence. The first reverse circulation drilling programme revealed a content of 5.02g/t on 32m in this mineralisation which should “improve the already robust economic feature of the...

Sudan has announced China’s exploration for oil and gas in the Red Sea, Sinnar, and West Kordofan. China being Sudan’s largest foreign investor, which hosts China’s biggest investment in the African continent last week, witnessed President Omer al-Bashir and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signing of a bilateral strategic partnership, including an agreement for production of natural gas...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has announced that Kaduna Refinery will resume the production of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS (petrol), within the next three months. This was an improvement as NNPC stated that it had lifted the embargo earlier placed on 113 vessels, banning them from engaging in crude oil and gas loading activities in any of the terminals within Nigerian...