Egypt’s trade deficit has slumped by 37% ($12.23bn) over the first eight months of 2017, down to $20.1 billion, from $32.4 billion in 2016, over the same period. This was disclosed by the Egyptian minister of external trade, Tarek Kabil (picture), in a statement released last Thursday. This situation mainly results from a 15% increase in non-oil exports. These stood at $15...

Tunisie Telecom has a new chief executive officer in the name of Mohamed Fadel Kraïem (picture). Formerly the firm’s deputy managing director, he was appointed at this new position last month but officially took office on October 17, 2017, during a board meeting of the public company. He replaces Nizar Bouguila who had held the position since August 2015. In addition the change in the...

The World Bank has committed the equivalent of $60.52 million ($150 million Tunisian Dinars) to Tunisia for the economic inclusion of disadvantaged youth. This funding aims to provide employment access services dedicated to companies and entrepreneurs, targeting youth ranging between 18 and 35 years old, in the country’s most disadvantaged areas. The agreement was signed by the minister...

French Havas, one of the world’s communication leaders, announced on October 16, it has acquired a 49% stake in Ganfood and HVS, two Algerian firms.  Established in 2003, Ganfood is a consulting and creation agency with major clients such as Heineken, Peugeot, Sanofi, Lafarge and Société Générale.  As for HVS, it was founded in 2009, and operates both in the media consulting and...

Being a key component of Algeria’s State domains, agricultural lands must in no event be sold, but can be transferred to third parties as concessions. This is the belief of the National Union of Algerian Farmers (UNPA) whose secretary general, Mohamed Alioui, told Algérie Presse Service that arable lands are a “red line” that must be guarded against “abuses”. The union official who...

In an open letter to the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, the head of the association of active rural women for an emerging Senegal, Fatimata Gaye, asked the leader’s “intervention” in order to find an acceptable solution to the uprising of the Fouta people over the sale of 10,000 ha of arable lands to the Moroccan group Addoha, owned by Anas Sefrioui.  “It seemed legitimate and...

Morocco and China have announced entering into an agreement to establish an economic zone in Fès. This aims to boost their bilateral cooperation in various industrial sectors. The memorandum of understanding which was signed between the investment centre of the Fès-Meknès region and the Chinese association for industrial cooperation, defines this zone as a platform that will attract...

Billionaire Anil Agarwal (picture) has increased his shareholding in Anglo American to 19%, thus becoming the mining firm’s biggest shareholder. In a regulatory statement released last Friday by Volcan Holdings Plc, the Indian’s family holding, it was revealed that the holding acquired 102.2 million shares of Anglo at a unit price of £14.68, thus totaling an investment of £1.5 milliard ($2...

Institutional investors and banks have granted $80 million to M-Kopa Solar, a Kenyan firm which provides solar power kits. Part of the funding was secured via a syndicated loan of $55 million mobilized by Stanbic Bank of Keyna which in addition to $9 million of private capital got the financial support of the Commonwealth Development Corporation, or the Netherland and Norwegian...

Greenbay Properties, a Mauritian firm specialized in real estate investment and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, made an offer of R1.6 billion ($120 million) to buy Group Five’s European assets. The latter is a South African company active in the construction sector. With this offer, Group Five’s capitalization which was of one billion rand has soared by 60%, suggesting that the...