Car manufacturer Volkswagen announced on November 27 it has officially entered into a joint-venture with SOVAC, its concessionaire in Algeria, to start in the second quarter of 2017 the construction of an assembly unit. “This decision is a logic step forward in our path to increase our car sales in Algeria. Volkswagen has decided to acquire the stake in SOVAC Production due to the long and...

Chief executive of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), Josh Chifamba, said his institution could lose twice more money this year than in 2015, thus from $112 to $224 million. This is mainly to more power being imported and that power being sold at a price lower than that it was acquired for from producers. In 2016, ZESA imported $160 million of power against $28...

European Investment Bank (EIB) signed agreement to grant Senega €75 million (about 49.2 billion CFA). The facility will be used to implement the Senegal Electricity Modernisation project which is part of the Plan Senegal Emergent program. The funding according to Diéderick Zambon, Chief of EIB for Africa, will be used for emergency investments in the power sector in the Dakar and...

Rating agency Moody’s announced in a statement released on November 22 that it has scaled down Tunisia’s sovereign rating (Ba3) from stable to negative, as it delayed the sanitization of its public finances. Moody’s said the delay caused budget deficit to increase and debt/GDP ratio to rise, going further away from the mean or average of countries falling in its category. Tunisia’s...

For the 2016-17 agricultural season, Mali has produced 8.96 million Mt of cereals. This is 11% more than during the previous season. The record output is mainly led by rice production (2.81Mt), maize’s (1.9Mt), millet (1.9Mt) and sorghum (1.63Mt). The season helped satisfy the country’s demand for cereals and even get a surplus of 3.77Mt. “A yield satisfying local consumption with a...

According to a study conducted by Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESPartners) which is led by Eric Kacou, financing needs of SMEs in Cote d’Ivoire are estimated at 3,574 billion CFA francs ($5.7 billion). However, banks and finance institutions provide those structures only 40% of these needs, thus 1,464 billion CFA francs. The results of the study, for which 4,212 firms in Cote d’Ivoire...

In Egypt, two years after implementing the new constitution which grants Nubians the righ to return to the lands they had been evicted from, the givernment has decided to use large portions of these lands to implement a development project and build military zones. However, the ethnic minority has decided to oppose this decision. As reported by New Jersey Herald, hundreds of Nubians blocked the...

In Kenya, coffee exports revenues stood at Sh18.8 billion ($184.68 million) for the 2015-16 season. The sector’s regulator said that though this is 7.4% more than what the country produced last year, it is slightly below what was forecast by the government. The executive actually planned to get Sh20 billion ($196.4 million) from coffee exports this season. Though the forecast was not...

The adoption of the African passport could bring up 24% spending in travels by plane in Africa, a study conducted by travel technology company Sabre Corporation revealed. Average spent by 23% of Africans that travelled by air across the continent over the past 2 years is $1,149. The study said this amount could reach $1,508 because of the passport. 31% of the 7,000 individuals...

BP has acquired 10% interest in the Shorouk concession which contains the Zohr gas field, offshore Egypt from Eni at a cost of $375 million. According to the company, as part of the agreement, BP has an option before the end of 2017 to purchase additional 5% interest in the concession under the same terms. Upon closing of the agreement, BP will reimburse Eni for its share of past expenses,...