World leader of inspection and certification SGS announced in a release published on 16 November, that it has purchased the South African company Matrolab which specializes in the review of construction and engineering materials. The amount of the transaction has not yet been disclosed. Based in Pretoria, Matrolab counts about thirty offices and laboratories in South Africa, and subsidiaries in...

Visa has committed to offer Moroccan banks its expertise in terms of social network communication. The banking cards multinational just announced through a release that it just organized workshops for all the banks of the kingdom on the “importance of social networks in their communication”. Based on its own experience, Visa intends to help Moroccan banks develop their digital social...

G20 leaders on November 16, in Antalya (Turkey), adopted OECD’s (Organization for Economic Coorperation and Development) plan to fight multinational tax avoidance. In the final communiqué of their summit, the leaders of the twenty most powerful economies worldwide insisted on a wide and coherent implementation of this BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) plan, especially in regards to the...

In Morocco, Acome, the French auto equipment supplier is about to open a plant in Tanger, Al Huffington Post reported on November 16. “The company’s articles were approved therefore allowing for the creation of Moroccan subsidiary,” stated the Acome’s responsible for communication. The Acome Moroccan plant is to manufacture cables for new car beams. Among her potential customers is the...

The South African subsidiary of the German car dealer BMW announced in a release published on November 16, it plans to invest 6 billion rands ($417 million) in its Rosslyn plant (Pretoria suburb), to manufacture its new X3 model. The X3 is a high-class SUV. This model which is one of BMW’s best represents 28% of the company’s total revenues worldwide. The BMW X3 models which are going to...

In Côte d’Ivoire, Compagnie Fruitière just announced it plans to launch a project for production of organic bananas. The French firm, through its new Vice-President Africa, Jean-Marc Gravillini, revealed its project to establish 400 acres of plantations in the Northern and Southern parts of the country. About the financing, the executive stated that “it represents a potential investment of...

The government of Zimbabwe has decided to impose taxes on the 300,000 black farmers that benefited from the agrarian reform established in the 2000s by President Robert Mugabe, state-run newspaper The Herald reported on November 16. These farmers who were just awarded lands expropriated from white farmers will have to pay a leasing fee as well as a tax of 3-10 dollars per acre/yr. These taxes...

Towards addressing energy efficiency measures in companies and organisations in Uganda, the French Development Agency (AFD), has announced that it has reserved $13 million for concessional funding through its Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance initiative (SUNREF) programme. The project is aimed at helping the country save energy. Therefore companies or organisations...

Towards monitoring sharp practices by oil marketers throughout the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has begun a daily publication of the supply chart of petroleum products in the country. According to Justin Ezeala, the Executive Director, Commercial, Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) the regular dispatch report is to feature all product distributions as...

In Kampala, the World Bank has today advised the governments of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, to develop insurance measures to protect against unstable oil prices as they get ready to commence production. At both national and global markets, the prices of oil and gas regularly affect the cost of goods and services. While Uganda has oil and gas deposits, Kenya has oil and Tanzania has huge deposits...