During the Paris international agricultural show (held from Feb 24 to March 4, 2018) Ndeye Coura Mbaye Diop, coordinator of the Inclusive and Sustainable Agribusiness Development Project in Senegal (PDIDAS) advocated for the security of land tenure. This was reported by le Soleil. “The security of land tenure is one of the prerequisites to attract local and international investors....

The Moroccan banking group Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) increased its share in the capital of Maroc Traitement des Transactions (M2T) by concluding a purchase agreement with the investment firm, AM Invest. The amount of the transaction was not specified but the annual financial statements show that the BCP’s 54.7% share in 2016 increased to 63.7% on December 31, 2017. According to the...

In Senegal, the average borrowing rate on loans granted by banks for housing-related expenses reached 8.69% at the end of January 2018. Compared to that of December 2017 which was just 6.4%, this is an increase of 2.21%. This rise is puzzling because in December 2017, the country had the lowest rate on housing loans within WAEMU and in just one month, it has become the country with the highest...

In 2017, Tunisia’s public debt increased to 69.9% of GDP, the finance ministry revealed on Saturday, March 3. According to the statement relayed by Xinhua, the debt stood at TND68, 073.7 million (about $28, 378.2 million) in 2017. This figure, which reflects a deterioration in the country’s public finance situation, represents a significant increase compared to 2016 when the...

Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves reached $42.524 billion at the end of February 2018 compared to $38.209 billion the previous month. According to the country’s central bank, this is the highest in the country's modern history and the foreign exchange reserves increased since the country signed in 2016, a 3-years extended fund facility (EFF) agreement worth $12 billion with...

Indorama Eleme Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (IEFCL), one of Nigeria’s main fertilizer suppliers, plans to produce 750, 000 tons of urea during the next agricultural season. Sanjay Srivastava, the sales and marketing manager told Dailytrust. The manager said that the company also plans, in line with the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), to double the volume of fertilizer it...

The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) received $74 million from GuarantCo, a fund established by Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. This is to set a mechanism in infrastructure projects’ value chain in Africa. AGF is thus expecting to boost its financing capacity for African SMEs specialized in the infrastructure sector. “The AGF is glad to be joined by...

The South African food manufacturer RCL Foods has just completed a R150 mln ($12.5 mln) expansion project at its pet food plant in Randfontein (Gauteng province), Reuters reports. This move should increase the plant’s monthly production from 7,000 tons to 12,000. Indeed, the firm’s poultry business remains fragile due to drought and importation of cheap products. Thus, through...

This month, DR Congo will launch new monitoring and tracing mechanisms to combat child labor in cobalt and copper mines. This was revealed last weekend, during a metals conference in London by an official of the mines ministry.  “There (in copper and cobalt mines) we have stepped in to look at putting in traceability and monitoring systems. In fact, these mechanisms that I have just...

In 2016, Burkina Faso obtained mining revenues of CFA1, 022 billion, the ministry of mines stated on March 1, 2018.  During the period under review, the country exported 46, 277 kg of raw gold (43, 280 kg in 2015) and 155, 679 tons of zinc concentrate (126, 940 tons in 2015). Gold remains the first export item ahead of cotton.    No data has yet been released on 2017...