First Independent Mena Newspaper
Morocco’s microfinance sector faces significant transformation as proposed regulations dramatically increase lending limits and introduce new deposit frameworks, positioning microfinance institutions as crucial intermediaries for small business financing. The draft decree, implementing Law 50-20 on microfinance, establishes differentiated credit ceilings based on institutional structure and client profiles. For associative microfinance institutions serving low-income populations, limits […]
President Paul Biya, Africa’s second-longest serving leader and the world’s oldest head of state at 92, has confirmed his candidacy for Cameroon’s 12 October presidential election. The announcement, made via social media, ends months of speculation about his political future and reignites debate over the country’s democratic stagnation. “I am a candidate in the presidential […]
The French Embassy hosted a vibrant celebration on the occasion of France’s National Day, marking not just a historic date but a renewed chapter in French-Moroccan relations. Held at the French Residence, the event welcomed some 2,500 guests, including high-ranking Moroccan officials, diplomats, business leaders, and members of the French community in Morocco. The evening […]
More than 100 migrants, including five women, have been rescued from captivity in Ajdabiya, eastern Libya, where they were being held and tortured by a human trafficking gang demanding ransom payments. Libya’s attorney-general confirmed on Monday, July 14 that the criminal group had been orchestrating the smuggling, detention, and abuse of migrants to extort their […]
Morocco has solidified its position as a key trade partner for Spain, emerging as the third-largest supplier of agricultural and fisheries products to the Iberian nation after France and the Netherlands, according to official data released by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. The figures, published in the 2024 Foreign Trade Report, reveal that […]
Morocco’s OCP Group has commissioned the country’s longest water pipeline, a 203-kilometer engineering marvel transporting desalinated water from the Atlantic coast to inland phosphate mining operations, achieving complete water autonomy two years ahead of schedule. The Jorf Lasfar-Khouribga pipeline, operated by OCP Green Water, represents a MAD 5 billion ($556 million) investment addressing Morocco’s persistent […]
Africa’s cultural and natural heritage gained significant recognition at UNESCO’s 47th World Heritage Committee session in Paris, with five new sites inscribed and three historically threatened locations successfully removed from the danger list after decades of conservation efforts. The rescued sites demonstrate remarkable resilience through targeted interventions. Madagascar’s Atsinanana Rainforests, endangered since 2010, achieved restoration […]
Egyptian health authorities have confirmed that the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus, has not been detected within the country. Hossam Hosni, head of the Health Ministry’s Scientific Committee to Combat Coronavirus, stated during a televised interview that all surveillance methods indicate the virus has not entered Egypt. While the variant—currently under monitoring by […]
The Libyan government in Tripoli has formally protested to the United Nations over Greece’s delineation of an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) south of Crete, arguing that the map infringes on Libyan maritime boundaries. The EEZ map, published in the EU’s Official Journal over the weekend, is said by Libya to be a breach of its […]
King Mohammed VI has reaffirmed Morocco’s willingness to advance the implementation of the reinforced exceptional partnership with France and to reshape the two countries’ cooperation in order to better meet the requirements of of the present. This came in a message of congratulations the Monarch addressed to President Emmanuel Macron on France’s National Day In […]