First Independent Mena Newspaper
South Sudan is nearing an agreement with a UAE company for an oil-backed loan worth $13 billion, the largest in Africa’s newest nation’s history. The news was reported by AP citing an unnamed UN source which said the deal is close to being signed. “Servicing this loan would likely tie up most of South Sudan’s […]
Africa accounts for a staggering 19% of all seizures of illegal wildlife materials worldwide, with virtually all of the seizures having been made in the sub-Saharan subregion, according to the latest World Wildlife Crime Report 2024. In terms of global trade flows, a majority of seizures — 44% of all records — between 2015–2021 was […]
The Moroccan-American Defense Consultative Committee, which held two working meetings this week in Rabat, signed on Tuesday, May 21, at the headquarters of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) the roadmap for bilateral military cooperation. The military cooperation roadmap includes the guidelines to follow for the implementation of the activities agreed upon […]
Senegal’s newly elected president Bassirou Faye said he will seek the re-integration of military ruled Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to the Western African community ECOWAS. The three states have jointly announced their withdrawal from the ECOWAS, in protest over sanctions it imposed on them to pressure for a return to constitutional order. “We can […]
The Swiss government has affirmed that “there is no official representation of the polisario front either at the UN Office in Geneva or to the Federal Council,” dealing another blow to the Algeria-backed separatist group. In a diplomatic note addressed to the Moroccan embassy in Bern, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said “the […]
Morocco’s spending on social assistance would amount to $9 billion, representing some 8% of the country’s GDP, minister in charge of the Budget Fouzi Lekjaa said. Lekjaa was speaking before MPs explaining the logic behind cutting cooking gas prices, which come after a series of measures aiming to boost purchasing power of poor and middle-class […]
President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, Princess Lalla Hasnaa, highlighted the main achievements and flagship initiatives carried out by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection for the year 2023. Princess Lalla Hasnaa made the remarks while chairing the Foundation’s Board of Directors meeting in Fez on Tuesday. She thus recalled her […]
Morocco offered a donation of 200 tons of fertilizers to 10,000 households in Guatemala, where nearly half the labor force depends on agriculture, Morocco’s diplomatic mission said. Guatemalan agriculture minister Maynor Estrada said the donation was consistent with efforts to develop farming and fight poverty in agriculture-dependent areas. Moroccan ambassador to Guatemala Tarik Louajri said […]
Following targeted cash-handouts to needy households, Morocco has cut by 10 dirhams the subsidized price of a cooking gas cylinder, in a move that will alleviate the subsidies burden. The decision- that entered into force on May 20- marks the first subsidies cut in a gradual process that aims at breaking away with general subsidies. […]
Southern African countries hit by extreme El Nino weather phenomenon made an appeal for $5.5 billion to assist some 61 million affected people. The call was made by the Southern African Development Community, which brings together 16 members. Some countries in the region such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi saw their crops sapped by extreme […]