First Independent Mena Newspaper
East African central banks are being forced to hike interest rates to contain renewed inflationary pressures emanating from surging shipping and insurance costs due to the disrupted crucial trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in the Red Sea. The ongoing Red Sea crisis, involving attacks by the Iran-supported Houthi group based in […]
Côte d’Ivoire is in the process of meeting the criteria to join the OPEC, the country’s oil and mining minister amadou Sangafowa Coulibaly announced. This came few days after ENI said it found significant reserves of oil offshore Côte d’Ivoire, with a specific well in particular having as much as 1.5 billion barrels of oil […]
The Africa investment forum, which mobilized so far investments totaling 180 billion dollars, will hold its flagship event in Rabat on December 4-6, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said. Dubbed “Market Days,” the event will bring together investors, private sector firms on the continent together with government officials and international financial institutions. Since its creation […]
Amid growing global competition for strategic minerals, the US is relying on Africa to reduce the dominance of China over resources used for electric batteries, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. “We don’t want to be overly reliant on any one country or any one company for global supply chains for critical minerals,” Adeyemo […]
Morocco’s second biggest lender, BCP, said its net banking income rose 10.6% to 22.8 billion dirhams in 2023. This performance is attributed to the strengthening of the interest margin by 1.9%, an 8% growth in the commission margin, and an increase in the result from market activities by 65.8%, the bank said. The bank’s net […]
Amid a shortage of truck and bus drivers across Europe, Spain is looking to Morocco to hire 26,000 drivers who will be allowed to use their Moroccan driving permits. The recognition of Morocco’s driving licenses was signed during Sanchez visit to Rabat last year, sparing Moroccan truck and bus drivers a test which they had […]
India and Ethiopia are in the final stages of finalizing a defense cooperation pact, Ethiopia’s ambassador to New Delhi said. Under the agreement, to be likely signed after India’s general elections, India will offer equipment and training to Ethiopia’s army, ambassador Demeke Atnafu told Indian news outlet The Print. The deal was evoked by Indian […]
Trade between Morocco and China grew by 50% from 2021 to 2022 as China becomes Morocco’s first trading partner in Asia. Mehdi Laraki, head of Morocco-China business council, told le360 that Chinese investments in Morocco totaled 56 million dollars in 2022 in vital fields such as industry, transport, real estate, and energy. There has been […]
European and other Western companies face losing out on sub-Saharan African lithium supply to Chinese companies whose grip on the critical mineral got even tighter last year when African exports of lithium, which mostly go to China, rose sharply between August and November. Already dominant in the cobalt and copper sectors in Africa, China is […]
Morocco, which has released an offer to investors, expects to sign the first preliminary contracts to produce green hydrogen in the country in the fourth quarter this year. Some 100 investors have expressed interest in Morocco’s green hydrogen potential, said Mohcen Jazouli, minister in charge of investment in an interview with Medias24. Investors will have […]