First Independent Mena Newspaper
Debt restructuring efforts for Chad and Zambia could be completed by the end of the year, which would pave the way for more countries to seek help, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. Speaking with civil society groups at the start of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, Georgieva said a […]
Morocco’s economic growth is expected to slow down to 0.8% in 2022 due to adverse international juncture and rebound to 3.1% the following year, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest World economic outlook. Inflation is expected to reach in the country 6.2% this year before decreasing to 4.1% in 2023, adds the […]
The economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 5.5% this year —the fastest rate since 2016—followed by a slowing of growth to 3.5% in 2023, the World Bank says. Yet this growth is uneven across the region, as countries, still struggling to overcome the lasting effects of […]
Afreximbank has approved $200 million toward financing of a contested oil pipeline to export Uganda’s crude, while a report released by two environmental NGOs has warned of potentially “unacceptable” damage caused by a controversial project involving French oil giant TotalEnergies and China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The Nigeria-based bank was also willing to finance […]
Morocco’s trade deficit deepened 56% to 215 billion dirhams ($20 billion) up to August amid soaring prices of refined energy products, wheat and ammonia in the international market. Energy imports increased 128% to 103 billion dirhams in the first eight months this year, partly because Morocco imports all of its refined gas and fuel oils, […]
Thanks to decades of investments, Moroccan major banks increased their market share in the 8 countries of the West African economic community (ECOWAS) to 21%. A recent ECOWAS report highlighted the expansion of Morocco’s Attijari Wafabank, BCP and Bank of Africa, whose activities dominate some countries such as Mali. In Mali, the three banks have […]
The African Development Bank has approved a €199 million loan to finance Morocco’s competitive & resilient cereal development program to help boost food security, nutrition, and crops resilience across Africa. The program will help reduce Morocco’s cereal imports, focusing on improving productivity and the resilience of cereal production to climate change. It also provides for […]
The UNDP and Cameroon have inked a loan deal of $21 million earmarked to strengthen the resilience of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the central African country in addressing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal du Cameroun reports. The agreement signed between UNDP Chief in Cameroon Jean-Luc Stalon and Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of […]
The looming debt crisis in Africa can only be resolved with a more stable and liquidity market in African government bonds, argue Daniel Cohen, the chair of Finance for Development Lab (FDL), and Ibrahim Elbadawi, the managing director of the Economic Research Forum, in a recent policy brief. As they struggle to secure investment to […]
Morocco’s central bank has hiked its key rates by 50 basis points to 2% to tame a soaring inflation, but this measure alone is not enough to tackle inflation according to central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri. “The job of the central bank is monetary policy but growth is the job of the government,” he told […]