The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling on Egypt to cancel all low-interest lending initiatives including loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and businesses operating in the tourism and mortgage sectors, three government sources who asked not be named told Al-Sharq business. The Washington-based institution told the central bank to cancel all low-interest initiatives, […]
Finance
Riyadh-based Tamara platform raises $100m in Serie B around
Gulf buy now, pay later (BNPL) Tamara platform said on Monday it raised $100 million in a second round of fundraising from investors, including Sanabil Investments, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, Reuters reports. The funding will help the company expand in new markets and provide customers with new products and […]
Morocco: Arab Monetary Fund forecasts 1% annual economic growth in 2022; 4% in 2023
The Arab Monetary Fund said that the expected economic growth in Morocco by the end of 2022 will not exceed 1%, after last year’s 7.9%, and that 2023 growth will reach 4%. The fund stated in its recently-issued Arab Economic Outlook Report that the yield of the main cereal crops will not exceed 32 million […]
Saudi PIF’s SRC inks 133mln real estate financing deal with Riyad Bank
The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signed an agreement with Riyad Bank to acquire a SR500 million ($133.13 million) real estate financing portfolio, reports say. Fabrice Susini, CEO of SRC and Tareq Al-Sadhan, CEO of Riyad Bank signed the deal in the presence of of […]
Egypt: Hassan Abdallah appointed as acting governor of central bank
Egypt’s President Abdelfattah al-Sisi has named Hassan Abdallah as acting governor of the central bank of the country after the former chief resigned Wednesday. Abdallah until the appointment Thursday was Chairman of the Board of Members of the United Media Services Group (UMS). The 62-year old man replaces Tarek Amer who resigned Wednesday but was […]
Tokyo urges Japanese private sector to invest — and beat China — in Africa
Japan, which lags behind other major economies when it comes to investment in Africa, has been increasingly concerned that the pandemic has weakened African economies and worsened their dependence on Chinese investment and aid. US investment in Africa is seven times larger than that of Japan, that of the UK and France is more than […]
Egypt: Central bank governor resigns amidst economic crisis, declining currency
Egypt’s central bank governor, Tareq Amer, resigned on Wednesday amid the country’s ongoing economic crisis and the Egyptian President accepted his resignation, according to several press reports. Amer had been at the helm of the central bank since 2015, and was due to hold the position for another year. The resignation comes amidst a severe […]
Egypt’s central bank gets around $5.2bn from local banks to address growing economic pressures
The Central Bank of Egypt, (CBE) collected around $5.2 billion (EGP 100 billion from local banks in the weekly open market operations (OMO) as the North African country turns to local, regional and international banks for loans to address growing economic pressures. The CBE data indicate that the funds were raised at a fixed rate […]
Moroccan government’s pressing social and economic priorities in 2023
The current Moroccan government has set four priorities for next year’s appropriation bill as it continues to navigate through turbulent waters to materialize its promises of reinforcing the basis of the social state, bolstering post-Covid economic recovery, attracting investors and curbing inequalities between regions. The government has been challenged by imported inflation which weighed on […]
EU increases aid to Morocco for struggle against illegal immigration by 50%
The European Union has decided to increase its aid to Morocco for struggle against illegal immigration by 50%, granting the North African Kingdom €500 million, according to Spanish daily El País. This aid, covering the period up to 2027, is double that of the previous period that amounted to €343 million. According to a EU […]









