Asia Finance Headlines International

Palestine: Italy donates $1.7 million aid to UNRWA; Russia pledges $10-m

The Italian government has donated €1.5 million ($1.7 million) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to provide health services for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon while Russia has pledged $10 million. UNRWA has been raising money to support refugees in Palestinian territories after the U.S., known as the largest contributor […]

Americas Finance Headlines International Morocco

Sahara: After the EU, U.S. Congress Deals Hard Blow to Polisario & Algeria

Only few days after the diplomatic victory scored by Rabat with the adoption by the European Parliament with a large majority of the Morocco-EU Farm Agreement that covers the Sahara, the U.S. Congress dropped a House text included in the 2019 draft Appropriation Bill, which excluded the Sahara from the U.S. financial aid to Morocco. […]

Asia Finance Headlines International

Qatar Increases its Profile with Investment & Job Creation Pledges in Arab World

Qatar Sunday pledged to invest $50 million in the Middle East countries, with youth being the main target, in a move to increase its profile at a time it is boycotted by major powers in the region. The pledge was announced by Qatar’s Finance Minister Ali al-Emadi at the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit […]

Business Finance

West Africa CFA franc zone members aim to issue $4.82 bln in debt in 2019

The eight countries of the West African CFA franc zone plan to issue 2.723 trillion CFA francs ($4.82 billion) in debt in 2019, Reuters reported. Member countries using the West African CFA franc – a currency pegged to the euro – include Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Benin. They share […]

Europe Finance Headlines International Morocco

French Agency Extends Morocco €50 million Loan to improve Water Supply

The French Development Agency (AFD) will extend the Moroccan Electricity and Drinking Water facility (ONEE) a €50 million loan to help it implement a program on the improvement of the performance and resilience of drinking water services in Morocco’s Northern provinces. Under the loan agreement, signed last week in Rabat, the ONEE will enlarge access […]

Africa Europe Finance Headlines International

Africa-Europe Alliance: First Projects Kicked off

Only three months after the launch of the Africa–Europe Alliance, the European Commission presented the first progress made in boosting investment and creating jobs in Africa at the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe held in Vienna, Tuesday. The Forum was hosted jointly by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, as EU President, and Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and […]

Finance Headlines Morocco

IMF Approves $2.9 Billion for Morocco under PLL arrangements

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $2.9 billion for Morocco Under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) that will provide insurance against external risks, support Moroccan efforts to reduce fiscal, external vulnerabilities and promote more inclusive growth. Despite a sharp pick up in global oil prices, Moroccan authorities have reduced fiscal and external vulnerabilities […]

Finance Headlines Morocco

Morocco Gets Over $96 Loan to Improve Access to Employment

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced a $96.6 million loan to Morocco to enable the country to implement a program on improving access to employment through vocational training. “Morocco is one of the first African countries to use this innovative financing instrument that makes the disbursement cycle conditional on achieving results, while reducing transaction […]

Africa Finance Headlines International Morocco

Farming: Morocco-Proposed Triple A Initiative at Focus of Meeting at AfDB

The initiative for the Adaptation of African agriculture, presented by Morocco during the COP22 in Marrakech in 2016 was at the focus of a meeting in Abidjan between Moroccan Minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch and President of the African Development Bank Akinuwumi Adesina. The AfDB President expressed at the meeting the African institution’s support to […]

Algeria Finance Headlines

Algeria Resorts to Printing Press to Fix Budget Deficit

The Algerian government has resorted again to the printing press to inject in the market over 4,000 billion dinars, the equivalent of 20% of the country’s GDP, to deal with the 2018 budget deficit. The situation is likely to get worse in 2019, as the outlook for oil prices is rather pessimistic. Since 2014, economic […]