First Independent Mena Newspaper
Morocco’s central bank cut its borrowing rate to 2.75% from 3% as inflation drops thanks to lowering food prices and easing external inflationary pressures, the bank said following its board meeting. “On the basis of all these considerations, the Board considered that the calibrated tightening of monetary policy, the regular monitoring of the transmission of […]
The World Bank has approved $600 million funding to Morocco to enable the North African Kingdom finance two projects destined to improve public service and performance. The first project, which gets a $350 million support, aims to improve the governance, restructuring, competitive neutrality, and performance monitoring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The 2nd project, entitled “Public […]
Morocco’s government debt is sustainable as efforts are ongoing to cut it further below 70% of GDP, finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said. The minister made the remark during an interview on le360, following criticism by opposition MPs who warned of the risk of debt unsustainability. Debt to GDP ratio was brought below 70% this […]
Moroccans have lost nearly €11 million in fees for rejected Schengen visas last year. In 2023, the number of Moroccan nationals who had their Schengen visas applications rejected amounted to 136,367, costing €10.9 million or about 117 million MAD. This places Morocco second among African countries in numbers of visa rejections. While the Kingdom led […]
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Africa development plan has drawn criticism, has elevated the continent as a central theme and top priority at this year’s Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ meeting, positioning Italy as a key energy hub linking Europe with Africa. Africa is high on Italy’s agenda this year at the three-day G7 […]
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on Wednesday a €45.5 million loan to Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products Maroc (ECP Maroc) to enable the Moroccan subsidiary of Turkish group Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products (ECP) to acquire Jeesr, a leading manufacturer of tissue paper products in Morocco. This is the Bank’s first cross-border acquisition financing package […]
Cash-strapped Tunisia will get 450 million euros from the European Investment Bank to fund small and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure projects, the bank said. The financing deal will be signed on Thursday at the Tunisia Investment, the bank said in a statement, adding that the loan will benefit “high-impact projects for the population and the […]
Nearly 20,000 millionaires fled Africa in the past decade due to currency depreciations that eroded their wealth, according to Henley and Partners, a global citizenship and residence consultancy. The number of individuals with a wealth of $1 million in Africa dropped 8% to 135,200, while the number of billionaires was limited to 21 with a […]
Seven African countries collected $2.4 billion of additional revenue through tax transparency, exchange of information and related measures in 2023 than over the 13 preceding years combined, a new progress report for the so-called Africa Initiative has found. Launched at a recent 15th Meeting of the Africa Initiative in Lomé, Togo, the Tax Transparency in […]
Morocco’s 2023 gross domestic product grew to $146 billion, after posting a more than expected growth rate at 3.4%, despite the impact of drought and inflation, the statistics agency, HCP, said. The performance came on the back of a growth in non-agricultural activity by 3.5% and a 1.4% growth in the farming sector, as lack […]