First Independent Mena Newspaper
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 […]
Two years after the signing of the founding protocol, the African Energy Bank officially opened its doors on June 4 and slated the operational launch for July. This supranational bank will focus on financing oil and gas projects in Africa, with a view to bridging the financing gap in these sectors and the continent’s energy […]
Mali’s revenue from gold mining activities fell by 26% due to lower taxes, official figures showed. Mali is the fourth largest gold producer in Africa. The mineral accounted for 80% of its exports and represents some 10% of its GDP. The revenue paid by mining companies to the Treasury fell to 563.8 billion CFA francs […]
Germany has granted Morocco a €100 million loan to assist the Kingdom’s earthquake reconstruction program, alleviate the socio-economic burdens placed on the local population, and assist in managing the aftermath of the disaster that hit Morocco in September last year. The loan agreement was signed in Rabat on Wednesday by Minister in charge of Budget, […]