First Independent Mena Newspaper
Drought has shattered prospects for a good harvest this year with only 2.5 million tons expected, down from 5.51 million tons last year, Morocco’s central bank said. The bank explained that a shortage of rainfall led to a drop in cereals planted area to 2.5 million hectares, compared with 3.7 million hectares last year. As […]
Spain is committed to further improving ties with Morocco, said the Spanish Foreign Minister, describing Morocco as a “key partner.” “Spain should have the best relations with a neighbor like Morocco. This is a rule of our foreign policy and state policy,” foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told the Spanish Senate. “Morocco is a key […]
Africa will play a “huge role” in America’s critical mineral strategy, says US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo who used his five-day trip to South Africa to express his country’s ambitions of securing metals needed for the global energy transition. Africa’s natural richness, which includes many so-called critical minerals, such as chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, […]
Air France has lost up to 65 million euros after its business in the Sahel was disrupted by a ban by coup countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The ban has forced the French carrier to direct its routes to central Africa with the announcement of a partnership with Afrijet, a Gabonese airline, la Nouvelle […]
French bank, Société Générale, has informed Morocco’s Central Bank of its intention to leave the country, as part of a plan to withdraw from the African continent, Central Bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said. Moroccan media has reported over the past few days that the French bank was planning to sell its Morocco branch to Saham […]
The State Department has approved the sale to Morocco of Javelin missiles, an advanced portable anti-tank weapon system expected to strengthen further the Kingdom’s military capabilities. The North African Kingdom has requested to buy 612 Javelin FGM-148F missiles, (including twelve (12) fly-to-buy missiles) and two hundred (200) Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LWCLUs). The $260 […]
Morocco’s central bank has decided to maintain the current key rate at 3 percent and expects the country’s economic growth to be limited to 2.1 percent in 2024, before rebounding to 4.3 pc in 2025. During its first meeting of 2024 held Tuesday in Rabat, the Board of Bank Al Maghrib said the key rate […]
East African central banks are being forced to hike interest rates to contain renewed inflationary pressures emanating from surging shipping and insurance costs due to the disrupted crucial trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in the Red Sea. The ongoing Red Sea crisis, involving attacks by the Iran-supported Houthi group based in […]
Morocco’s flag carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) announced that it will launch, as part of its plan to strengthen its network and in preparation for the summer season, air routes from its Casablanca hub to Naples, Manchester, and Abuja, from June 22, 2024. The airline will resume direct flights to Naples, Italy, from June 22, […]
Côte d’Ivoire is in the process of meeting the criteria to join the OPEC, the country’s oil and mining minister amadou Sangafowa Coulibaly announced. This came few days after ENI said it found significant reserves of oil offshore Côte d’Ivoire, with a specific well in particular having as much as 1.5 billion barrels of oil […]