First Independent Mena Newspaper
Mastercard has acquired a minority stake in the fintech subsidiary of South African telecommunications giant MTN in a deal valued at a whopping $5.2 billion, whereby the partnership will see Africa’s biggest mobile company to strategically leverage the US giant’s technology for its payments and remittance expansion in the continent. By snapping up the minority […]
Morocco sits on tremendous uranium reserves thanks to its world’s largest phosphates deposits that could help the country power its desalination plants and export surplus, the Middle East Institute said. The paper, by Michael Tanchum, recalls that 73% of the world’s phosphate rock reserves contain an estimated 6.9 million tons of uranium, that compares to […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slammed African central banks for their misguided currency regulation, especially with regard to the ineffective disposal of their foreign exchange reserves. In particular, the IMF has scrutinized the African central banks’ rigid exchange rate regulations, criticizing them for disposing of their foreign exchange reserves in an ineffective attempt to […]
Burkina Faso authorities have cancelled a concession deal with French company Meridian AM to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a new International airport in capital Ouagadougou, over several reasons including the taxation regime and duration of the concession (30 years) believed to be exaggerated. The regime of former and ousted leader Rock March Christian […]
Fawry, Egypt’s leading E-payment solutions provider, will turn its online payment portal “myFawry” into a digital bank in 2023, the country’s stock exchange market indicated Sunday August 13, in a statement. The future bank will provide a variety of financial services, including payments, consumer lending, savings, and investments, the online payment firm indicated. Downloads of […]
The African venture-capital (VC) market witnessed a 40% drop in funding from the previous year in the first six months of 2023, reflecting cautious investor sentiment and sparking concerns for startups’ future. In the first half of 2023, a mere 263 VC deals were executed, collectively accounting for $2.1 billion, which represents a 40% decline […]
The 8th Hassan II Great World Water Prize will be held on May 18, 2024 in Bali, Indonesia, under the theme “Water resource security for food sovereignty and shared prosperity,” the Ministry of Equipment and Water said. Created in 2002 and awarded for the first time at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, […]
Spiro, a leading electric motorbike manufacturer and clean energy provider in Africa, has landed $63 million loan from GuarantCo, a company in the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and the French bank Société Générale to be used to expand its fleet of electric motorbikes, alongside the associated batteries and swap stations, in Benin and Togo. […]
Huayou, a Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles battery materials, would invest 200 billion dirhams or $20 bln in a plant in Morocco’s region of Laayoune Sakia El Hamra in the Sahara, the regional investment center announced. A delegation of the Chinese group visited the region where officials introduced competitive attractions to help the company export […]
Princess Fahda, wife of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and mother of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is spending her vacation in the northern Moroccan city of Tangier. The Saudi Princess was accompanied by a large delegation including other princes and princesses, Saudi Royal palace officials and other dignitaries, according to le360 news website. Morocco has […]