First Independent Mena Newspaper
Over $30 billion worth of gold was smuggled out of Africa in 2022, primarily to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and Switzerland, according to a new ground-breaking report by Swissaid that calls for more transparency and traceability in the gold supply chain to improve local conditions and artisanal miners’ working conditions throughout the continent. […]
Morocco fully supports initiatives aimed at establishing a “safe”, “secure” and “resilient” cyberspace, Minister in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, said Monday in Marrakech. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Africa Cybersafe Symposium, held on May 27-28 in Marrakech, at the initiative of the Directorate-General of Information Systems Security (DGSSI), under the […]
Morocco’s phosphates and fertilizers giant OCP signed a deal with USAID to work on joint projects focusing on African agricultural development. The agreement was signed during a visit to University Mohammed VI Polytechnic by Samantha Power, USAID Administrator. Under the deal, the two parties will work on a project dubbed “Space to Place” that will […]
Moroccan banks operate in 30 African countries where they generate 23% of their revenue, Moroccan central bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said while speaking about investments by Moroccan firms in the continent. Speaking at an event on the Atlantic initiative, launched by King Mohammed VI to bolster regional integration, Jouahri highlighted the monarch’s win-win approach in […]
Africa’s cotton industry is expected to grow to 7.7 billion dollars by 2029, from a market size of 6 billion dollars in 2024, Mordor Intelligence, a global market screener said. The World Bank and other development institutions are assisting key African producers to boost output. Nearly 50% of African cotton is produced in wet African […]
Human Rights NGO Equality Now found in a new study that women’s rights in most African countries are undermined by discriminatory family laws. The study assesses family codes in 20 African countries, analyzing their compliance with the Maputo Protocol and the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDA as […]
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming the latest frontier in the competition between the United States and China in Africa, as African countries are set to gain from both AI superpowers’ keen interest in collaboration to advance AI innovation on the continent. The US was the leading source of top computer programs known as AI […]
The Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health summit held in Kenya’s capital Nairobi has recently closed with a 10-year action plan, as the African Union (AU) has said a $15 billion private sector investment is needed to increase manufacturing of mineral fertilizers in Africa. The Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health summit that took place last week […]
Morocco has placed utmost priority on food security in its wider African policy, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, foreign minister Nasser Bourita said. Morocco has relied on three levers to boost African food security: Morocco’s fertilizers and phosphates giant OCP, the agriculture ministry, and a south-south cooperation approach spurred by the king, Bourita […]
Across Africa, a flood of cheap imported drones is fueling conflicts, filling the skies with new dangers, making the warfare deadlier and more indiscriminate, thus increasing civilian casualties. Thanks to the proliferation of easy-to-obtain drones, by some estimates, thousands of African civilians have been killed by the so-called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the past […]