First Independent Mena Newspaper
Only 16 African heads of state have arrived in St. Petersburg to attend the second Russia-Africa Summit — fewer than half of the 43 who came to the first summit in 2019 — a striking disappointment for the Kremlin despite its recent flurry of diplomatic efforts in the continent. Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting […]
Investors are unloading Kenya’s dollar bonds due 2028, whose yields have climbed to 14.6% and the shilling has also trading at a record low, while opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) party has said protests against government policies would resume after Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, if no progress had been […]
Six promising durum wheat and barley varieties that are more tolerant to drought, and that offer higher yields and important nutritional qualities have been developed by the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco’s National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) and the Benchaib seeds company. According to a joint statement by the […]
Drought trends in the Horn of Africa are now worse than they were during the 2011 famine in which hundreds of thousands of people died, with a climate research center warning of below-normal rainfall that is expected during the rainy season over the next three months in parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. “In parts […]
King Mohammed VI of Morocco, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, delivered, on Friday, a speech to the Parliament on the occasion of the opening of the first session of the second legislative year of the 11th legislature. Full text of the Royal Speech: “Praise be to God, May peace and blessings be upon […]
Lack of rainfall has weighed on Morocco’s cereals harvest which dropped to 34 million quintals this year, down 67% from last year, the agriculture ministry said. Soft wheat yield stood at 18.9 million quintals, hard wheat at 8.1 million quintals and barley at 7 million quintals as the country registered a drop of 34% in […]
Morocco’s central bank revised downwards this year’s growth forecast to 0.7% amid rising inflationary pressures due to fallout of the war in Ukraine and as Morocco faces an unprecedented growth. The Bank said Morocco’s cereals harvest will drop to 25 million quintals from 103 million quintals last year, amid a 57% rainfall deficit which meant […]
Moroccans prayed for rain after the Friday prayer as the country faces its worst drought since 1981. Late and unevenly distributed rainfall has put a strain on Moroccan farmers who are bracing for a tough year that required the government to intervene. The government has unveiled two weeks ago a plan to mitigate drought impact […]
Morocco’s interior ministry has ordered water rationing in regions hit by drought, the worst Morocco has experienced in decades. Climate experts consider this drought the worst in 30 years and has hit all Moroccan regions compromising this crop year. The Interior ministry asked local governors to ensure that green spaces are not irrigated with drinking […]
Morocco’s braces for a surge in the bill of subsidies to keep bread prices stable from 1.3 billion dirhams in a normal year to 3.844 billion dirhams expected this year, Delegate Minister in charge of the budget Fouzi Lekjaa said. Speaking to reporters following the weekly government council, Lekjaa deplored the difficult conditions in the […]