Features Op Eds Opinions

Cultural Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development in Southern Morocco

By 18 October 2012, a report that Salafis destroyed an 8,000-year-old petroglyph in Yakour Plain not far from Marrakesh quickly spread on Facebook and Twitter. The rock-drawing depicting the animistic divinity of the sun is one of thousands of stone carvings in the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains. Print and online newspapers repeated these rumors, […]

Features Letters to the Editor Opinions

Re-branding the EU-South Mediterranean Relations: What Comprehensive FTAs?

In February 2012, the European Parliament approved proposals to reduce restrictions on agricultural and fisheries exports from Morocco into the EU, and to allow Morocco to participate in EU single market programs (on competitiveness and innovation, customs, transport). A few days later, on 1 March 2012, a free trade area (FTA) in industrial goods was […]

Business Emerging Markets

North Africa Will No Longer Benefit from Europe Preferential Trade System in 2014

The EU has issued lately its revised import preference scheme – known as the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) – for developing countries most in need which will take effect from 1 January 2014. The new list of beneficiaries from GSP does not include North African countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco & Tunisia. With […]

Business Finance

Micromed Program: Tunisia Gets EUR 4 Million

Tunisia will get EUR 4 million in the framework of the Micromed Program, an initiative launched by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help promote the microfinance sector in Mediterranean partner countries. The MicroMED Tunisia program was established in response to a call for assistance from the Tunisian Administration in its endeavor to develop the […]

Business Features Finance

Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia gets European bank investments

Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia will soon benefit from investments coming from Europe’s Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as their economies continue to struggle. The bank is looking forward to an investment that could swell up to 200 million Euros. The investment in these three countries will be followed by several similar projects in the […]