First Independent Mena Newspaper
L’Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP,) the Moroccan State-owned phosphates company, said last week it raised $ 1.55 billion in the first international bond issue having a solid emitter notation organized by an African company outside South Africa. OCP thus sold 10-year bonds to yield 5.625 percent for $1.25 billion and $300 million worth bonds that […]
Morocco has expressed concern about the United Nations Organization’s biased stands when it comes to the issue of human rights in Western Sahara and in the Algeria-based Tindouf camps that are run by the separatist Polisario Front. The worries were reignited by the report that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki -Moon is to submit […]
The United States and Morocco have renewed pledge to use their strong strategic partnership to advance shared priorities of a stable, democratic and prosperous Maghreb, Africa and Middle East. The pledge was renewed during the second session of the United States-Morocco Strategic Dialogue held last Friday in Rabat. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who […]
When Mehdi Jomaa assumed the role of Tunisia’s interim Prime Minister in late January, he did not know how disastrous the true economic condition of his country was. He admitted it roughly a month later during a televised interview by saying that the hole in the budget deficit was about 4 billion dinars (2.5 billion […]
Morocco launched on Wednesday an ambitious plan meant to foster industrial growth, reinforce the country’s economic resilience, and confirm its place among emerging nations. At a ceremony chaired by King Mohammed VI, Minister of Industry Moulay Hafid Elalamy presented the details of the new 2014-2020 industrial growth strategy, which represents “an evolution of emergence towards […]
Morocco’s security experts, politicians and civil-society groups are asking the same question: will Morocco follow its regional neighbors to see a rise in radicalism? To that end, it seems that Moroccan government and its people do not fear salafists as much as they fear the Salafi Jihadism movement. This is why when Moroccan King Mohammed […]
The Barcelona-based Union for the Mediterranean officially launched last week an employability-skills training program labelled “Skills for Success: Employability Skills for Women” aimed to provide economically disadvantaged girls and young women who have completed secondary school (aged 15-20) with specific knowledge, skills and tools to enter the job market. The program includes training in English […]
A 2-day forum, which wrapped up in Rabat on 22 March, was held following a year of brainstorming and series of discussions that were designed to turn the Morocco’s civil society dialogue into real actions. The goal of the forum that was attended by an array of Moroccan and international institutional figures was, according to […]
About 500 people stormed Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Tuesday (18 March), which is the largest number to force their way across the border in almost a decade as increasing naval patrols discourage entry into the territory by sea. Spain has two enclaves in Morocco – Melilla and Ceuta – and migrants mainly […]
Maghreb region’s products and tourist attractions were showcased in the world’s largest travel trade fair – International Tourism Exchange – in Berlin that wrapped up in the German capital on Sunday (9 March). The high-profile venue was attended by tourism professionals from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco whose Tourism Minister, Lahcen Haddad revealed his plan […]