Author: Albert Savana

Guinea-Bissau and Togo present a high risk of external debt distress for total debt, indicates their common central bank (BCEAO) in its 2020 annual report. Which specifies that the latest debt sustainability analyzes show that the risks of debt distress of this type are moderate for all other WAEMU member states. According to the institution, the ratio of outstanding external debt to GDP is estimated at 29% in 2019 for all 8 countries in the region, against 26.5% a year earlier. It “stood at 24.0% in 2019 against 19.4% in 2018 in Benin, 22.8% against 21.4% in Burkina Faso, 25.9%…

The State of Burkina Faso, through its General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounts, raised on June 9, 2021 on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) an amount of 32.240 billion FCFA (48.360 million d ‘euros) at the end of its issue of assimilable treasury bonds (BAT) with a maturity of 364 days, organized in partnership with the UMOA-Titre agency based in Dakar. This fundraising is part of the Burkinabé government’s strategy to cover the financing needs of the state budget. For the second quarter of 2021, the intentions of issuing public securities expressed by…

Absa Bank Limited (Absa), with several subsidiaries in Africa, is committed to providing financing solutions to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and households in sub-Saharan Africa. This through microfinance institutions and non-bank financial institutions (MFIs and NBFI). With this in mind, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, announced earlier this week a new USD 50 million risk-sharing facility with Absa Bank Limited ( Absa). This MFI and NBFI risk-sharing facility is the first of its kind for CDC – supporting lending to these institutions (through credit risk mitigation) and enabling them to better serve…

Kingdom Bank announced on Thursday (June 10th) that it expects to post a pre-tax profit of at least 300 million shilling (2.7 million USD) for this fiscal year 2021. This performance will be mainly driven by a resumption of confidence after its acquisition by Co-operative Bank. In August 2020, the Co-operative Bank of Kenya acquired a 90% stake in Jamii Bora at 1 billion shillings (9.2 million USD). Subsequently, the bank set up a new team. management and renamed the Level III lender to Kingdom Bank. If the performance is achieved, it will be the first profit – also the…

The 2020 financial year of Air Liquide Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of the French multinational Air Liquide International and specializing in the supply of industrial and medical gases, was marked by a record loss of 2.462 billion FCFA (3.694 million euros), announced the leaders of this Abidjan-based company. For three years, Air Liquide Côte d’Ivoire’s accounts have been in a zone of turbulence with successive losses of -990.908 million FCFA in 2017, -81.836 million FCFA in 2018 and -26.523 million FCFA in 2019. Yet , observers who follow the evolution of this company expected, in the absence of a return…

It has just canceled the shorlist of companies pre-qualified for the PPP feasibility study of the drinking water supply project in northern Mauritania. With a budget of 3 billion euros, this project, the summary of which was carried out by the British giant Mott Macdonald, is the largest project in the Nouadhibou Free Zone (ZFN). The companies preselected in July 2020 must take their troubles patiently. This is Ernst & Young; PwC (both members of the Big Four); Artelia recruited in 2019 for the consulting component of the mega electrical project of the Mauritanian Electricity Company (Somelec) for an amount…

To make the major development poles in Côte d’Ivoire more autonomous, President Alassane Ouattara announced this Wednesday, June 9, the appointment of 14 new governors with the rank of minister in order to allow the implementation of state projects. in all localities of the country, through increased surveillance and supervision. “The Prime Minister and I will be carrying out the consultations in the coming days and, hopefully, we will be able to appoint the minister-governors at the end of this month of June … Mr. Prime Minister, I am counting on you to make proposals to me in the future.…

The outstanding loans granted by decentralized financial systems (DFS) in Senegal to their customers stood at CFAF 477.271 billion (€ 715.907 million) in the first quarter of 2021, according to data established by the Regulatory Directorate. and the monitoring of SFDs (DRS / SFD). Compared to the same period of 2020 when it amounted to CFAF 429.089 billion, this outstanding loan has increased by 11.2%. Regarding the outstanding deposits made at the level of DFIs by customers, they increased by 8.89% to 395.364 billion FCFA against 363.081 billion FCFA at the end of March 2020. Regarding the quality of the…

The State of Côte d’Ivoire, through its e Public Treasury, raised on June 8, 2021, an amount of 66 billion FCFA (107.250 million euros) at the end of its simultaneous issue of bonds and 91-day, 5-year and 10-year Treasury stimulus bonds (ORD), organized in partnership with the UMOA-Titres Agency based in Dakar. Launched by the UMOA-Titres agency in collaboration with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the issuance of ODRs aims to allow the issuer to mobilize the savings of individuals and moral standards in order to ensure the financing needs of the Ivorian state budget are covered…

Despite the difficult economic environment, oil and gas exports are on the rise at the end of the first four months of the year, according to figures compiled by the National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH). These exports represent 13.25 million barrels of oil equivalent produced, an increase of 4 million barrels of tonnes compared to last year when oil production in April was 9.34 million barrels. With more than 809,352 m3 of LNG, gas production is also on the rise, compared to 745.96 million cubic meters produced at the end of April last year. The cumulative sales of crude oil and…

We did not go so far as to sever diplomatic relations or to recall ambassadors. But relations between Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been strained to say the least recently, with at the center of the disagreement, the occupation of the seat of a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council representing the Community. of Central African States (ECCAS). The two countries which coveted the post for the period 2022-2023 have engaged in a standoff that has started to rub off on diplomatic relations. It took some talks at the initiative of the leaders…

Orange Middle East and Africa and the AXA CIMA entities led by AXA Assurance Maroc announce the signing of an agreement for the joint acquisition of a majority stake in the capital of DabaDoc, alongside the founders of the company. DabaDoc, founded by Zineb Drissi-Kaitouni and Driss Drissi-Kaitouni in 2014, is a platform that digitalizes access to health in Africa. DabaDoc has developed solutions adopted today by thousands of healthcare professionals in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Orange and AXA’s investment will accelerate this development and extend DabaDoc’s services to other geographies, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. The closing of the…

The Mauritanian authorities are trying to relaunch the project of the sugar complex in Foum Gleita, a locality located in the south of the country. They are looking for a consultant (firm) for the PPP feasibility study of the project. The idea of ​​creating a sugar complex – which includes an industrial perimeter of sugar cane cultivation with an area of ​​8,000 hectares irrigated from the Foum Gleita dam, a factory capable of producing 110,000 tonnes of sugar per year, one unit of electric power generation and two units of feed and fertilizer production – amounting to USD 335 million…

The country’s second largest agricultural export product after cocoa, rubber, which achieves a turnover of 917 million dollars for a workforce of 165,000 planters, is, it seems, also affected by the Covid-19. On the occasion of the first edition of the virtual World Summit on rubber opened this Tuesday, June 8, in Abidjan, around the theme “Facing the future: inclusiveness, sustainability and growth for the new normal”, Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi reassured of the government’s contribution to relaunch the sector. “The government has chosen to provide decisive support to the rubber sector and to amplify the support we owe…

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have spared no effort to join telecommunications players in their respective countries in awarding a telecommunications license to Safaricom of Kenya. The Ethiopia Global Partnership consortium, led by Safaricom, will invest more than 864 billion shillings (approximately 8 billion USD) over 10 years, making it the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economy of over 112 million people. Ethiopia granted a license a month ago to a consortium led by Kenyan Safaricom, a decision that ends the government’s monopoly on the strategic telecommunications sector, one of the last in…

The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on June 3, 2021, a financial envelope of more than USD 430,000 to deal with the resurgence of the Ebola epidemic which is on the way to being defeated. A donation that is part of the AfDB’s humanitarian aid project. According to our information, the Guinea National Health Security Agency (ANSS) has already started a countdown before the imminent declaration of the end of the resurgence of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic. According to an AfDB press release, this support will make it possible to implement the Guinean government’s priorities in its response…

Kenya Airways (KQ) announced Tuesday, June 8, that it had chosen a British consulting firm, Steer Group, to develop its recovery plans. This decision follows the situation of an airline which is suffering the full brunt of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The disease resulted in considerable financial losses as well as a drop in the number of passengers. Allan Kilavuka, CEO of KQ, said Kenya Airways has developed short, medium and long term strategies to help achieve two main goals. It’s about surviving today’s depressed market, and implementing strategies that will make the business more sustainable in the…

The cumulative net money transfers (difference between transfers received and those made) received by credit institutions in Senegal reached CFAF 330.4 billion (€ 495.600 million) at the end of the first quarter of 2021, according to data from the Department of Currency and Credit (DMC) of the Ministry of Finance and Budget based in Dakar. Compared to the first quarter of 2020 when they amounted to CFAF 254.2 billion, these net money transfers have increased by 30.0%. During the period under review, rapid money transfers received by Senegalese credit institutions amounted to CFAF 374.4 billion against CFAF 298.3 billion in…

Inaugurated on June 6 by the Togolese head of state, Faure Gnassingbé, the Adétikopé industrial platform (PIA) is a major milestone in the country’s development policy, which it aims to transform into an industrial hub. Close-up on this PPP model which, after having proved its worth in Gabon, has already been replicated in Benin under the leadership of ARISE IIP, developer of special economic zones in Africa. Eleven years after developing its first SEZ in Nkok (1,126 ha 27km from Libreville), Gabon, ARISE IIP inaugurated two other industrial zones four months apart, in West Africa this time: first in Benin…

As part of the strategic redeployment of the “Securities” activity of the BCP group, Médiafinance is changing its name and is now called BCP Securities Services (BCP2S). The new name notably reinforces its backing to the BCP group and marks its specialization in all securities-related services (“Securities Services”). This change comes in the continuity of the evolution operated by the BCP group in terms of its brand identity with the aim of supporting its in-depth transformation, initiated in Morocco and internationally. BCP Securities Services is thus sporting a new logo, incorporating the emblem of the circled horse, marking its membership…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Gabon are in negotiations to complete a new program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). These talks are slated to end on June 7, before the board of directors of the Bretton Woods institution decides “on the agreement to a new program before July 15,” a source tells us in Washington. The IMF preparatory mission has decided, according to the information in our possession, to extend the credit period to a new extended credit facility program for 2021-2023. Indeed, the mission of the Washington administrators was to agree on the budgetary framework for…

For the protection of its cyberspace, Côte d’Ivoire has just adopted a National Cyber ​​Security Strategy 2020 – 2025, revealed the Ivorian Minister of the Digital Economy, Telecommunications and Innovation, Roger Adom, at the opening of the Cyber ​​Africa Forum held this Monday, June 7 in Abidjan. According to Roger Adom, this new ambition of the government can be explained by the new impetus set in motion at the level of the policy to protect its cyberspace. “The vision of the State of Côte d’Ivoire in defining its strategy is to support the growth of the national economy by providing…

The Paris Court of Appeal dampened the hopes of the Congolese President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, of flying one day on his luxurious Falcon 7X acquired in 2014. In a judgment of June 3, the court did not grant the request of Brazzaville to release the plane seized, in June 2020, at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport, in the south of France, as part of the heavy dispute between Brazzaville and Mohsen Hojeij. For several years this businessman of Lebanese origin, boss of the construction company Commisimpex, has been attacking the assets of the Congo by asserting a debt which today amounts to more…

As part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, donations received by member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) increased sharply by 60.4% at the end of 2020 compared to 2019, according to data from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) based in Dakar. These donations, which mainly come from external support received from technical and financial partners (PTF) amounted to CFAF 2,540 billion against CFAF 1,583.6 billion in 2019, an increase of CFAF 956.4 billion. As for non-tax revenues, they fell by 10.60% to FCFA 1,401.5 billion during the period under review against…

After his second coup in nine months, Colonel Assimi Goita has just been sworn in on Monday, June 07, 2021 in Bamako. This oath took place in the presence of members of the Supreme Court. Speaking to the Malian people, Assimi Goïta said he has decided to reduce the state’s standard of living. “From that moment I decided to reduce the state’s standard of living. For this, the first measure is to cancel 2/3, the sovereignty fund, “he suggested. According to several observers, the seizure of power by the high-ranking even reassures some Bamakois, disappointed with the policies: “I want…

The President of the Togolese Republic, H.E.M. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, proceeded, Sunday, June 6, 2021, to the inauguration of the Industrial Platform of Adétikopé (PIA). The achievement of this flagship of the country’s agro-industrial policy is part of the National Development Plan 2018-2022 (PND) and the Government Road Map Togo 2025. The result of a public-private partnership, this Integrated ecosystem spread over 400 hectares and located 15km north of the capital will play a catalytic role in supporting economic growth and regional integration. Fueled 90% by renewable energies, this integrated industrial zone will promote the local processing of raw materials,…

The after-tax profit of the Société d’études et de travaux pour d’Afrique de l’Ouest (SETAO), a subsidiary of the Bouygues group specializing in consulting and engineering services in the field of building and public works (BTP ), saw a sharp increase of 168% at the end of fiscal year 2020 compared to the previous fiscal year. The provisional annual results for the year under review highlight a profit of 2.321 billion FCFA against 866 million FCFA as of December 31, 2019, an increase of 1.455 billion FCFA. SETAO’s turnover stood at 15.900 billion FCFA against 9.277 billion FCFA in 2019,…

The restrictive measures linked to the response against Covid-19 enacted by the Kingdom of the Cherifian are starting to give results. This is in essence what is stated in a press release from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published this Sunday, June 6, which announces the resumption of flights to and from the Kingdom of Morocco as of Tuesday, June 15, 2021. The document specifies, however, that these new progressive measures to relax restrictions on the movement of travelers mainly aim to facilitate the return to the country of Moroccans residing abroad. As the Kingdom’s airspace is still closed,…

The depreciation of commodity prices on the international market, in particular the fall in the price of oil, which constitutes more than 80% of the country’s income, has plunged Chad into a worrying difficult socioeconomic situation. At the end of the humanitarian-development-peace meeting and the joint launch of the 2021 humanitarian response plan and the response plan for refugees held on June 4 in Ndjamena, it emerges that the humanitarian needs are greater because of the economic slump. and security concerns that swallow up large sums of money that could have been injected into the economic circuit. In response, the…

For the first time in a decade, the profit made by Nestlé Côte d’Ivoire will allow dividends to be distributed to shareholders at the rate of CFAF 363.665 net per share. What is more, this decision endorsed by the general meeting of June 4 comes at a time when the Nestlé CI (NTLC) share, up 868, 75% compared to the previous year, is currently one of the most popular stocks. on the regional stock exchange (BRVM). “The activities in 2020 took place in a relatively difficult social and economic environment, marked by an unprecedented health crisis linked to the COVID19…