Author: Albert Savana

The General Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounts of Niger obtained Thursday, July 4, 2019 on the financial market of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) an amount of 22 billion FCFA (33 million euros) to 364 days, the UMOA-Titres agency, headquartered in Dakar (Senegal), has announced that it will issue its 364-day treasury bills. According to the report of the Agence UMOA-Titres, this program was a great success. Indeed, while he was requesting only 20 billion FCFA, Niger’s public treasury received global bids from investors amounting to 58.254 billion FCFA (1 FCFA equals 0.0015 euros). This gives…

This is a first in a country where foreign private investment still holds the upper hand over the national economy: the Senegalese Investors Club (CIS) was launched in Dakar and is chaired by Babacar Ngom, CEO of Sedima Poultry Group . The objective is to boost investment with structuring and innovative projects. In addition to the boss of the SEDIMA group, the Senegalese investors’ club includes economic leaders such as Youssou Ndour (Cultural Industries and Media), Aimé Sène (Hertz Group), Alioune Ndour Diouf (Insurance), Ameth Amar (Agro -food), Victor Ndiaye (Performances Group), etc. The mission of this Economic Task Force…

In the exclusive interview given to Financial Afrik, the Director General of the National Office of Sanitation of Senegal (ONAS), Lansana Gagny Sakho, evokes the new paradigm that the continent must start by promoting autonomous sanitation. A pilot country chosen by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Senegal is testing new technologies that will emulate Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Officials from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had recently come to Senegal to find a way out of sanitation issues. What are the solutions? In fact, officials of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came to Senegal as…

The President of the Republic, José Mário Vaz, has, in the afternoon, April 25, 2018, by Presidential Decree No. 9/2018, appointed the 26 members of the Government, including 18 Ministers and 8 Secretaries of State . The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) control most of the portfolios. The big surprise of Guinean political observers is the entry into the executive of the leaders of three other parties with seats in parliament, namely Agnelo Augusto Regalla, president of Union for Change; Vicente Fernandes, President of the Party of…

Aminata Kane Ndiaye, 33, has been appointed CEO of Orange Sierra Leone replacing Sékou Dramé promoted to head the group Sonatel. A challenge for this Senegalese graduate of HEC (France) and holds an MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). Perfectly bilingual, Aminata was previously the head of Orange Money’s marketing department. In Sierra Leone, it will have to put its experience capital to work to develop a subsidiary launched in October 2017 following the acquisition of Airtel by Sonatel. Since the acquisition in July 2016, the group has invested more than 30 million euros in infrastructure upgrades. A…

The African Refining Company (SAR) is the subject of lively exchanges between the now majority shareholder, Locafrique, and the Senegalese Ministry of Energy. In an interview with the daily Obs, Khadim Ba, Director General of Locafrique denies the deficit of 40 billion CFA Sar and accuses the Minister of Energy, Mansour Elimane Kane, wanting to endorse a “robbery” in within the company, the only refiner in Senegal. “It’s bad governance. The SAR is the first cash company in the country. It is 400 billion F CFA of turnover. We can NOT tell you that this structure is causing problems. Concretely,…

A new step towards the construction of a single regional financial market, in execution of the decision of the Extraordinary Session of the CEMAC Conference of Heads of State of 31 October 2017 in N’Djamena, Chad, on a single market unique finanicer. The Chairman of the Financial Market Supervisory Commission of Central Africa (COSUMAF), Mr. Nagoum YAMASSOUM and the President of the Financial Markets Commission (CMF), Mr. Jean Claude NGBWA, signed on April 11, 2018, in the premises of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Public Portfolio of the Congo, a convention of cooperation and exchange of information. This convention…

On the sidelines of the CSR and Women’s Leadership workshop, organized on March 27 in Dakar with the Embassy of Canada and her Excellency Ms. Filiatraut and Philippe Barry President CSR Senegal, Citibank Senegal CEO Papa Sall recalled the the importance of diversity issues, the gender approach and sustainable development in the Citi Group strategy. “Indeed, at Citi, one of our strategic advantages is undoubtedly a remarkable diversity of cultures, origins and perspectives offered by our work environment with a presence in more than 100 countries. Our geographic presence and cultural diversity provide our clients with proven expertise as a…

President Denis Sassou Nguesso did not finally receive the French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, during the meeting of the franc zone held on 12 and 13 April in Brazzaville. The French money-maker contented himself with a tête-à-tête with his Congolese counterpart, Calixte Ganongo, Minister of Finance and Budget. Brazzaville was hoping for fresh money to absorb its budget crisis as part of the Yaoundé pledge of December 2016, when France had pledged 1 billion euros to the countries in the zone. But meanwhile, François Hollande was succeeded by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee and Michel Sapin was replaced…

The Portuguese construction giant Mota Engil has been attacking West Africa in recent years. Last big project to date; the imminent revival of the Dakar-Kidira railway line for a total amount of 600 million euros It is difficult to escape the yellow and blue colors of the giant Portuguese construction companies on public works sites in southern Africa in the center and west. For two and a half years, MOTA ENGIL has been working “on the body” with the Senegalese government to entrust to it the concession of two railways DAKAR-KIDIRA and Ziguinchor-TAMBACOUNDA. The gamble of the Portuguese giant is…

The altercation that occurred on March 27, 2018 in Yaoundé between the Central African Minister of Finance, Henri-Marie Dondra, and the chairman of the CEMAC commission, the Gabonese Daniel Ona Ondé, is not ready to fade. Supported by the executives of the institution, Daniel Ona Ondé continues to believe that the situation in Bangui is not yet normal. Hence the firm protests of the Central African Republic that supports the opposite. Behind the scenes, the Central African Republic would now campaign for the appointment of another Gabonese to this post. Chad’s President, Idriss Deby, President-in-Office of the Central African…

In five months, 13 new parties have emerged in Senegal, reports the national daily “Le Soleil” in its delivery this Friday. This new batch brings to 299 the number of political formations in this country of 15 million inhabitants and an electoral file of only 6 million people. This inflation of political parties has accelerated in recent years. The number of groups with a receipt increased from 3 under the presidency of Léopold Sédar Senghor (1960-1980) to 44 under Abdou Diouf (1980-1999) which legalized 41. When he came to power in 2000, Abdoulaye Wade legalized 143 parties. Arrived in power…

It was during a very simple ceremony in the premises of the General Directorate of the Autonomous Port of Cotonou that the act was formalized on Wednesday 04 April 2018. The Belgian Christiaan de Block is now the Director General of the Port Autonome de Cotonou following the contract of delegation signed between the port of Antwerp and the Beninese government. Previously Director of Operations for the Antwerp Port Authority, Mr C. de Block took the reins of a port that was almost dying and abandoned by most economic operators. The latter having now made the option of that of…

Because the fight for freedom is not a rational exploitation account, Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Winnie Madikizela-Mandela better known as Winnie Mandela embodied until his last breath, the honors and disappointments of the camp that fought the odious system of apartheid. His death, announced this April 2, 2018, in a South Africa liberated but in prey, now more than ever, inequality and poverty, reminds President Cyril Ramaphosa, newly elected, the many expectations of a deceived people by politicians who confuse politics and business. Missing at the age of 81, Winnie Mandela married Nelson Mandela in 1958. The couple split in 1992…

Executive Director of the National Bank of Mauritania (BNM), Mohamed El Hamed, delivered a plea for PPPs in Mauritania and the G5 Sahel countries on the sidelines of the XIth PPP meetings, held on 21 and 22 March 2018 in Paris. “You must know that the founding members of the PPP Mauritania Club are the leaders of our National Bank. It was first our president Mohamed Ould Noueigued who came up with the idea, having found that there was unfortunately no framework for consultation between the state and private economic actors, “said the banker in comments relayed by the letter…

The new director general of the Chadian Electricity Company (SNE) is Jean-Paul Mbatna. The former director general of the Agency for the Development of Renewable Energies will be assisted by Nassour Mahamat Delio. The two executives are not entitled to the error. Their two predecessors, Mahamat Adoum Ismail and his deputy, Hamid Djouminho Djouma were fired Friday by presidential decree released Friday night by the public radio and television. Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno has carried out this double dismissal while the country is subjected, in recent days, to major power cuts and water. Entire neighborhoods in N’Djamena, the capital,…

In an interview with the French weekly Challenge, the president of Benin, Patrice Talon, believes that Bolloré must leave the great railway project of the Niger loop. 3000 km long, this pharaonic site awarded to the French group in 2013 has not progressed since, entangled in a judicial standoff. Magistrates have ruled in favor of Bolloré’s rival, the Beninese businessman Samuel Dossou, who believes he has rights previously granted by the Beninese government. “We have to get out of this legal jumble,” says Patrice Talon. Both operators must withdraw, amicably, from the project. And they will have to be compensated…

Some 700 people are stopping because of the announced bankruptcy of Rougier. The wooden operator had filed for bankruptcy in early March at the Commercial Court of Poitiers. The wood merchant employing nearly 3,000 people worldwide, including 2,900 in Africa, reported “significantly increased stocks due to the non-evacuation of shipments from a fully saturated port that is not subject to no investment and which is also considerably silted, which hinders boats to go to the docks take packages to ship. Claims refuted by the director general of the port of Douala. The bankruptcy of the Rougier Group should not fall…

President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim ​​resigned on Saturday to the speaker of parliament, according to his lawyer. Yousuf Mohamed, his lawyer, told the Mauritian media that the head of state resigned for the best interests of the nation. She will have to leave her position on March 23rd. Ms. Fakim ​​had been charged with financial irregularities. These accusations eventually deteriorated his relations with Pravind Jugnauth, the prime minister. The only woman president of the continent is accused of using a credit card issued by an international non-governmental organization to buy clothing and jewelery in Italy and Dubai. The resignation of Mrs. Gurib-Fakim…

Currently valued at 4000 billion dollars, the global market for Islamic finance arouses a strong desire of West African countries that weigh only 5% of the volume of transactions. This is the meaning of the fifth edition of the forum on Islamic finance planned from 19 March 2018 in Dakar. West Africa wants to make Islamic finance a lever for growth in its economy. For the CEO of the African Institute of Islamic Finance (AIIF), Mouhamadou Lamine Mbacké, Islamic finance is growing exponentially as the volume of transactions has increased from 800 to 4000 billion. Yet it is the capital of…

The February 2 2018, S & P Global Ratings confirmed the long-term “CCC +” and short-term “C” debt ratings of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The perspective remains “stable”. Clearly, says S & P, the country’s ability to repay its current and future financial commitments is precarious, although debt service obligations are minimal in the short term. This fragility is linked to the persistent political stalemate in which Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has been diving since December 2016. In S & P’s view, the stable outlook accompanying the rating reflects both the anticipations of persistent political…

The anti-corruption purge, launched last October in Saudi Arabia by order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported 400 billion riyals (about 107 billion) in the form of cash, real estate assets seized and securities financial. This explains Saudi Attorney General Saoud Al Mojeb at a press conference held last Saturday. The 381 personalities (including several Princes) arrested in November 2017 by the regime and locked up at the Ryad Ritz Carlton had to go to the cashier to regain freedom. The most famous al-Walid bin Talal, Twitter shareholder and owner of the hotel George V in Paris, was released…

King Mohammed VI on Monday sent a message to the 30th summit of the African Union (AU), whose work is taking place at the headquarters of the continental organization in Addis Ababa. The document on the “African Agenda for Migration” was designed with an inclusive and participatory approach. This Agenda should aim to make migration a lever for co-development, a pillar of South-South Cooperation, and a vector of solidarity. For this purpose, it is proposed: -The creation of an African Migration Observatory whose work will be based on the triptych “understand, anticipate and act”. Its mission will be to develop…

The 30th summit of the African Union opened on Sunday 28 January and should close on Monday.

The Senegalese businessman Baba Diaw, the West African hydrocarbon magnate, officially launched 22 January 2018 at the launch of 25, the banking institution of the Dakar financial center. The Bustard Bank has an initial capital of 14 billions of francs. The new financial institution installed in Senegal. It will be added to the list of 24 financial institutions in the Dakar square that share the national market. According to the BCEAO, the approval was finally granted to Abdoulaye Baba Diaw, magnate of the strategic hydrocarbon sector and owner of the trading company International Trade and commodities (ITOC). The armor and…