Author: Editor

By El Hadji Abdourahmane DIOUF.  The WTO is in bad shape. The Doha Round is everlasting. The United Stated is paralysing the functioning of the Appellate Body. The multilateralism is regressing. The post-Covid global trade needs to be fine-tuned. Humanity is wondering and the Director-General (DG) of the WTO is stepping down. A successor needs to be found at short notice. It’s Africa’s turn ! The election of an African at the head of the WTO will have positive repercussions on global trade regulation. States retain leadership at the WTO. But a visionary African director with leading and perceptive skills…

Shareholders of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have voted and re-appointed Prof. Benedict Oramah as President of the Pan-African multilateral financial institution for a second 5-year term. The decision was announced today in Cairo following Afreximbank’s 27th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders which was held by circulation of resolutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. In an acceptance statement released shortly thereafter, President Oramah told Shareholders that the Bank’s ultimate goal under his second term of office is the realisation of Africa’s strategic ambition to create an integrated market. “We want an Africa where the foundations of the African Continental Free…

The Conference of Parties (CoP) of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) has elected Mr. Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, of the Republic of Senegal as the new ARC Group Director General, for a term of four (4) years. The election of Mr Diong, which was ‘without objection’ from all the Members, was consistent with provisions of the Procedure for Electing the Director General which calls for consensus by the Parties, to the extent possible. The CoP commended the ARC Agency Governing Board and the Board of Directors of ARC Insurance Company Ltd (Joint Board) for putting in place a competitive and transparent process for…

By Leila Ben Hassen. Today, 8 June, all ocean lovers and stakeholders celebrate the United Nations World Ocean Day 2020, with this year’s theme being” Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”. During the last few years, African governments have shown increasing commitment towards the blue economy (all ocean and sea-based activities) and implemented new policies to achieve SDG14 by 2030. There has been more collaboration between the private sectors, civil societies, academics and local communities. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed how deeply human’s health, wellbeing and economies are linked to the oceans. We have all been concerned about the spread of…

Standard Chartered  has today announced the appointment of Subhradeep Mohanty as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Africa and Middle East (AME) region. Subhradeep brings over 19 years of diverse and international experience in the banking sector to the AME region. Most recently, Subhradeep was the CFO for Standard Chartered Bank’s India franchise, where he played a crucial role in driving the country’s strategic transformation and performance. Prior to this, he was the Global CFO of Retail Banking at Standard Chartered, based in Singapore, where he was integral in the Retail Bank’s large-scale global turnaround efforts. Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO,…

By Khalid Cherkaoui Semmouni Rabat Center for Political and Strategic Studies Director. The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in March 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi-led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies. Iran support the Houthis and Arabia Saudia support Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. In the beginning ,  Houthi forces currently control the capital Sanaʽa and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have clashed with the forces loyal to Hadi who are based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and…

The Africa Private Creditor Working Group is an initiative to represent the views of international private creditors invested in Africa and to work with countries on their financing needs during the COVID-19 crisis.

By Khalid Cherkaoui Semmouni, Director of Rabat Center for Political and Strategic Studies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) intervention in Libya had a major role in the overthrow of the Qaddafi’s regime at 2011, which also had important repercussions at the regional level. As a result, endless and complex civil wars and Libya has gone divided among so many factions, and splitted between two rival governments, various rogue militias and tribes. Since 2011, Libya has already become a source of concern for the international community  because multiple security and economic challenges it imposes on the north of Africa and the…

For ancient Greeks, a crisis was not necessarily a dreadful event, but rather a moment for important decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many lives to be lost and created dramatic socio-economic impact—it is a true humanitarian crisis. But, could it also be an opportunity for Africa? A defining moment that will allow us to call for bold actions in three independent, yet mutually reinforcing, areas. Covid-19: A wake-up call for increasing digitization in the public sector Our public sector has the potential to be a powerful tool for inclusion, if it undergoes a sweeping transformation underpinned by a…

By Pierre Delval Africa is undoubtedly one of the largest reserves of diamonds in the world. Beyond Australia, Canada or Russia, the international sector of finance knows that the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, and South Africa together hold hundreds of millions of carats in their soil. In addition to these three flagship countries, there is Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Angola, Namibia, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, by denial or not, all these countries ignore that their soil, so rich in time, will be worth almost nothing tomorrow if nothing is done today to save it. Explanations. Such wealth should have long…

A sketch of ideas for a global future By Darwis Khudori “That Asia has ‘risen’ in the world economy since at least 1960, and especially since 2000, is a proposition that is widely accepted” (Immanuel Wallerstein, The Rise of Asia in the World Economy, GIS Réseau Asie – French Network for Asian Studies, September 2012). For Kishore Mahbubani “The rise of the West transformed the world. The rise of Asia will bring about an equally significant transformation. […] The rise of Asia will be good for the world” (Kishore Mahbubani, The Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to…

By Maria Nadolu, globe-trotter. We’re having one of our usual globetrotters’ long phone calls; we’re used to travel more than 6 months a year, switching from one eco-system to another, ready to integrate new viral horizons and molecular innuendos; my friend is just returning from Mumbai to Kuwait city, whilst I’m still soaking the winter sun in Val d’Aosta, at the border in between North Italy and France. As usual, our conversations disperse like coffee flavor in the thin morning air; a mix of sharing personal experiences and analyzing world affairs… This time, it only takes a few minutes to…

The news went around social networks.  Guinea Conakry and the 5 English-speaking countries of West Africa denounce the “unilateral” decision to rename the CFA franc to “eco” on the sidelines of a meeting held on Thursday January 16 in Nigeria. The six countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) “noted with concern the declaration aiming to unilaterally rename the CFA franc to eco by July 2020”. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the six countries say in a statement that “this action is not in accordance with the decisions” of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)…

According to our sources, the president of the Senegal Oil and Gas Risks Insurance Pool, Majdi Yassine, informed the Senegalese insurance and reinsurance market that Sonam, a bidder on behalf of the Insurance Pool, has been confirmed for insurance cover for the Woodside oil project in Senegal. Majdi YASSINE is the CEO of the life and non-life insurance subsidiaries of Sanlam in Senegal, he has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance sector in sub-Saharan Africa, he helped the Colina group to start their subsidiary in Senegal in greenfield in 2008, and in less than 10 years he…

More and more, African countries are able to act in concert to stand up for the interests of the continent. Professor Carlos Lopes Associate Fellow, Africa Programme, Chatham House The conventional wisdom is that Africa is at the periphery of international affairs, and the perpetual subject – or victim – of decisions by powerful political or economic actors from outside the continent. The argument then goes on that the diversity of African countries, their atomization and fragmentation, further weakens the ability of the continent to act as a unified whole. As with much cliché about Africa, it does not tell…

SGI AFRICABOURSE arranges the second tranche of the Commercial Paper Issuance Program for the VETO SERVICES S.A Group for 1.5 billion FCFA. An amount to be mobilized during the period from 04 to 25 November 2019, ie 300 securities with a nominal value of 5 million CFA francs, with a maturity of 24 months and an interest rate of 7.5% gross per year. These are the characteristics of the second tranche of the CFAF 3 billion global loan that the Veto Services S.A Group (GVS – S.A) is issuing to UEMOA investors and beyond. This operation follows the first tranche…

Dr. Mohamed Boudra, Mayor of Al Hoceima (Morocco), candidate of Africa, was elected President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) at the World Council of the organization held on November 15, 2019 in Durban (Africa) from South). The first round gave as results: Dr. Boudra, first with 100 votes; followed by Mr Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan in Russia with 66 votes, and in third place Mr Fernando Medina, Mayor of Lisbon in Portugal with 55 votes, which gave Mr Boudra and Mr Meltshin qualified for the second round scheduled for November 15, 2019, during which each candidate had…

In WAEMU, GDP statistics are underestimated. This seems obvious to say the least. First, there are strong signals: the informal economy is everywhere; in the agricultural sector, “in the bush”, in the building, in the services to the person, in the small street trade or in the markets. There are also weak signals: on average, in the ports of the subregion, the ships remain 15 days at the wharf or in the roadstead, five times more than in Asia, indicating a trade activity by sea well superior to port reception capacities; airports are always busy; the price of a square…

The Stock Exchange of Casablanca has evolved, throughout the session of 12 November 2 029, following a bearish trend to close, in fine, negative zone, reports Crédit du Maroc in its daily note. To this end, the market positions the annual evolution of its flagship index just below the + 1.75% threshold, in which case the MASI deteriorates by 0.14% while the MADEX loses 0.17%. . At this level, the YTD variations displayed by the two main indexes of the rating are reduced to + 1.74% and + 2.01%, respectively; In stride, the overall market capitalization totals nearly 596.24 billion…

At the end of a tour de table, LAfricaMobile has just raised 300 million CFA francs from the investment fund Teranga Capital and the company Lyonnaise (France) Abysse. This funding will be used to accelerate the sub-regional deployment of the Senegalese start-up and to strengthen its research and development activity. LAfricaMobile is the first multi-operator and multichannel communication platform in West Africa. It is a start-up of Value Added Services (SMS, USSD, voice, airtime) specialized in the services of interconnection and integration of mobile messaging for companies. It now has more than 100 customers in more than ten countries and…

Droughts have long decimated communities and livelihoods in Africa. This year alone, more than 45 million people in Africa, mainly in eastern and southern Africa, are food insecure due to prolonged droughts. Mohamed Beavogui, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of the Pan-African Mutual Risk Management Institution, and Ibrahim Thiam, Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, brandishing copies of the Memorandum of Understanding. The Pan African Mutual Risk Management Organization (ARC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced their collaboration to support the development of financial tools for Africa…

The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the Economic Commission for Africa’s Office for Southern Africa (ECA-SA) and African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) held a validation workshop for Zambia’s Strategy for the Implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement from 25 – 26 September 2019, in Lusaka. Speaking at the validation meeting for Zambia’s AfCFTA implementation strategy in Lusaka, the President of the Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI), Chabuka Kabwesha advised the government to expedite the implementation of the AfCFTA so that Zambia can start benefiting from the…

Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, on Wednesday lauded the African Union Commission’s commitment to effective partnerships, collaborative approaches and actions in support of the continent’s development aspirations. In a speech read on her behalf by Stephen Karingi, Director of the ECA’s Regional Integration and Trade Division, at a Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa) Stakeholders Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ms. Songwe praised efforts by the AUC and its partners to collectively work together in championing sustainable development in Africa. The RCM-Africa, established more than two decades ago is at a crossroads, she said. This is in…

The Ministry of Trade and Tourism in partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission (AUC) are organizing an AfCFTA Awareness Workshop in Lilongwe and Blantyre on 17 September and 19 September, respectively. These workshops aim to engage relevant stakeholders on AfCFTA issues to secure a consensus for Malawi to ratify the AfCFTA Agreement. Each workshop is expected to bring together about 150 participants from private sectors, civil society organizations, parliamentarians, academia, and government. Salim Bagus, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism said ‘the AfCFTA marks a new dawn to Africa’s economic transformation and Malawi’s economy stands to benefit…

The framework agreement will contribute to the socio-economic development of Djibouti The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, has signed a major trade finance framework agreement with the Republic of Djibouti. The framework agreement was signed between ITFC General Manager, Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol and Minister of Finance S.E.M Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, during the official visit of the ITFC delegation to the country. The visit was also the occasion of a summit meeting between the Director General and the President of the Republic of Djibouti, Mr. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. Eng. Hani…

On August 27, 2019, the Board of Directors of Fenie Brossette took the head of this company specializing in various services including construction, industry and automotive, Abdelmounaim Faouzi, 50, entrepreneur capped 25 years experience. The new President and CEO will have the main task, recalls infomediaire.net, “to accelerate the implementation of the development plan initiated in February 2019, to open the company to new business sectors and consolidate the business lines. historic “. The senior executive will certainly have among its priorities that of putting an end to the legal marathon between this subsidiary of the companies Asma Invest (Saudi…

““The vision of African Union in establishing ARC was to present a powerful value proposition that will help Member States better understand their disaster risk profiles, access viable early warning tools, and develop a preparedness plan for protecting livelihoods of their vulnerable population from predictable natural disasters. The Government of Senegal has been exemplary in participating in various ARC risk pools since 2014.  This is the spirit of the ‘Africa We Want’, and it is very laudable” – UN-ASG Mohamed Beavogui, DG, ARC Abidjan, Thursday, September 05, 2019 – The Government of Senegal will receive a minimum payout of US$22m from African…

Ayuk has devoted Chapter 17 of Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy to the U.S. and Africa, along with America’s potential to bolster Africa’s journey to a brighter future The latest book by leading African energy attorney NJ Ayuk describes the steps he’d like Africans to take to realize the full potential of the continent’s vast petroleum resources. Part of that process, Ayuk writes, should be continued efforts to keep American oil and gas companies in Africa. Ayuk has devoted Chapter 17 of Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy to the U.S. and Africa, along with America’s potential…

By Pierre DELVAL. For the past decade, banks in many countries have demonstrated a better understanding of key aspects of corporate governance: effective board oversight, rigorous risk management, strict internal controls, and compliance. , especially. The progress is undeniable for a large part of them with regard to the assessment of the collective skills and...

The largest bank in Nigeria by assets wants to deploy in East Africa. Guaranty Trust Bank, present in 10 countries including Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, has entrusted investors in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with plans to expand its presence in this part of the continent. “In East Africa, we need to do one...