Author: Albert Savana

Bénin Terminal signed a partnership agreement in Cotonou on 1 April 2021 with the Beninese start-up Green Keeper Africa. The aim is to roll out GKSORB, the first industrial absorbent produced in Africa using hyacinth water, at its facilities at the Port of Cotonou. A specialist in innovative and natural pollution-control solutions, Green Keeper Africa has committed to supplying Bénin Terminal over the next two years with 100% organic absorbents to effectively control and manage accidental liquid leaks at the container terminal. As part of the partnership, Green Keeper Africa will train Bénin Terminal employees on eco-responsible practices. The start-up…

Following the protest of exporters grouped within the Ivorian traders group (GNI), to denounce the hand of multinationals on the purchase of almost all cocoa beans, the government, through the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC ) would like 20% of these giants to go to local exporters. A decision previously trampled despite the texts that govern the sector. If the measure is applied, nearly 450,000 tonnes of cocoa beans will now be allocated to local exporters, which will allow them to cope with their cash flow hard hit by Covid-19 and its effects. Speaking to Reuters, a source working at…

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will support Mali in the creation of agropoles or Special Agro-Food Processing Zones (ZSTA) in the large production basins of the Ségou and San regions (conflict zones) and Koulikoro and Sikasso ( areas of insecurity) to better enhance its past investments, and create more added value, decent and sustainable jobs for women and young people, according to the Country Strategy Paper (CSP 2021-2025) published on April 19 2021. In a press release published on April 27, the institution predicted that Mali should thus experience an increase in the number of SMEs and SMIs created in…

Ivanhoe Mines Energy announced on Monday April 26 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Electricity Company (SNEL) for the modernization of turbine 5 of the Inga II hydroelectric dam in Kongo Central province ( north-west of DR Congo), as part of the renovation of the Mwadingusha hydroelectric plant to supply its future Kamoa-Kakula copper mine. “This public-private partnership will allow the mining company to obtain the 162 MW of power produced by Inga II to power the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex and its associated processing plant, both currently under construction. This new power supply agreement is…

West Africa Rating Agency (WARA) affirmed, on April 20, 2021, at the end of its second semi-annual review, the long-term rating in regional currency “tAAA” of the “senior” bonds of the FCTC of NSIA BANQUE 7% 2020-2025, with an initial amount of CFAF 40 billion. These bonds have a maturity of 5 years. For reference, this rating of “tAAA” is the maximum rating allowed by the regional rating scale. The outlook remains stable. At the same time, WARA also affirmed the Credit Rating rating of “ec.A / Stable / w-3” to NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire, the Assignor of the securitization…

The Military Council for the Transition (CMT), the self-proclaimed governing body in Chad following the death of President Idriss Deby Itno, has appointed Albert Pahimi Padacké, 54, as prime minister. The latter is already responsible for forming a government whose action will be supervised by the future National Transitional Council (CNT) which acts as Parliament....

The after-tax profit of Société Ivoirienne de Banque (SIB), a subsidiary of the Moroccan banking group Attijariwafa Bank, recorded at the end of the 2020 financial year an increase of 8% compared to the 2019 financial year, announced the managers of this establishment. bank based in Abidjan. It must be said that this increase is far lower compared to the previous year where it stood at 21%. The profit for the year under review stood at 30.261 billion FCFA against 28.057 billion FCFA on December 31. 2019, i.e. an increase of CFAF 2.204 billion against CFAF 4.857 billion in 2019.…

The State of Senegal, through its General Directorate of Public Accounts and the Treasury raised on April 23, 2021 on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) an amount of 55 billion FCFA (82.500 million euros) at the end of its issuance of 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 natural and legal persons with a view…

The net banking income (NBI) of Attijari Bank of Tunisia recorded a slight increase of 3.31% at the end of the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the year 2020, announced the leaders of this banking establishment based. in Tunis. This GNP stood at 129.915 million dinars against 125.753 million dinars as of March 31, 2020, an increase of 4.162 million dinars. As far as they are concerned, banking operating income fell by 5.78% with a level which fell from 215.269 million dinars in the first quarter of 2020 to 202.836 million dinars during the period…

After receiving the necessary regulatory approvals, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), led by its CEO, Hana Al Rostamani, announced that it had initiated the process of transferring shares for 100% of the share capital of Bank Audi sae ( Egypt), a subsidiary of Bank Audi based in Lebanon. Once the share transfer is complete, FAB...

French Total and Chinese CNOOC signed a series of agreements in early April for the construction of the Uganda-Tanzania pipeline. The $ 3.5 billion (3 billion euros) project led by Total and CNOOC provides for the management of oil fields in the Lake Albert region in western Uganda and proposes to transport the crude to...

(1 USD = 3,607 Ugandan Shilling). The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has initiated digital revenue stamps (SDRs) on cement and sugar. Kampala thus follows a trend followed by Kenya, Rwanda and Tunisia which have all adopted digital tax stamps to increase their tax revenues. Data from Uganda shows that as of March 2021, the URA...

(1 dollar = 382 Sudanese pounds). A candidate for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Relief Initiative in June, Sudan hopes to clear $ 50 billion in debt. Many donors have already given their agreements. Thus, France says it is ready to grant a bridging loan of up to $ 1.5 billion to clear...

(1 dollar = 42.78 Birr). The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) now requires new banks to have capital of Birr 5 billion ($ 116 million) to be released after a transition period of five to seven years. One way to curb the rush to this relay country for the Asian textile industry? Currently, 20 banks...

The Senegalese President, Macky Sall, presented this April 22 in Diamniado (30 km north of Dakar), his employment plan of 450 billion FCFA (827 million dollars) in three years. This program, the beginnings of which had been unveiled during the speech of April 3, on the eve of Independence Day, gives substance to decree 2021-172 of January 27, 2021 establishing and setting the operating rules of the National Council for the ‘Integration and Youth Employment. “These resources will be used to finance the Emergency Program for the employment and socio-economic integration of young people, XËYU NDAW ÑI, which will result…

In Mali, cotton farmers can drink “whey”. Since their production will be entirely purchased and at the price agreed with the Malian Textile Development Company (CMDT). The cotton giant has maneuvered well to obtain the necessary amounts on time to finance the 2020-2021 campaign. It is true that the production of this ending season was starved in the face of forecasts (147,200 tonnes out of 810,000 forecast). But the main thing for everyone involved is to sell the production and prepare the new campaign under the right conditions. In doing so, Mali would easily regain its place as the number…

The new EquityBCDC bank, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc of Kenya in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was inaugurated on April 21, 2021 in Kinshasa by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who visited the premises of the imposing Equity building Center of 18 floors, on the sidelines of a stay in Kinshasa. He urged private investors to maximize the opportunities offered by regional cooperation frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create regional supply chains. The Kenyan president congratulated Equity on the milestone of its successful acquisition, integration and merger to create EquityBCDC, which…

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, the Nigerian subsidiary of the AXA group, announced this week that it achieved audited after-tax profit of 4.54 billion naira (around 12 million USD) at the end of December 2020, up 56% from the 2 , 91 billion naira (about 7.6 million USD) recorded a year earlier. “It was a difficult year, but we achieved strong growth in profit after tax (56%) and underwriting profit (22%). We have managed operating costs at a low growth rate of 3% despite Covid-19 and inflation, ”said Ngozi Ola-Israel, the company’s chief financial officer. In its press release, AXA Mansard…

The unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 of the banking group United bank for Africa (UBA), published on Wednesday, April 21, show a 24% year-on-year growth in profit before tax to 40.6 billion naira (or 106.7 million USD), compared to 32.7 billion naira (approximately 85.93 million USD) recorded in the first quarter of 2020. The institution is thus starting the year 2021 on a strong note. Because, “after-tax profit also increased by 26.8%, from 30.1 billion naira (79.10 million dollars) in March 2020, to 38.2 billion naira (100 million dollars) in during the period under review.…

Emmanuel Macron will travel to Chad on April 23 to attend the funeral of President Idriss Deby Itno, who died on April 20, during a clash with the Front for Alternation and Concord rebellion in Chad (Fact). This is the first time since his election that the French head of state has made such a trip to Africa, testimony to the closeness he had for the Chadian president, constant support and particularly involved from Paris in the fight against terrorism in Africa. Sahel. The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) Jean-Yves Le Drian, intimate of the missing head of…

The turnover of the Modern Ceramic Company (SOMOCER) recorded an increase of 22.06% at the end of the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the year 2020, according to the activity indicators of this based company. in Menzel Hayet a town located 35 km southwest of Monastir in Tunisia. This turnover reached 24.187 million dinars on March 31, 2021 while it stood at 19.816 million dinars on March 31, 2020, an increase of 4.371 million dinars. The local turnover which represents 93% of the total turnover amounts to 22.461 million dinars against 18.256 million dinars as…

The disappearance of Idriss Deby Itno on April 20 led to a transition featuring General Mahamat Idriss Deby, 37, one of the late president’s many sons. Nicknamed “Kaka”, the latter is, like his father, a pure military man but also one of the central cogs of the Zaghawa clan in power for more than thirty...

After the success of previous editions, the Attijariwafa bank group gave new impetus to its “Attijari City” Business Game by launching a pan-African version. This edition was organized by the Attijariwafa bank group from April 5 to 9, 2021. The young talents were brought to embody the role of business leaders acting in the Building sector and worked as a team in order to make joint and strategic decisions and formulate adequate responses to the proposed issues, namely the support of investors. in the realization of their real estate projects. Each team was provided with a starting capital of 5,000,000…

The net banking income (GNP) of the Banking Union for Trade and Industry (UBCI) experienced a slight decline of 1.58% at the end of the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the year 2020, have announced the leaders of this banking establishment based in Tunis. This GNP stood at 63.460 million dinars against 64.482 million dinars as of March 31, 2020, a decrease of 1.022 million dinars. For their part, banking operating income fell by 6.98% with an achievement that fell from 92.238 million dinars in the first quarter of 2020 to 85.800 million dinars a…

The Malian government and the World Bank signed on April 20, 2021, a financing agreement relating to the Project to promote access to finance, entrepreneurship and employment in Mali (Pafeem), approved on March 17 by the board of directors of the Bank. “This initiative amounting to 60 million US dollars, including 30 million in donations and 30 million in credit, aims to support the efforts of the government to face the challenges of financial inclusion, financing of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and the creation of income-generating activities, particularly for the benefit of young people and women ”, declared…

[Premium item offered] A few hours after the announcement of Idriss Deby’s disappearance at age 68, a Transitional Military Council (CMT) set up a transition phase in Chad. Coming to power by overthrowing Hissène Habré at the end of 1990, the outgoing president, officially re-elected on the day of his death for a sixth term...

Indicted for terrorism and criminal association during the last presidential campaign in Benin which saw the victory of outgoing President Patrice Talon on April 11, the opponent Reckya Madougou has still not been heard by a judge. The former Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals of Thomas Boni Yayi, whose party she heads,...

PC Gabon Upstream SA (PCGUSA), a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has awarded Danish operator Maersk Drilling an ultra-deep water exploration contract in Gabon for 24 million USD. This contract represents Maersk’s first drilling campaign in Gabon. The firm contract for a well with PCGUSA is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021, with an estimated duration of 60 days. The firm value of the contract also includes mobilization and demobilization costs. The 7th generation Maersk Viking drill vessel will be used to drill an ultra-deep water exploration well approximately 2,100m water depth in Block F13 off…

“President Idriss Deby Itno has just breathed his last. It is with deep bitterness that we announce this morning the death of Marshal of Chad Idriss Deby Itno “. This is in essence the gist of a statement made on Tuesday April 20 by army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna. Newly re-elected as head of his country after more than 30 years in power, Idriss Deby died of injuries received while commanding his army in fighting against rebels in the north, according to the spokesperson. . A transitional military council is set up, and a national transitional charter will be…

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow announced Monday April 19, 2021 in Kinshasa that Kibali Gold produced 191,612 ounces in the first quarter of 2021. “Several factors justify this success despite the presence of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. These are the operation of the underground mine, the continuous improvements of the feed, the rate of recovery of the plant and the projects aiming at various improvements such as an upgrade of the hoisting infrastructure ”, specified Mark Bristow. To these factors, he added strict compliance with the prevention protocols against Covid-19 which largely protected the mine from the impacts…