Author: Albert Savana

As the leading producer and exporter of cashew nuts, Côte d’Ivoire does not want to be left behind in processing. It is in this perspective that the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, launched this week, the construction of an agro-industrial zone in Bondoukou, the zone which concentrates the greatest production. , located in the northeast of Côte d’Ivoire. Four large capacity factories will be built, equipped with all amenities with a minimum production capacity of 60,000 tonnes / year. At a cost of more than 18 million USD (9 billion CFA francs), this new agro-industrial park…

The Ivory Coast subsidiary of the Pan-African Bank UBA achieved, for the year 2020, a net profit of 12.115 billion F CFA (nearly 22 million US dollars) against 9.163 billion F CFA (about 16.5 billion million US dollars) in 2019, an increase of 32.22%. Information given on March 23, 2021 by Sarata Koné Thiam, Chief Executive Officer of the bank, during the presentation of the 2020 balance sheet and 2021 outlook. The total balance sheet also shows an improvement, going from 340 billion FCFA (614,123,640 US dollars) in 2019, to 514 billion F CFA (928,410,444 US dollars) in 2020. All…

The confirmation by the Constitutional Court of Niger, on March 21, of the victory of Mohamed Bazoum at the head of the country with more than 55.6% of the vote convinced Emmanuel Macron to take his phone to congratulate his counterpart. During this meeting, the French president particularly praised the “peaceful transition of power” with...

Under the leadership of Alassane Ouattara, the country has asserted itself as a key player in Tech in West Africa, symbolized by the Information Technology and Biotechnology Village (Vitib), in Grand -Bassam. A look back at a decade of initiatives in favor of digital emergence. No, the Ivorian economy is not based only on coffee and cocoa. Since 2011, the country has been stepping up initiatives to enable the Tech sector to become a real lever for development. Admittedly, the target of 15% of GDP in 2020 – against 7% in 2017, was certainly too ambitious, especially against the backdrop…

Burkina Faso’s National Telecommunications Office (ONATEL) SA, 61% controlled by the Maroc Telecom group, achieved an after-tax profit of CFAF 31.052 billion (€ 46.678 million) at the end of fiscal year 2020, announced the leaders of this telephone company based in Ouagadougou. Compared to the 2019 financial year when it stood at CFAF 30.086 billion, this profit has increased by 3.2%. “Without taking into account the impact of the upward revision of the rate of the specific tax on turnover, the growth in net income would be 8.7%”, specify the officials of ONATEL S.A. At the end of the year…

The State of Mali will proceed, on March 27, 2021, to the payment of the annual interest on its bond loan called “State of Mali 6.50% 2020-2028” for an amount of 6.5 billion FCFA (9.750 million euros) , announced the officials of the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) based in Abidjan. By decree dated January 29, 2020, the Minister Delegate in charge of the budget of Mali had authorized for a period of 12 days, as from March 9, 2020, the issue by the National Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting on the market regional financial institution of the West…

French justice is due to look into the dispute between Euronews, owner of Africanews, and Ylias Akbaraly in the coming weeks. Buyer of the pan-African channel at the end of a contract signed in August 2019, the boss of the companies Sipromad and Phenixya suddenly changed his mind, citing a hidden agreement he was unaware...

“It is with great joy and pride that SEA-invest continues to develop its activities in Côte d’Ivoire, through the forthcoming opening of a logistics base which will contribute to the development of industrial ecosystems in the Yopougon commune. », Affirmed Philippe Van de Vyvere, president of the SEA-invest group, which is working to open, through its subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire, a new logistics base for equipment in the west of Abidjan, on a area of ​​16.5 hectares, made up of 3 groups which will include 80,000 m² of warehouses. The announcement made on Tuesday March 23 comes after a meeting…

The improvement in industrial production in Senegal, which began in September 2020, continued until the end of January 2021, according to data established by the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD). These data indeed show that this production has increased by 9.2% compared to its level for the same month of 2020. However, it is still well below its performance for the months of October and November 2020 with record increases of 14% and 16.1% respectively. The months of December 2020 (+ 7.7%) and September 2020 (+5.1) are the periods when industrial production in Senegal is less efficient, but…

The turnover index (ICA) of commercial enterprises shows a decrease of 14.8% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a document from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Côte d’Ivoire consulted on Tuesday March 23. This instrument, which measures the evolution of sales of commercial enterprises tax-free, highlighted the edifying fall of wholesaling and intermediary activities, which recorded a rate of -17.6%. It was also a mixed year for semi-wholesale businesses, which also fell with a rate of -4.6%. This negative period in the sector, which does not also spare car and motorcycle repair companies (-2.1%), is induced by…

Tunisia is the first Maghreb country and the sixth in Africa to manufacture its own satellite, after South Africa, Egypt and Ghana in particular, according to the specialized site Space in Africa. Challenge One, intended for the Internet of Things (the ecosystem of connected objects), was built by a team from the Tunisian telecommunications group TelNet, most of whose engineers, trained locally, are between 25 and 30 years old. “I am proud to have participated in this project. Working in the aeronautic or aerospace sector is a dream, ”said Khalil Chiha, 27, trained at the Sfax national electronics school. The…

Initially scheduled for September 6 to 12, 2021, the second edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (Iatf 2021) is now scheduled for December 8 to 14. A decision taken by Afreximbank, organizer of the event, in common agreement with the African Union (AU) and Rwanda, which hosts the event. This, during the extraordinary meeting of the Advisory Board of the Iatf 2021 which took place on March 18, 2021 in Cairo. For the bank, due to the Covid-19 health crisis, it is first necessary to allow good vaccine coverage on the continent in order to guarantee a good holding of…

In Niger, armed men killed at least 22 civilians this Sunday, March 21 in the southwest of the country, near the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso, according to security sources. The assailants attacked three villages in the Tillabéri region. A source within the security services blamed ISIS fighters for the attack. The other two local sources have not named any alleged perpetrators. “In these painful times for our country, following the cowardly and barbaric attack on Tillia, I extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery. Everything is done to…

In Saudi Arabia, the energy giant Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company) announced this Sunday, March 21, a drop of 44.4% of its net profit in 2020, weighed down by the fall in crude oil prices accentuated by the coronavirus pandemic which weighed heavily on global demand. It is “one of the most difficult years in recent history,” CEO Amin Nasser told Saudi media. “Revenues were affected by lower crude oil prices and volumes sold, as well as reduced refining and chemicals margins. Aramco achieved a net profit of 49 billion USD (41 billion euros) in 2020 “, compared to 88.2…

The Ivorian Cable Company (Sicable), a member of the Prysmian Group, the world leader in electric cables, will allocate to its shareholders, for the 2020 financial year, a net annual dividend of CFAF 787.360 million (€ 1.181 million), announced the leaders of this company based in Abidjan. This is one of the resolutions taken by...

In Mali, the army announces 33 dead and 14 wounded following an ambush on March 16, 2021 by around 100 men in pick-ups and motorcycles. The clash took place 20 km from Tessit, in the north of the country. According to a press release made public by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, “the ambush was set by a hundred men on board pick-ups and on motorcycles and the collision took place. 20 km from Tessit on the Lellehoxe-Tessit axis ”. However, the report shows 33 soldiers killed, 14 wounded, three vehicles were destroyed, 20 terrorists…

The after-tax profit of Bank Of Africa (BOA) Senegal, a subsidiary of the Moroccan banking group BMCE Bank, decreased by 1.448 billion FCFA (2.172 million euros) at the end of fiscal year 2020 compared to fiscal year 2019, announced the leaders of this Dakar-based banking establishment This profit stood at 7.667 billion FCFA against 9.115 billion FCFA, a contraction of 15.88%. As for the total balance sheet, it recorded an increase of 26.725 billion FCFA with an achievement of 561.588 billion FCFA against 534.863 billion FCFA in 2019. During the period under review, BOA Senegal collected resources from its clients…

The former boss of Credit Suisse succeeded in his bluff by raising money through a SPAC, a kind of blank check company introduced on the stock market with the only assets of the CVs and reputation of its initiators. Tidjane Thiam’s Special purpose acquisition company (Spac), launched in early February 2021, with the media drum...

The supposed prophet of subversive strategies made a lot of money in 2020 despite the backdrop of Covid-19. George Soros is more than ever against the trend. The stock portfolio of its Soros Fund Management jumped 71% in 2020. At 90, the finance wolf, who dared to speculate on the pound sterling in the 90s, continues to make money and fund the Open Society Foundations (OSF) network, which has become the painful sulfur of many diets like in Myanmar. George Soros’ heritage is estimated at 8.6 billion dollars, ranking 162nd in the world, a gain of 16 places compared to…

The after-tax profit of Bank Of Africa (BOA) Burkina Faso, a subsidiary of the Moroccan banking group BMCE Bank, decreased by 903.448 million FCFA (1.355 million euros) at the end of fiscal year 2020 compared to previous year, announced the leaders of this banking establishment based in Ouagadougou. This profit stood at 17.607 billion FCFA against 18.511 billion FCFA, a decline of 4.88%. For its part, the bank’s total balance sheet increased by 13.94% to 988.180 billion FCFA against 867.213 billion FCFA in 2019. The resources collected by the bank from its customers amounted to CFAF 761.160 billion against CFAF…

Bitcoin ATMs increased by 70%, reaching 16,500 in March 2021, according to data provided by the TradingPlatforms.com platform. Bitcoin ATMs, also known as BTM, allow users to quickly access cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Developed countries like the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom hold the highest number of BTMs. However, they have also become very popular in countries with volatile financial markets where citizens need a quick exchange of an official currency for a digital asset not regulated by the government. As of December 2017, there were 1948 BTMs in the world according to Coin ATM Radar and Statista data.…

The 45th President of the United States of America will learn the hard way that politics and finances do not mix. Indeed, according to the 2021 ranking of Forbes magazine concerning the first 400 American billionaires, Donald Trump slipped from 275 th place in 2019 to 339 th in 2020, losing 64 steps in one year. However, the radical Republican is not on the straw, with a fortune estimated at 2.5 billion dollars that he is sure to start rising again once his political and legal woes are over. Trump was born into a wealthy family and inherited approximately $…

On 26 February 2021, Bolloré Transport & Logistics Côte d’Ivoire successfully completed the runway pick-up, customs clearance and delivery of over 500,000 vaccine doses and syringes as part of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Côte d’Ivoire. Mandated by UNICEF, the Bolloré Transport & Logistics teams rolled out logistics solutions right from the landing of the plane at the international airport of Abidjan. The 28 parcels of AstraZeneca vaccines, weighing 1.8 tonnes, and the 25 parcels of syringes, weighing 3.8 tonnes, were then transported and delivered to the customer in full respect of the cold chain. Committed to the fight against…

Vice-president of the Union for the Republic (UPR), party in power, Djindah Mohamed El Moustapha Bal, is a communication specialist, holder of a Master in Communication and Marketing obtained in 2005 at the European Higher Institute of Management (ISEG). His company Butterfly, created in 2005, has an extensive portfolio in the fields of consulting, communication and events. The former Minister of Youth and Sports, originally from Kaédi (the largest city in the South, located 400 km from Nouakchott), was the communications manager of the current president, Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani during the 2019 presidential elections. of the Women’s Leardship in…

Oikocredit Abidjan has approved a first medium-term refinancing line of € 2.3 million to Fin ‘Elle (Finance Pour Elle), the youngest member of the Cofina Group, dedicated to female entrepreneurship. Funding for female entrepreneurship is a key factor in accelerating financial inclusion in Africa. This line of financing in this month dedicated to gender, is the first line of this development institution, which offers solutions of capital, debt and technical assistance, through these offices in West Africa and Africa. Is. Fin’Elle has succeeded in two (02) years of exercise, to position itself in the ranking of the Top 10 microfinance…

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has appointed, this Monday, March 8, Patrick Achi, secretary general of the Presidency, to act as Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, announced “absent for medical reasons”. This information from a statement broadcast on National Television and on the social channels of the Ivorian Presidency also announces that the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Téné Birahima Ouattara, is acting as the Minister of Defense, a portfolio held by Hamed Bakayoko. Evacuated since February 18, 2021 in Paris (France) for a health check, Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko is still not back.

The Executive Secretary of the African Economic Commission (ECA), Dr Vera Songwe, has shown her institution’s desire to work with the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), in order to boost automation, especially among women. Which has become, according to her, the mark of excellence in the face of Covid-19. Speaking, Monday March 8, 2021, by videoconference as part of the “Ring the bell for gender” initiative of the Abidjan-based stock exchange, included in the agenda of the International Women’s Day, the representative of the ECA makes it clear that Agenda 5 (gender) of the Sustainable Development Goals is one of the…

SouthBridge Investments (SBI) and New African Capital Partners (NACP) are proud to announce the launch of their joint venture: SBNA.  SBNA will act as a “permanent capital fund” aiming to attract investors who take a long-term view on Africa. The joint venture intends to directly invest in Africa’s future with long-term capital, focusing on FinTech, the financial sector integration, and micro and meso finance.  Charles Kié, CEO and co-founder of New African Capital Partners, will head SBNA. His professional career has included top jobs at Citibank, Banque Atlantique, Ecobank and AFC (Africa Finance Corporation), before co-founding NACP in October 2018…

Despite the army’s deployment to hotbeds of tension, in Niamey, erupted protests continued in the Nigerien capital. Breakages have been perpetrated again. During the day of Thursday, February 25, the home of Moussa Kaka, Rfi correspondent in Niamey, was set on fire. At the end of the evening, there were two dead, including the close guard of Seïni Oumarou, third in the first round of the presidential election who allied with the candidate of the ruling party for the second round. According to indiscretions, an army officer by the name of Boureima, close to Hama Amadou, was arrested two days…

The rating agency Moody’s downgraded, on February 23, 2021, Tunisia’s sovereign rating from B2 to B3, while maintaining the outlook for this rating to “negative”, according to a press release from the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) . “According to Moody’s, this decision is mainly motivated by its fears about Tunisia’s ability to continue the reform process mainly related to fiscal consolidation and public sector restructuring,” officials said. ‘Issuing institute. The rating agency argues that Tunisia’s institutional and political context, currently marked by strong social pressures and parliamentary fragmentation, inhibits the Tunisian government from making adjustment decisions relating to major…