MARRAKECH, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Morocco's airlines RAM will launch a tender by the end of the year to purchase 200 airplanes to be delivered within 10 years to meet rising demand from tourists ahead of the 2030 World Cup, RAM chief executive officer Abdelhamid Addou said on Monday. RAM seeks to buy mostly medium haul planes, but would also purchase long and short-haul ones to bolster its competitiveness in a growing African market, Addou told Reuters. The tender is part of RAM's plan to quadruple its fleet from 50 aircrafts within a decade, prior to Morocco co-hosting the 2030 World Cup together with Spain and Portugal. RAM has also said its expansion is conducive to Morocco’s aims to attract 17.5 million tourists by 2026, up from 11 million last year. "The market is there, the potential, the future, the world Cup and the tourism strategy are all there,” said Addou.

Activity is heating back up in the tropics, with National Hurricane Center forecasters watching for potential development of a low-pressure system in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and another off Africa. Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that a tropical depression is likely to form in the next day or so from the tropical wave off Africa as it moves west-northwest. Meanwhile, odds are low — at 30% — for the disturbance in the southwestern Gulf to develop. Regardless of any tropical development, the system is expected to bring gale-force winds over portions of the northern Gulf of Mexico midweek, followed by potentially heavy rain along the Gulf Coast later in the week, forecasters said Tuesday. Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.

ShareEmerging victorious from nearly 1,500 competitors, Cameroonian fintech Koree clinched the top prize at the Ecobank Fintech Challenge. Wolf Technologies from the Democratic Republic of Congo came in second with $10,000, while Kenya’s Flexpay rounded out the top three with $5,000. The finalist lineup for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge consisted of Flexpay Technologies from Kenya, IPOXcap AI and Kastelo, both from South Africa, Koree from Cameroon, Kori Tech from Senegal, SmartTeller Technologies from Nigeria, Rubyx from Belgium, and Wolf Technologies from DRC. Ecobank, a major African banking institution operating in 35 countries across the continent, has hosted its fintech challenge for the past six years. All eight finalists will join the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, an alumni network that includes past winners like Piggyvest, Touch and Pay, Moni, and Nala.

Both have recently said they plan to give Africa additional seats on their executive boards. The conference theme was clear Monday during the gathering in Marrakech, although definitive details had yet to be discussed. “We're here, Africa,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on a panel with African entrepreneurs. The challenges are particularly pronounced in Africa, where many countries spend more on debt than health care and education combined. Africa is also among the places most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with critics calling on the World Bank and IMF to increasingly factor climate resiliency into its decision-making.

The series of military takeovers threaten trade treaties and agreements, creating an environment of uncertainty for businesses and investors in the affected countries with a spillover effect on neighboring countries. In response to the coups, Western powers and ECOWAS applied heavy trade and financial sanctions on Niger and Gabon. Besides hampering inter-continental trade, recent data from the John Hopkins China-Africa Research Initiative have revealed that the Africa’s loss is other regions’ gain. This and many other reasons are a huge part of why trade within Africa remains very low while China continues to gain, experts have said. As a result, intra-African trade remains the lowest in world trade, standing at around 15% compared to approximately 66%, 44% and 63% intra-regional in the case of Europe, North America and Asia/Oceania respectively.

Netanyahu appeared shortly thereafter, affirming that Israel was in a state of war. The Israeli security apparatus appeared taken by surprise, sending out no warning. Palestinians in Gaza protested along the Israeli security fence. It may also have wanted to make its move against the background of external powers being preoccupied with the war in Ukraine. From its side, Hizbollah may encourage Palestinian groups in Lebanon to enter the fray, opening a second front for Israel in the north, as occurred during the 2021 Gaza war and again in April, when tensions were running high around al-Aqsa.

Fernando Staudt, International Accounts Manager Altus Sistemas Automação SAS spoke to ESI Africa at Enlit Africa about automation solutions that can help South Africa. He was joined by Jacques Dreyer of VisiPraxis who explains how they use Altus systems to integrate wind turbines into the national grid. Find out more about Altus Automation Systems.

Laundry belonging to people who were displaced by the earthquake is put out against a tree in Ouirgane, outside Marrakech, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Villagers in hard-hit regions are weighing how to best rebuild as Moroccan authorities begin to providing rehousing funds to those whose homes were destroyed by last month's earthquake. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)Laundry belonging to people who were displaced by the earthquake is put out against a tree in Ouirgane, outside Marrakech, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)Laundry belonging to people who were displaced by the earthquake is put out against a tree in Ouirgane, outside Marrakech, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. In the aftermath of last month's earthquake, the IMF approved a $1.3 billion loan for Morocco to “help strengthen its preparedness and resilience against natural disasters."

According to Gibson Ncube, the author of Queer Bodies in African Films, there has been a steady growth in films depicting the African queer experience despite some countries efforts to stigmatize and criminalize the LGBTIQ+ community. Despite their often-facing censorship at home, the films continue to be produced and their stories give the broader world some meaningful insight into queer life in Africa. One of the main differences between films north and south of the Sahara is the openness of depicting queerness. In north African films, queerness exists in silence and is expressed through suggestive language. But the films capture the cultural and social realities of the societies being portrayed.

“Morocco’s Quest for Stronger and Inclusive Growth” is the title of a book edited by Roberto Cardarelli and Taline Koranchelian of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), offering a comprehensive overview of the progress scored by Moroccan economy over recent decades. The book “Morocco’s quest for stronger and inclusive growth” is part of the “Road to Marrakech 2023” operation. The authors of the book underline that over the past three decades, Morocco has made remarkable progress in terms of economic stability and development. Morocco’s story offers valuable lessons for many developing countries still striving to build the foundations of their macroeconomic stability. “By putting the Kingdom’s recent economic and social advances into perspective, this book bears witness to Africa’s rise to power,” he stresses in the preface.

But what is far less well-known is that the buy also gives AGL a foothold in the air and ocean freight forwarding segment, ironically, through close co-operation with Bolloré Logistics, acquired by CMA CGM this year. This enables, for example, AGL to provide “international air freight shipping to and from Africa”, says its marketing. “AGL is developing modern, purpose-built warehousing facilities in these countries for our air freight business. He replied: “We will continue to work together, but will also open up to other networks that are looking to develop their businesses in Africa. To find out more about logistics in Africa, check out this Loadstar Premium article.

The president of the upcoming COP28 climate talks in Dubai called on Sunday (Oct. 08) for governments to abandon "fantasies" such as hastily ditching existing energy infrastructure in pursuit of climate goals. "We cannot unplug the energy system of today before we build the new system of tomorrow. Much of international climate diplomacy revolves around the thorny issue of how and when to quit fossil fuels. But efforts since then to extend such a target to all fossil fuels have foundered, most recently at last month's G20 summit in India. The goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels was set at the 2015 climate talks in Paris.

The Moroccan King, government and people set an example of national solidarity following the devastating earthquake that killed 3000 in the Atlas Mountains. The difficult Atlas Mountains terrain and landslides were defied by Moroccan rescuers and civilians who took matters in their hand without foreign assistance. Morocco’s social media is awash with civil society activities including building schools and delivering containers to villagers ahead of the snowy season. Morocco however has said that foreign aid can contribute to the financial effort to rebuild the area. Morocco plans to invest 12 billion dollars to develop the High Atlas area focusing on reconstruction and the upgrade of infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia on Monday unveiled an initiative to allow companies to purchase credits offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, part of the Gulf kingdom's stated goal of hitting net-zero emissions by 2060. Carbon credits have become popular tools globally for companies seeking to offset their carbon emissions and proclaim their commitment to the environment. AlJishi told a panel on Monday that Saudi officials were keen to implement safeguards against "double counting and double issuance". Saudi Arabia announced in 2021 that it was targeting net zero emissions by 2060. Environmental activists are skeptical, pointing to simultaneous calls by Saudi officials for ramped-up investment in fossil fuels.

“Naturally, we’re all focused on our eastern flank, but we remain acutely aware of developments on our southern flank,” one NATO diplomat told Euractiv. Tackle threats to NATOAccording to three NATO diplomats, more dialogue is needed as a first step to restart the relationship. However, one of the NATO diplomats said, hinting at some concrete or tangible support should be part of the process. Two NATO diplomats say that Brazil, South Africa, India, and Indonesia could be other potential partners in the future. “NATO partnerships are important and contribute to security and stability inside and outside the alliance,” they also told Euractiv.