Egypt's current account deficit dropped to $4.7 billion in the fiscal year 2022/23 from $16.6 billion in the previous year, central bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Egypt's net foreign direct investment inflows reached $10 billion in the same period, the central bank added. (Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Alison Williams)
Shingai Samudzi, Asoba CEO, spoke to ESI Africa at Enlit Africa about their virtual power plants service offering and the derisking of projects. He sees Asoba playing the role of controller to allow connections to multiple energy sources for greater control of cost pricing and cost. Find out more about Asoba.
Morocco, Portugal and Spain will jointly host the World Cup in 2030, the first time that matches in the most famous international football competition will be held in North Africa. “Having taken into account the historical context of the first-ever FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Council further unanimously agreed to host a unique centenary celebration ceremony in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo,” the organization said. “We will do our best to host the best World Cup in history.”Spain and Morocco have a very close but complex diplomatic relationship. On the pitch, Morocco became the first North African side to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, in Qatar in 2022. The award of the 2030 version is also symbolic for Spain, which in August won the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.
South African fintech startup Stitch has announced a US$25 million Series A extension round led by Ribbit Capital, which will be used to continue building out its end-to-end payments solutions, and expand to additional markets. The Stitch payments API and tools reduce the effort required for businesses across sectors to connect to the financial system and deliver delightful experiences for their users. The startup raised US$6 million seed funding in 2021, and quickly moved on to Series A with a US$21 million round in February of last year. Since then it has expanded its offering, launching the Stitch payments suite, and WigWag, a no code payment links platform for small businesses. Stitch has now announced a US$25 million extension to that Series A round, taking total funding secured by the company to US$52 million.
(Bloomberg) -- Morocco, Portugal and Spain will jointly host the World Cup in 2030, the first time that matches in the most famous international football competition will be held in North Africa. “Having taken into account the historical context of the first-ever FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Council further unanimously agreed to host a unique centenary celebration ceremony in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo,” the organization said. “We will do our best to host the best World Cup in history.”Spain and Morocco have a very close but complex diplomatic relationship. On the pitch, Morocco became the first North African side to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, in Qatar in 2022. The award of the 2030 version is also symbolic for Spain, which in August won the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.
If the 2030 proposal is approved, Morocco would become only the second African nation to host World Cup finals matches, after South Africa in 2010. Portugal has never hosted a World Cup before, but Uefa Euro 2004 was held in that country. Brazil, in 2014, were the last South American nation to host the tournament. Fifa president Gianni Infantino welcomed the news, saying: “In a divided world, Fifa and football are uniting. It’s the end of the World Cup as we know it.”
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Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Ben Abdelrahman said he is looking forward to the Tunisian-Algerian Economic Forum for Business Leaders to produce results and outcomes that match the high and distinguished level of the political relations that unite the two countries and peoples. Abderrahman was speaking at the opening of the forum, which he co-chaired with his Tunisian counterpart in Algiers on Tuesday. He noted that the large government delegation accompanying the Tunisian Prime Minister reflects the importance that Tunisia attaches to the development of stronger and deeper economic relations with Algeria. This requires Algerian and Tunisian economic operators to make the most of all available opportunities to increase and expand the volume of trade, he stressed. With regard to investment, the Algerian Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the opportunities for economic integration between Algeria and Tunisia and the advantages offered by the two countries' markets.
"This was a significant decrease in performance compared to July (+2.3 percent). August regional performanceAsia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 4.9 percent in August 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. North American carriers saw their air cargo volumes decrease by 1.2 percent. Middle Eastern carriers experienced a 1.4 percent year-on-year increase in cargo volumes in August 2023. Latin American carriers had the strongest performance in August 2023 with a 6.2 percent increase in cargo volumes compared to August 2022.
At first, the European Union (EU) and many of its member states evinced great concern about Tunisia’s direction under Saïed. In today’s conditions, the government would struggle to find alternative external financing to cover the costs, as Tunisia’s economic indicators continue to deteriorate. There would be risks and downsides to accepting an IMF loan as well. Under the latter arrangement, and following end-of-September discussions among EU member states, Tunisia is to handle asylum applications of Europe-bound refugees on its own soil, rather than allowing these people to cross the Mediterranean and apply. What the EU Can Do The EU and member states face highly imperfect choices when it comes to Tunisia.
Mauritania’s minister of Oil, Gas and Mines Nani O. Chrougha Tuesday October 3 reminded British Petrolium (BP) to abide by requirements and commitments taken in the execution of “Grand Tortue Ahmeyime (GTA)”, a Liquefied National Gas (LNG) project situated on the border with Senegal. BP owns 56 per cent of project in which both Mauritania and Senegal are shareholders. Both countries signed an inter-government co-operation agreement (ICA) in February 2018, which provided for the development of the cross-border gas project with each country sharing resources and revenues on a 50/50 basis. They also granted GTA the status of ‘National Project of Strategic Importance’ in July 2021, Offshore-Technology reports. GTA is expected to produce 2.3 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG in phase one.
New York-based investment banking company Morgan Stanley has moved Egypt’s sovereign credit to a “dislike stance” from a “neutral” rating and noted that the cash-strapped country will face what it termed “mounting risks” in the coming months, Bloomberg reports. The bank argued that the upcoming December elections exacerbate the situation. President al Sisi Monday October 2 announced plans to seek another term in office, a move to extend his rule over the country since 2014. The North African country, the bank notes, has lost favor with foreign portfolio investors who once saw it as a prime destination for hot money that kept its currency stable and boasted some of the world’s highest interest rates when adjusted for prices. However, honey moment turned sour as investors turned sharply against riskier assets with the Russian-Ukraine war last year, forcing several rounds of devaluation in Egypt that touched off inflation.
As the Tuaregs brace for a new war to liberate the Azawad territory in what came to be called northern Mali, Algeria is watching closely, fearing a spill over into its own large and impoverished Tuareg community. The Tuaregs, an Amazigh speaking nomadic people, have been arbitrarily attached by French colonialism to Algeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Libya. The Tuareg have led multiple rebellions against Niamey and Bamako in the 1990s. “Every time the Tuaregs bring Bamako on its feet, Algeria intervenes to restore the Malian occupation back to the Tuareg territory,” he said. Shekka warned that increasing repression of the Tuaregs in what came to be called southern Algeria would lead to an armed uprising.
Niger authorities denied news spread by the Algerian foreign minister saying Niamey accepted Algiers’ mediation proposal. The denial is an embarrassment to the Algerian authorities after the West African Economic grouping rejected Algeria’s mediation in the conflict with the putschists in Niger. The oppressive and delusionary Algerian regime has been caught in diplomatic lies of its own making, undermining further the rulers’ credibility and deepening their international isolation. This denial deals a hard blow to the Algerian regime which is not interested in solving Niger political crisis but is seeking only to serve its own geostrategic agenda. He said the Algerian transition proposal was a recognition of the coup.
Aladdin Hangari, Head of Global Private Banking Middle East & North Africa (MENA), HSBCThe PeninsulaDoha, Qatar: HSBC announces the appointment of Aladdin Hangari as Head of Global Private Banking Middle East & North Africa (MENA), succeeding Sobhi Tabbara who has announced his departure from HSBC with effect from January 2024 to pursue opportunities beyond the bank. Sobhi has led HSBC Global Private Banking in the MENA region since 2012, driving the expansion of its Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW) coverage in key markets, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Aladdin joins HSBC from Credit Suisse, where he spent 20 years, most recently as CEO of Credit Suisse (Qatar LLC) and CEO of Aventicum Capital Management Holding AG. HSBC will also strengthen its coverage of Qatar with the appointment of Patrick D’Amico as Global Market Head of Qatar, joining from Credit Suisse. HSBC Global Private Banking continues to strengthen its position across the region, serving customers with excellence throughout Europe and the Middle East.
