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Invictus

Invictus reveals $270m Africa investment plan

Invictus Investment Company has announced plans to expand into north and east Africa through acquisitions and joint ventures with local entities in the region.  Invictus said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange that it is planning to invest AED1 billion ($270 million) as it targets expansion in African markets.  The company will […]

Chocolates, shop, Eid, Doha

Chocolate shops squeezed as cocoa bean prices hit 46-year high

While chocolate lovers the world over celebrated World Chocolate Day on Friday, retailers are watching the markets anxiously. Cocoa bean prices soared to a 46-year high last week in London and have continued to rise since. The surge in bean prices is due to ongoing supply shortages and is set to increase further, according to […]

Emirates' latest deal with a Tunisian sports club grows its global portfolio in football

Sponsorship deal grows Emirates’ presence in Africa

Emirates airline is to sponsor a Tunisian sports club, as the Dubai carrier looks to increase its revenues in Africa. The airline will sponsor Etoile Sportive du Sahel, which has teams across a number of sports including football, basketball, volleyball and handball.  Emirates’ branding will be on the teams’ jerseys and training kits, as well […]

AD Ports Republic of Congo investment signing

AD Ports to invest $500m in Republic of the Congo deal

Abu Dhabi Ports Group has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the government of the Republic of the Congo to operate the multipurpose New East Mole Terminal in Pointe-Noire. The company said it plans to invest more than $500 million over the same period, with around $220 million allocated for phase 1, which is expected […]

Rassem Zok, CEO, MENA, Standard Bank

Wealth funds likely to increase African investments

Sovereign investors from the UAE and wider GCC bloc are likely to ramp up investments across African countries, building on a 50 percent jump in capital flows from the Middle East over the past five years, say experts. Agriculture, energy and infrastructure are sectors likely to benefit from multi-billion dollar deals as the UAE accelerates […]

Tunisia economy forecast

Tunisia likely to see slower economic growth

The World Bank has forecast that Tunisia’s economy will grow by around 2.3 percent this year, slightly ahead of the 2.2 percent growth predicted for the wider Mena region. The Tunisian economy will grow by 3 percent in 2024 and remain at the same level the following year, according to its Global Economic Prospects report. […]

UAE South Africa energy trade talks

UAE in position to plug South Africa’s energy crisis

Energy is likely to drive a new era in trade relations between the UAE and South Africa as the latter’s power supply crisis will dominate debate at next year’s general election. Experts say UAE energy powerhouses Masdar and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) could be attracted to South Africa in light of the crippling […]

229,000 jobs were lost in the past year in rural parts of Morocco, where climate change and water misuse are blamed for the drought

280,000 jobs lost due to Moroccan drought

Morocco’s economy lost 280,000 jobs in the past 12 months, as the farming industry continues to battle against the worst drought the North African country has seen in decades. A report from the Higher Commission for Planning (HCP) said 229,000 jobs were lost in rural parts of the country, where agriculture employs over 30 percent […]

UAE finance minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri held talks with Moroccan officials including investment minister Mohcine Jazouli

UAE and Morocco form taskforce to double trade by 2030

The UAE and Morocco are aiming to double bilateral trade and investment volumes over the next seven years. The two countries are forming a taskforce to build on their AED3.6 billion ($991 million) non-oil foreign trade last year, which was up 16 percent from 2021 and more than two-thirds higher than 2020. The UAE is […]

Zain Sudan

Zain Sudan faces revenue hit amid worsening civil unrest  

Zain Sudan, the country’s leading mobile operator, has suffered a hit to its revenue as a result of the spiralling conflict in Africa’s third-largest country, a spokesman told AGBI on Thursday. Internecine fighting between two factions of Sudan’s military began in mid-April. More than 500 people have been killed and nearly 440,000 people displaced, the […]

Sudan telco network still up despite escalating conflict

Despite electricity outages and fuel shortages in heavily contested parts of Sudan, the telecom network of the country’s top mobile operator remains functional in most areas, a spokesman for the company’s parent firm told AGBI. Zain Sudan, which is wholly owned by Kuwait’s Zain group, had 16.4 million subscribers and a 48 percent market share […]

Mussa Adam Bakr (R), 48, who farms a plot of land next to a mud brick factory, collects eggplants with his workers on his field on Tuti Island, Khartoum, Sudan, February 14, 2020.

Lengthy war in Sudan could jeopardise Gulf food security 

Sudan’s now-protracted conflict could have ongoing and unforeseen consequences, not only for the war-ravaged African state, but for its trade connections, including the GCC As Sudan’s warring militaries – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – battle for supremacy, catastrophic damage is being wrought on the nation’s already rundown infrastructure and utility […]

Crowd, Person, Adult

AD Ports in talks with Congo over trade hub

Abu Dhabi Ports Group is in talks to invest in a new trade hub in the Republic of Congo as the UAE seeks to ramp up non-oil partnerships with the Central African country. President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo held discussions last week with Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, managing director and CEO of AD Ports, […]

The View Hotel in Moroccan capital Rabat will be among the first establishments to benefit from the SHG-AHG collaboration

Dubai’s Sunset Hospitality Group rises in Morocco

Sunset Hospitality Group has announced a partnership to enter Morocco as part of its ongoing global expansion plans. Sunset, which operates over 25 hospitality brands around the world, ranging from resorts and beach clubs to restaurants and nightlife venues, has teamed up with African Hospitality Group (AHG) to develop new lifestyle experiences in Morocco. Having recently […]

Food inflation across Mena countries rose by an average of 29% year-on-year

Mena inflation to remain ‘uncomfortably high’

Inflation in the Middle East and North Africa is to remain “uncomfortably high” for the foreseeable future, according to a leading banking expert. Headline inflation across the 16 Mena economies increased on average to 19.4 percent year-on-year between March and December last year, as reported by the World Bank in its most recent economic update. […]

man, woman, sunglasses

The rise and fall of millionaires in Morocco and Egypt

The number of millionaires living in Morocco has increased by 28 percent over the last 10 years, but fallen by 25 percent in Egypt. While Morocco was awarded a $5 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week to shield it from the impact of the pandemic, droughts and the Ukraine war, […]

Airlines warn blocked funds could hamper Africa growth

Global carriers have warned that concerns over blocked airline funds in Africa and elsewhere could lead to interruptions in air services if there is no progress in talks to unfreeze money owed. About $1.6 billion of funds are being withheld in various African countries because of currency shortages or other problems, the International Air Transport […]