Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

North Africa

Trucks carrying containers at Jordan's port of Aqaba: the country is likely to be one of the worst hit by Donald Trump's tariffs

Trump tariffs threaten $22bn in Arab exports says UN

Bahrain and Jordan are the countries likely to be most affected by tariffs planned by President Donald Trump on non-oil exports by the Arab world to the US worth nearly $22 billion, a United Nations body has warned. Despite a sharp fall in the region’s sales of oil to the US over the past decade, […]

Dubai airport. The city hosts conferences that attract tens of thousands of business travellers, with most scheduled from October to April

Mena business travel surged before tariff storm hit

The number of business travel trips booked in the Mena region increased by more than 50 percent in the first quarter of 2025. However, the onset of a trade war and a projected slowdown in economic growth may temper performance for the foreseeable future, according to travel experts. Business travel company Tamodo said it expected […]

Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune said he wants non-oil exports to increase to $10bn this year, from $7bn last year

Algeria creates agency to promote non-oil exports

Algeria is to create an export promotion agency to push non-oil international sales as the oil and gas producer faces plunging petroleum prices. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune revealed the plan during a meeting with national business leaders in the capital Algiers last week. Tebboune said the export promotion agency would be set up next month […]

Leila Benali, Morocco's minister of energy transition, said last year that renewables accounted for about 44 percent of total power generation

Morocco steps up solar power drive to meet 2030 target

Morocco is intensifying investment in solar power in the hope of hitting a target to raise the use of renewables in its energy mix to more than half. The country has set a target of 52 percent renewables by 2030 after achieving previous targets, local media reported. Newspapers said on Friday that hydrocarbon-poor Morocco has […]

A swarm can contain 40 million locusts, each consuming their own weight every day

Farmers at risk from North Africa locust swarm

A locust outbreak in North Africa risks endangering the livelihoods of already hard-pressed farmers in the region. In recent weeks, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a UN agency, has issued a succession of warnings over a growing locust threat spreading from North Africa and across central Africa. In Africa’s north, adult groups of […]

Algerian energy minister Mohamed Arkab. Renewable sources currently account for just 1 percent of Algeria’s energy mix

Chinese companies spearhead Algeria’s solar drive

Algeria has broken ground on two new solar power projects over the past week as part of a drive to build 15 plants with the help of Chinese companies. The drive aims to largely expand the use of renewable energy and release oil and gas for export by the Opec producer. Renewable sources currently account […]

A worker at Jordan's Aqaba container terminal. Jordan has had a free-trade agreement with the US since 2001 and pegs its currency to the US dollar

US levies render Middle East trade deals worthless, say analysts

US president Donald Trump’s global tariff policy has bulldozed through dozens of free-trade agreements, including a handful in the Middle East. The impact on the rules of international commerce could be severe, according to industry watchers. “To take such an abrupt and quick decision from one side, where you have more than 20 years of […]

A woman assembles mobile phone parts at a factory run by Egyptian brand Sico. Foreign manufacturers including Samsung and Nokia have set up in Egypt

Egypt to disable imported phones unless users pay tax

Owners of imported mobile phones in Egypt will have their devices disabled next week unless they pay tax as part of a drive by Cairo to protect international phone producers operating in Egypt. When the most populous Arab nation invited South Korea’s Samsung and other major smartphone manufacturers to produce their devices in Egypt four […]

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi met in Cairo in December 2024

EU clears €4bn funding to support Egypt’s economy

The European parliament has approved €4 billion ($4.3 billion) in funding to Egypt to bolster economic resilience in what is the most populous country in the Middle East. The parliament adopted Egypt’s macro-financial assistance with 452 votes in favour, 182 against, and 40 abstentions, it said in a statement.   In March 2024, the EU […]

ADVA has applied for Egypt’s first digital consumer finance license, which will reduce barriers to access for more than 50 million underbanked Egyptians

IHC unit enters Egypt’s consumer finance sector

2PointZero, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-listed International Holding Company (IHC), has acquired ADVA, an Egyptian consumer finance company. The buyout by Maseera Holding for Financial Investments (Maseera), a subsidiary of 2PointZero, is part of its parent company’s $1 billion investment plan, the state-run Wam news agency reported. ADVA will be Maseera’s technology and data analytics […]

A house in Amizmiz, Morocco, that was destroyed in an earthquake. The new IMF credit line will assist the country in rebuilding

IMF loans Morocco $4.5bn to support economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a new credit facility for Morocco to help in crisis prevention and to support reform. The new two-year $4.5 billion flexible credit line (FCL) will assist the country in rebuilding buffers and accelerating structural reforms in an uncertain external environment, the IMF said in a statement. The facility […]

A family strolls in Dubai Marina, developed by Emaar. The company's shares are up 5.5% on the DFM this year

Emaar’s overseas units struggle to match home gains

Dubai real estate developer Emaar Properties is doing well at home but its international operations – notably in India – are more chequered. Last year, Emaar posted a near 50 percent increase in earnings to AED5 billion ($1.4 billion). Its shares on the Dubai Financial Market are up 5.5 percent so far this year. By […]

One solar panel in North Africa generates two to three times the amount of power that one does in Europe

Plans to bring African energy to Europe face big challenges

At least five multi-billion dollar projects to bring up to 24 gigawatts of solar and wind power energy from sunny North Africa to chilly Europe, assisted by Gulf investment money, are currently being planned. But these ambitious schemes to reduce Europe’s reliance on fossil fuels generally, and energy supplies from Russia specifically, all face major […]

Modon was appointed master developer for the Ras El Hekma mega development in 2024. The industrial zone is expected to generate 20,000 jobs

Modon to build industrial zone near Egypt’s Ras El Hekma

A joint venture between Abu Dhabi-listed Modon Holding and Egypt’s Elsewedy Industrial Development is planning to build a new industrial zone near the $35-billion Ras El Hekma megaproject. The two companies have signed a letter of intent for the project, state-run news agency Wam reported. The 10 million sq m new industrial zone, located south […]

The MT Sounion being towed through Egypt's Suez Canal earlier this month after it was attacked in the Red Sea. Suez Canal revenues have dropped from $2.4bn to $1bn

Egypt’s deficit stretched by high imports and regional tension

Egypt’s current account deficit more than doubled in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and the gap is expected to widen further, a Kuwaiti bank says. Key factors for the massive deficit include a surge in imports and lower Suez Canal revenues due to regional tensions, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said in […]

Dune Part Two, a Warner Bros film, has grossed more than $700m worldwide. Warner Bros Discovery is targeting the Mena streaming market

Warner Bros Discovery buys 30% stake in OSN Streaming

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has bought a stake in a subsidiary of Dubai-based satellite TV company Orbit Showtime Network Group, in an attempt to tap into the rapidly expanding Middle Eastern streaming market. The US-based media and entertainment conglomerate will acquire a 30 percent stake in OSN Streaming for KD17.5 million ($57 million), Kuwait Projects […]

The highway projects intend to improve access to the Grand Stadium in Casablanca for the World Cup, which Morocco will jointly host with Spain and Portugal

Morocco’s $1.3bn highway overhaul for 2030 World Cup

Morocco plans to invest MAD12.5 billion ($1.3 billion) to develop its highway infrastructure for the 2030 Fifa World Cup. The investments, spanning from 2025 to 2032, will focus on three major projects: the Continental Rabat-Casablanca Highway, Tit Mellil-Berrechid Highway, and Ain Harrouda and Sidi Maarouf junctions, Morocco News World reported citing a statement from the […]

Sand dunes under water in Merzouga, Morocco. Increased output on both irrigated and non-irrigated land will help improve Morocco's import bill

Relief for Moroccan agriculture after heavy rainfall

Morocco has reported so much rainfall this year that it is filling dams across the country to levels not seen in at least three years.  That augurs well for the agricultural sector which accounts for about one-sixth of the economy and is a component of exports and therefore foreign exchange. The economy declined last year […]

Egypt's core inflation plunged more than expected to 10 percent in February, from 22.6 percent in January

Egypt’s headline inflation nearly halves in February

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation plunged to 12.8 percent in February from 24 percent in January, decelerating even faster than analysts had expected, official data showed on Monday. The drop was amplified by a statistical base effect, as exceptionally fast price increases of the past two years were no longer reflected in the statistics, […]

An oil platform in the Gulf of Suez. Egypt hopes to attract investment worth $700m

Swathe of new oil and gas sites opened to bids in Egypt

Egypt has invited international companies to bid to develop 13 new oil and gas sites in the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the western desert as the country seeks to reverse a fall in natural gas production. The bids cover concessions that include seven undeveloped discoveries and six exploration areas, according to the […]

Khan el-Khalili market, Cairo. Egypt's NFAs climbed to the equivalent of $8.7bn, according to the official central bank currency rates

Egypt’s net foreign assets jump in January

Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFAs) jumped by $2.74 billion in January, boosted by the sale of $2 billion in dollar-denominated bonds, central bank data showed. NFAs climbed to the equivalent of $8.7 billion from $5.96 billion at the end of December, according to Reuters calculations based on the official central bank currency rates. The increase […]

Tourists in Times Square, New York. Some Gulf countries punch above their weight when it comes to US residency applications

$5m US golden visa may be out of reach for some Arabs

People born in Egypt and Morocco may find it more difficult than those born in Saudi Arabia or the UAE to secure President Trump’s $5 million “gold card” US permanent residency because of restrictions on capital flows. The Gulf and wider Mena region punch above their weight globally when it comes to the number of […]