North Africa’s Economy
Senegal at the Center of Another Geopolitical Fight
By Arezki Daoud: France is experiencing an unprecedented backlash in the Sahel and in West Africa. Disastrous post-colonial policies forced the people of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to expel French troops and diplomats, reducing Paris' entrenched but...
From a Russian Grain Export Onslaught to a Ban on French Cattle: Agricultural Trade Between France and Algeria in Standstill
Agricultural trade between France and Algeria is experiencing challenges that are primarily affecting French exporters. From the onslaught of the Russian grain exports to Algeria, essentially displacing French exporters, to Algeria banning French cattle due to EHDV disease, not all is well between Algeria and France in the agricultural trade sector. The most affected parties in this situation are French producers and exporters, who are looking for new initiatives to fight back.
Algeria: Beware of forgery. New law seeks to reduce fraud and white collar crime
(Photo: Magistrates at the Court of Auditors) - Algeria must have some serious problems with official document forgery. Analysts say the practice is widespread given the heavy bureaucratic nature of the outdated administration and the equally outdated regulatory...
Morocco: Price of butane gas to increase by 25% in April
(Photo: Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch) Morocco will stop subsidizing butane gas in 2026, but prices will begin to increase next month, April 2024. The decision to lift subsidies was announced in October 2023 by billionaire Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, who also...
Agriculture: Spanish farmers say Moroccan strawberries carry virus, as Morocco surpasses Spain as tomato supplier to EU
Agriculture is the theater of another kind of war where there are winners and losers. Worth billions of dollars, the EU agricultural market is seeing intensifying competition, with local farmers sometime resorting to violence to destroy competing produce coming from...
Algeria-Morocco Competition for Regional Influence Shifts to Economic Affairs
Opinion By Arezki Daoud: Up until now, enemy brothers, Algeria and Morocco have been trying to impress and disrupt one another to ascertain their influence in the North Africa and Sahel regions through sabre-rattling, despite the two countries boasting the exact same...
Morocco: Consumers to pay more for Netflix, Airbnb and other online services courtesy 2024 state budget
Morocco is overhauling its taxation system to generate more revenue from online services, in particular the ones focused on foreign-operated services. The new provisions of the Finance Bill for the 2024 fiscal year introduce tax payments from international companies...
Economy: China’s commitment to Africa is being tested by its stance on the continent’s crippling debt
By MondAfrique: As a whole, Africa has seen its debt increase five-fold over the past twenty years, to reach $700 billion. And Chinese lenders represent 12% of that total, according to Chatham House , the London Policy Institute. The United States and other Western...
Germany to get Algerian gas for first time
Germany is to get Algerian gas with the signing on 8 February of a contract tying gas producer Sonatrach to Leipzig-based gas trader VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH (VNG H&V). The German company is a wholly owned subsidiary of VNG AG. VNG is the first German...
Trade: Israel-Morocco trade takes a hit amid extreme instability in the Middle East
Last year, Morocco and Israel have had a strong run on their bilateral trade, as the two countries put into effect the Abraham Accords. Almost all the Moroccan media reporting on the topic during 2023, underscored the exponential growth of Morocco-Israel trade, with...