North Africa’s Economy
Business: With a choking tourism industry, Morocco’s craftsmen face daunting outlook
By Redouane Benmehdi - Hundreds of thousands of Moroccan craftsmen are facing a daunting future as the government’s Covid-19 policies have resulted in their isolation and lack of effective financial support. The pandemic has starved the craftsmen from their usual...
Libya: Finally Afriqiyah Airways resumes Benghazi-Misrata service after a seven-year state of war
Flights between the eastern Libya city of Benghazi and the western city of Misrata were restored Tuesday after a near seven year absence, the latest tentative step towards national reconciliation. An Afriqiyah Airways plane that took off from Benghazi touched down at...
Tunisia: State companies on the brink of collapse
By Aymen Jamli - Tunisia's state-owned firms are in dire straits, facing a perfect storm of debt, mismanagement, the coronavirus pandemic and a decade of political instability that could push some to bankruptcy, experts say. Ten years since a revolution that overthrew...
Western Sahara: European court to decide if Western Sahara goods are part of EU-Morocco accords
Luxembourg, Feb 28, 2021 (AFP) - The European Court of Justice is next week to discuss EU-Morocco accords allowing Rabat to export goods from Western Sahara that are contested by the pro-independence Polisario Front. It is to hold two sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday...
Moroccans debating legalization of cannabis for medicinal use
Morocco, a country where large volumes of cannabis are grown illicitly, is considering legalising production for therapeutic use of the drug, the government said Thursday. The government has "begun to study a legislative bill relating to the legal use of cannabis," it...
Tunis Air CEO dismissed after month into job
Tunisia's transport minister on Monday fired the CEO of Tunisair, just over a month after naming her to revive the ailing national carrier's fortunes. Olfa Hamdi, an engineer educated in France and the US with experience in managing major enterprises, was dismissed...
Algeria: How corruption and bad governance destroy an entire industry
By Abdellah Cheballah - Shuttered assembly plants, jailed bosses, laid-off workers. Algeria's once ambitious plans to create a flagship auto industry have turned into a fiasco. The country's recent years of political turmoil have also seen its foreign joint venture...
Sahel: Flying to Timbuktu, anyone?
A commercial flight landed in Timbuktu on Monday for the first time since jihadists captured the fabled Malian city in 2012, launching a new link for local airline Sky Mali. Carrying a delegation including two ministers, the plane landed after making the 700-kilometre...
Sahel: Complaint against Glencore over Chad spill clears UK hurdle
A complaint by rights groups over a toxic spill at an oil site in Chad linked to the British subsidiary of mining giant Glencore has cleared a hurdle in the UK, Britain's trade ministry said. The case relates to an accident in September 2018 at the Badila oilfield in...
Egypt: first commercial flight from Qatar to Egypt in three and a half years
The first direct flights since 2017 between Qatar and its former rivals Egypt and the UAE took to the skies on Monday, following the end of a regional crisis. Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in cutting ties with Qatar in June...