North Africa’s Economy
Morocco: After launching spy app, Morocco deploys surveillance drones
Rabat, May 6, 2020 - Morocco has rapidly expanded its fleet of drones as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, deploying them for aerial surveillance, public service announcements and sanitisation. "This is a real craze. In just weeks, demand has tripled in Morocco and...
Algeria announces deeper spending cuts but says minimum wage up a bit
The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns. The government has decided to reduce the budget by "50 percent" for this year,...
Africa: How to pay a country’s debt with cows
Angola has received a herd of more than 1,000 cattle from Chad, a government official said Monday, the latest shipment of an unusual debt repayment deal. The landlocked central African country, impoverished despite its oil revenues, contracted a $100 million...
Algeria: Oil prices, virus, instability put Algeria on edge
Algiers, April 12, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi with Philippe Agret in Tunis) - Algeria faces economic and social turmoil if crude prices continue to collapse, experts have warned, with the oil-dependent country reeling from a year of popular protests, political turmoil...
Tunisia gets emergency loan from the IMF
April 10, 2020 - The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a $745 million emergency loan for Tunisia as it continues to roll out an unprecedented number of aid packages to countries battling the coronavirus. "These resources will help address urgent fiscal...
Food supply: The struggle to maintain normalcy in time of pandemic
Algiers, April 9, 2020 (By Abdellah Cheballah) - From an acute shortage of regional staple couscous to a surge of confidence tricks and counterfeiting, authorities in North Africa have been busy tackling coronavirus challenges that go beyond healthcare. For the past...
Morocco to get IMF loan to soften impact of coronavirus on the economy
Rabat, April 8, 2020 - Morocco on Wednesday announced it has started to draw on a $3-billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund to offset a contraction of its economy because of the coronavirus pandemic. The five-year loan has a grace period of three...
Morocco: Royal Air Maroc hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, slashes pilot pays by 30% (s)
While air transport is one of the sectors most affected by border closings in Morocco and the declaration of a state of health emergency, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) could very quickly fall into default. According to Moroccan newspaper L’Economiste, the national airline’s...
Algeria looking to renew chloroquine stocks as it generalizes its use (s)
MEA Risk LLC: Algeria is urgently looking for international suppliers who can immediately sell large stocks of chloroquine, which is used by Algeria to treat patients who contracted the Covid-19 virus. Algeria did not wait for the results of clinical trials taking...
Morocco: The big scam in Casablanca
Casablanca, Morocco, April 2, 2020 (By Hamza Mekouar) - "Give us our money!", demands a group of home buyers, standing on land that should by now be finished condos -- one of many fictitious projects that together comprise what is described as Morocco's biggest-ever...