North Africa’s Economy
As Terror Becomes Part of the “New Normal” in Tunisia, Business Learns to Cope with the Terror Risk
The recent terror attacks on two hotels in Sousse and in the Bardo Museum in Tunis had a direct negative impact on the critically important tourism industry. Bookings were canceled, so did the flights that linked Tunisia to Europe, affecting thousands of jobs amid...
Algeria Hard Currency Reserve Stood at $179 Bil in Dec 2014, Down 7.8% Year on Year
Algeria’s political and economic leaders have a big problem. The country’s foreign currency reserves stood at $178.9 billion at the end of December 2014. That’s not a bad number except that it fell 3.5% sequentially in just one month, which is compared to November...
Oil Companies Reassessing their Investments in Tunisia
For weeks now rumors of major oil companies preparing to leave Tunisia have circulated in the central administration and in the media. There is no concrete information about many of such exits, but rumors are swirling specifically about Shell and ENI, while the...
Morocco’s Billions Stashed in Private Swiss Accounts
It is not such a shocking news to learn that Africa’s political and business leaders have long been breaching the trust of their nations by moving money into confidential and untraceable offshore accounts. Corruption, a non-existent justice system, widespread fraud...
Governance in Tunisia: The Challenges of Restoring the Rule of Law
Now that Tunisia has managed to rebuild its government structures and a new constitution, how is it managing its transition to stability? The very existence of democratic institutions is indeed the first step, but such institutions alone do not guarantee a smooth path...
Lebanese CEO of Qatar Mobile Operator in Algeria Threatens Media
For a long time, many in the Algerian government have sought to curtail the power of the private and independent press. Using state-owned printing presses and the state advertisement agency, the government managed to put pressure on many private newspapers using such...
Death toll from Libya crises in 2014 exceeds 2,600 – 71% of the region’s casualties
The year 2014 ended with at least 3,771 fatalities from Critical Incidents in the Maghreb and Sahel zones, based on MEA Risk LLC’s tracking service CIncidents. With an intense political crisis affecting Libya, that country was home for nearly 71% of the casualties,...
Algeria’s Finances: 2015 Likely to be a Tough Year
Over the past years Algeria has enjoyed a steady stream of strong revenues. Oil money has been used partly to stimulate national savings, to pay for general economic development and to cover subsidies. Another critical contribution of oil money was Algeria’s ability...
The Cost of Excessive Trade Regulation: How Tunisia is Losing Money
Tunisia suffers from the illegal trade of merchandise that reduces its potential for more state income. Most of illicit trade comes through its borders with Algeria and Libya. Each year, millions of dollars of illicit products enter Tunisia without control or...
As Oil Production Rises in Libya, so are Local Tribes and Militias’ Fortunes
After reaching its lowest level a few months ago, Libya’s oil production has been slowly rising to reach an estimated 800,000 barrels per day. It is still half of its peak, but it is a significant evolution in a country that is in war. Indeed what is peculiar is this...