VenturesNow

Morocco gets $260 million from AfDB for port, governance

Published

5 months ago

July 28, 2024

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has granted Morocco two 120 million euro ($130 million) loans to construct an industrial zone in a northeastern port and enhance economic administration.

AfDB stated that the first loan will construct Nador West Med, a port industrial zone.

The latest financing raises AfDB’s Nador West Med development involvement to 489.8 million euros.

Morocco’s first liquefied natural gas terminal will be built in Nador West Med, a 3.5-million-container deepwater port.

AfDB said the second loan will help Morocco’s goals to improve public enterprise governance, business climate, external shock protection, and climate change resilience.

Central bank data predicts that Moroccan government debt will rise to 70.1% of GDP from 69.5% last year, with foreign debt at 17.6% in 2024.

The Moroccan economy grew 3.4% in 2023 despite global economic challenges, inflation, and the Al-Haouz disaster. A tourism comeback, strong manufacturing exports, and rising private spending drove growth under good macroeconomic policies.

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery exports first fuel to Cameroon

Published

2 days ago

December 12, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Dangote Refinery in Nigeria said on Wednesday that it had exported its first petrol to Cameroon, marking a significant milestone that may help stabilise gasoline costs throughout the region and open the door for regional energy integration.

When fully operational, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s 650,000-barrel refinery in Lagos is intended to alter the trade of refined products in the Atlantic basin and compete with refineries in Europe.

According to a statement by Neptune Oil, an energy company based in Cameroon, both businesses were looking into new projects to create a dependable supply chain that would assist in stabilising fuel costs and opportunities throughout the area.

According to Neptune Oil, there were no middlemen involved in the petrol delivery deal.

It is anticipated that the refinery’s operations will spur growth in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, increasing investments in cement manufacture, plastic and rubber production, chemical and pharmaceutical goods, and oil refining.

VenturesNow

Egypt’s November inflation drops to 25.5%, near 2-year low

Published

3 days ago

December 11, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to figures released Tuesday by statistics agency CAPMAS, Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate fell more than anticipated to 25.5% in November, the lowest level since December 2022.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused international investors to pull billions of dollars out of Egyptian treasury markets, inflation started to rise sharply in early 2022.

In September 2023, headline inflation reached a record high of 38.0%. It dropped to 26.5% by October 2024.

In a Reuters survey last month, 15 economists’ consensus prediction was for annual inflation to gradually decline to 26.4%.

According to CAPMAS statistics, headline inflation decreased from 1.1% in October to 0.5% in November every month.

Compared to October, when they fell 1.1%, food costs fell 2.8% over the month, making them 23.3% more than they were a year ago.

An increase in the money supply has been a major contributor to inflation. According to central bank data, Egypt’s M2 money supply increased by 29.54% in October compared to the same month last year.