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The UK-Morocco Business Dialogue presents an avenue for the North African country to showcase its trade and investment opportunities. CNBC Africa’s Bishop is joined by Head of Economic Diplomacy Committee at CGEM, Mohamed Laaziz Kadiri for more.

UK-Morocco Business Dialogue: CGEM’s Kadiri on what sectors Morocco must focus on to harness international investment

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The Chairman of Africa Guarantee Fund (AGF), Andrew Temu says they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Attijariwafa Bank to leverage over $50 Million to serve women-owned and managed enterprises in North Africa. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with Andrew Temu on the sidelines of the Global Gender Summit in Kigali.

Global Gender Summit: AGF & Attijariwafa Bank sign MoU to fund women- owned businesses in Africa

Global Gender Summit: AGF & Attijariwafa Bank sign MoU to fund women-owned businesses in Africa

By Francois Conradie, Head of Research, NKC African Economics.



Tunisia’s voters took to the polls on Sunday, September 15, in the first round of the second democratic direct presidential election in the country’s history. 



Since
Tunisians elected Beji Caid Essebsi in the first such election in November
2014, the political environment has undergone a number of changes: Mr Essebsi
has died; his party, Nidaa Tounes, has been badly damaged by infighting; and
the marriage of convenience between his secular current and the Islamist
current is on the rocks. 



The
race is a two-round affair: The first round is on Sunday and the second round
will take place later (no date has been fixed yet, but it will probably be
around October 13, which is the week after the legislative election on October
6). 



Results
from the first round will be known early in the week after the vote.



There
are 26 candidates in the race. No publication of opinion polling data has been
permitted since the start of campaigning, on July 16, so the most recent poll
(or the most recent reliable one – fake poll results have been flying across
social media) is from mid-July. That poll, by Sigma Conseil, indicates
television tycoon Nabil Karoui as the favourite (with 23% of voting
intentions), followed by Kaies Saied, an elderly law professor (20%); Abir
Moussi, the Ben Ali apologist (12%); Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, who looked
like the favourite not so many months ago (7%); former state president Moncef
Marzouki (7%); and Defence Minister Abdelkrim Zbidi (3%). 



But
that was before Mr Essebsi died, before Mr Karoui was arrested on August 23 on
money laundering charges that date from 2016, and before the Islamists of
Ennahdha named a candidate, Abdelfattah Mourou.



There
is little doubt in public opinion that the accusations against Mr Karoui are
politically motivated, and Tunisians see the hand of Prime Minister Chahed
behind it. 



Mr
Karoui may be freed at the eleventh hour: his case is to go to a second appeal before
the Cour de Cassation on Friday, September 13. Our expectation (based on
conversations with sources with some legal knowledge) is for the case against
him to be struck down, and for him to accordingly be in a position to contest
the election normally. 



A
twist in the story is that if he is elected president, Mr Karoui would become
immune from prosecution on these or other charges.



Mr
Essebsi’s death has boosted Mr Zbidi’s chances. His experience at defence is a
strong selling point in a country that has felt a serious deterioration in
security since the 2011 uprising against Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, and he will
moreover be the natural candidate for secularist voters who are looking for a
candidate to block the Islamists. 



Mr
Mourou’s campaign has not gone especially well (when his party named him, we
thought he looked to be a strong contender) and we expect he will get little
support outside of the relatively small community of convinced Islamists. 



The
people who have historically supported Ennahdha will, this time, vote for the
populist candidates like Mr Karoui or Mr Saied, as the polls show. Our
expectation is for Mr Karoui and Mr Zbidi to go to the second round. Mr
Karoui’s party, Heart of Tunisia, is also looking like a strong favourite to
dominate the legislative race in October. 



The
election should go smoothly and should once again affirm Tunisia’s status as
poster child for Arab democracy. 



Political
interference in the judiciary (we are among those who see Mr Chahed’s hand in
Mr Karoui’s arrest) is less positive, but, without relativising the matter too
much, is more typical of Italy’s messy and semi-captured democracy than of the
pitiless autocracy of Tunisia in Mr Ben Ali’s time. (So is the popularity of Mr
Karoui, who seems to have studied former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi for
political strategy.) 



If
Mr Karoui’s appeal succeeds, we expect him and Mr Zbidi to go through to the
second round, in which Mr Zbidi is set to be the favourite. 



The
legislative election will deliver a very divided Parliament, which will
probably mean some weeks of negotiations before a prime minister is named and
the government can get down to business.

Op-Ed: What you need to know about Tunisia’s presidential election

KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan needs $8 billion in foreign aid over the next two years to cover its import bill and help rebuild its ravaged economy after months of political turmoil, its new prime minister said on Saturday.



Abdalla Hamdok, sworn in three days earlier to head a transitional government after the ousting of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir, said up to another $2 billion of foreign reserves deposits were needed in the next three months to halt a fall in the currency.



The 61-year-old economist, who has worked for the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, said he had started talks with the IMF and the World Bank to discuss restructuring Sudan’s crippling debt, and had approached friendly nations and funding bodies about the aid.



Mounting public anger over shortages of food, fuel and hard currency triggered mass demonstrations that eventually forced Bashir from power in April.



“We are in communication to achieve this,” Hamdok said in his first interview with a foreign media outlet. “The foreign reserves in the central bank are weak and very low.”



“However,” he said, “there won’t be a forced prescription from the IMF or the World Bank on Sudan.”



On the politically tricky topic of government subsidies for bread, fuel, electricity and medicine, Hamdok said any changes would only be made after “deep discussions” with the people.



“The people are the ones who will make the decision on this issue,” he said.



He also said he had been talking with the United States to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism &#8211; a designation which has left Khartoum isolated from most of the international financial system since 1993.



There was no immediate comment from the U.S. government, the IMF or the World Bank.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DEVALUED CURRENCY</h3>



Sudan has been in economic turmoil since it lost the bulk of its oil production in 2011 when South Sudan seceded after decades of civil war.



It has devalued the pound several times but not been able to halt the fall. One dollar currently fetches 65 pounds on the black market versus the official rate of 45.



“We will work to unify the exchange rate, and to manage the exchange rate using a flexible managed exchange rate,” Hamdok said, without going into details.



He said Sudan needed to restore trust in the banking system.



Hamdok, who studied agricultural economics, has also worked at the African Development Bank and most recently as a special advisor at the Trade and Development Bank in Ethiopia. He said Sudan needed to tap its agricultural potential.



Sudan is rich in agricultural resources but high taxes, corruption and mismanagement have held back investment in the sector for decades.



“We want to take the Sudanese economy from an economy based on consumption and imports to a productive economy, and stop exporting products such as livestock and agriculture as raw materials,” Hamdok said. “Instead, we will aim to process them so as to create added value.”



He also said he wants to focus on peace-building in a nation that has seen conflicts flare in multiple parts of the country, and endured a civil war that ended in the succession of the South.



“Stopping war, which represents 70% of the expenditure in the budget, will create a surplus that can be invested in production and particularly agriculture, livestock, and related industries,” he said.



Shortly after Bashir was ousted, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia pledged $3 billion in aid to Sudan, in the form of a $500 million deposit in the central bank, which Sudan has already received, as well as fuel, wheat, and medicine.



The generals who forced Bashir from power took over and then, after months of wrangling and further violent protests, agreed to set up a transitional body including civilians to pave the way to elections in three years time.



Many hope Hamdok can shepherd Sudan through the transitional period, but some opposition members and analysts worry that the power-sharing deal may fall short of expectations in a country where the military, backed by Islamists, has dominated for decades.



Writing by Nafisa Eltahir and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Daniel Wallis

Why Sudan needs up to $10 billion in aid to rebuild economy

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The World Bank’s Country Director for the Maghreb, Malta, Middle East and North Africa; Marie Françoise Marie-Nelly, says it is important to create an enabling environment for start-ups to access seed finance and large markets. She joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more.

Creating an enabling environment for Africa’s entrepreneurs

By Francois Conradie, Head of Research at NKC African Economics



A
recent change in Tunisia’s electoral legislation is a self-preservation bid by
the major parties that control Parliament. The major parties have started to
feel threatened by populists who appeared to be strong contenders to win the
presidential election that is supposed to be held in November (first round) and
December of this year and have accordingly moved to exclude them. 



On
Tuesday, June 18, 122 of the 170 deputies present in the House of People’s
Representatives voted in favour of changes to the voting code, of which the
most important are a ‘representativeness threshold’ in the parliamentary race,
which means that parties that win less than 3% of the overall vote will no
longer obtain representation in Parliament, and two oddly specific new clauses
that were plainly introduced purely to exclude particular candidates. 



In terms of the first, “any person who has in the year preceding the poll granted advantages of any kind, in money or in kind, to citizens” is barred from running; the second new clause bars anyone who uses language “that does not respect the democratic regime and the Constitution,” “criticises the revolution [of 2011]” or “has nostalgia for the Ben Ali era.” 



By
contrast, a proposal to ban floor-crossing by members of Parliament was voted
down.



The
clause barring those who give gifts is designed to disqualify Nabil Karoui, a
55-year-old media tycoon who owns Nessma TV, the most popular television
channel in the country. 



His
station’s inexpensive Turkish soap operas have given it wide reach, and Mr
Karoui has used this to his advantage by trumpeting his charitable efforts,
which reached a crescendo during Ramadan when he gave thousands of iftar meals
to the needy – on television, obviously. 



In
April, when his political clout was becoming apparent, the broadcasting
watchdog closed Nessma down for a few days. It was also on Nessma TV on May 27
that Mr Karoui announced his intention to contest the presidential race. 



The
change in legislation also targets Olfa Terras Rambourg, the wife of a French
hedge fund multimillionaire, who has boosted her popularity by similar means. 



The
language about apologists for deposed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali,
meanwhile, is plainly aimed at Abir Moussi, an unapologetic fan of the former
leader who has been campaigning on nostalgia for the security that his era
represents in the memories of many.



The
law now has to be signed by President Beji Caid Essebsi to become active, but
the possibility exists that the president will refuse to do so. He has a
political motivation to block it to get back at the alliance between Prime
Minister Youssef Chahed’s Tahya Tounes party and the Islamists of Ennahdha, who
got the law voted. 



Also,
there are legal considerations: the law barring candidates for their past
actions obviously violates the legal principle that a new law may not apply
retroactively (which is part of Tunisian law), but as the country still does
not have a Constitutional Court, there is no way to challenge it and the
president may elect to decline to pass it for this reason. 



If
he does sign, the final decisions on who will be allowed to run rest with the
Higher Independent Elections Authority (Isie).



An
opinion poll by Sigma Conseil, published on June 12, found that 25% of
respondents intended to vote for Mr Karoui. He was followed by Kais Saied (23%)
– a fairly conservative 61-year-old law professor whose positions on social
matters are those of the pious majority (and whose gimmick of speaking only
literary Arabic instead of Tunisian dialect or French impresses people). In
third place was the ‘Benaliste’ Ms Moussi with 11% – way ahead of Mr Chahed
with 7% (down from 31% in February) and former President Moncef Marzouki with
6%.



The
vote in Parliament further confirms the dominance of the political environment
by the loose coalition between Mr Chahed’s Tahya Tounes and Ennahdha. It now
seems as though Ennahdha will instruct its supporters to vote for Mr Chahed in
the presidential election. 



Given
the dearth of talent in Mr Caid Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes, he currently looks to
be the favourite despite his collapsing popularity. But the legislation just
passed through Parliament is dubious, and it may end up being challenged in the
courts in some way – if it is not blocked by the president first. 



The period of pre-election instability is here.

Op-Ed: Parliament goes after populist presidential candidate in Tunisia

Anmar Frangoul
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/solar-plant-to-provide-energy-to-oilfield-in-algerian-desert.html">Solar plant to provide energy to oilfield in Algerian desert</a>
<ul>
<li>The facility is located in the Bir Rebaa North field in the Algerian desert.</li>
<li>Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981. </li>
<li>It has also signed an agreement to build an advanced research and development laboratory in Algeria. </li>
</ul>
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/26170239/105592206-1543232762069gettyimages-867079400.1910x1000.jpeg" alt="ITALY-BUSINESS-ENI-LOGO" height="1000" width="1910" data-licensor-name="Marco Bertorello | AFP | Getty Images"/>
Italian energy firm Eni and Algeria&#8217;s state-owned Sonatrach have inaugurated a 10-megawatt solar plant that will provide clean energy to an oil field. The facility is located at the Bir Rebaa North (BRN) field in the Algerian desert. &#8220;This is a further step forward in the strategic expansion of our renewable energy activities in Algeria, starting with this site as a showcase for solar technologies,&#8221; Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in a statement Sunday. &#8220;This plant shows the commitment of Eni in implementing a decarbonization plan for long-term business sustainability, which is based on carbon impact reduction through the progressive implementation of renewable energy projects,&#8221; Descalzi added. Eni, which has been present in Algeria since 1981, said in a statement it had signed an agreement with Sonatrach to undertake the building of an &#8220;advanced research and development laboratory&#8221; at the BRN location. This lab will, Eni added, test solar and hybrid technologies in a desert environment. The businesses have also signed an agreement to set up a joint venture &#8220;fully dedicated to Algeria&#8217;s renewable energy sector.&#8221; The partnership aims to install and operate solar power facilities at the production sites of both Sonatrach and Eni.

Solar plant to provide energy to oilfield in Algerian desert

By François Conradie, Head of Research at NKC African Economics
On Wednesday, October 24, Mouad Bouchareb was elected as the new speaker of the National People’s Assembly (APN), the lower house of Parliament.
He was elected almost unanimously (320 votes for, one abstention), but that was because all opposition deputies were boycotting the vote, so only deputies from the ruling coalition were present in the chamber.
The opposition MPs are against Mr Bouchareb’s election because his predecessor, Said Bouhadja, was removed unconstitutionally earlier in the month, when the ruling coalition caucus declared the position vacant although the constitution does not provide for any procedure of this kind.
The constitution stipulates that “the president [speaker] of the APN is elected for the duration of the legislature”.
There was some drama later as MPs from the caucus physically locked the chamber door to prevent Mr Bouhadja from doing his job.
The ruling coalition is made up of four parties: the National Liberation Front (FLN) of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the National Democratic Rally (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, the Algerian Popular Movement (MPA) and Taj, the party of former minister Amar Ghoul. Mr Bouchareb was until now the chief whip of the FLN caucus.
On Wednesday, when Mr Bouchareb was voted in, one of these MPs stated that Mr Bouteflika approved of the change.
There has been some media comment focusing on Mr Bouchareb’s youth: he is 47, and the ruling coalition is trying to portray his investiture as some sort of renewal. But Mr Bouhadja was removed, and Mr Bouchareb picked in his stead, so that the ruling coalition could have tighter control of the legislature.
This may become relevant as the process carries on to get Mr Bouteflika re-elected in April (although he has not yet announced his candidacy), in case the people trying to make that happen need a pliant speaker.
The blatant unconstitutionality of the coalition’s move is also worth noting.

OpEd: Algeria’s ruling coalition imposes a new speaker

Abidjan, Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, March 12, 2018 &#8211; The African Development Bank has expanded its flagship publication, the African Economic Outlook, with five regional reports. The regional economic studies were released in Tunis (North Africa), Abidjan (West and Central Africa), Nairobi (Eastern Africa) and Pretoria (Southern Africa).
&#8220;By offering regional approaches for the first time, we want to leverage the Bank&#8217;s expertise and give more depth of analysis and relevance to this publication,&#8221; said Celestin Monga, Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank&#8217;s Economic Governance and Knowledge Management.
&#8220;The integration of specific reports for each region reflect the importance the Bank’s focus on the regional dimensions of development and inclusive growth in Africa,&#8221; said Mohamed El Azizi, Director General of the North Africa Region.
North Africa: a positive outlook for 2018 and 2019
North Africa ended 2017 with growth of 4.9% of real GDP, up from 3.3% recorded in 2016. The region’s economic performance is above a 3.6% average for the continent, thanks to higher than expected oil production in Libya and the performance of Morocco, which saw growth rise from 1.2% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2017, on account of increased agricultural productivity. Egypt’s macroeconomic and structural reforms led to a 4% growth in 2017. Overall, growth in the North Africa region was fueled by new high value-added sectors such as electronics and mechanics, as well as private and public consumption. The region’s outlook remains positive for 2018 and 2019, on account of structural reforms. Growth in North Africa is expected to reach 5% and 4.6% respectively in 2018 and 2019.
See Economic Outlook for North Africa 2018.
East Africa: the best economic performance of the continent
According to Nnena Nwabufo, the Bank’s Deputy Director General for the East Africa Region, the East African Economic Outlook highlights a number of policies that member countries must implement to transform their economies.
East Africa, with thirteen countries, recorded the continent’s best economic performance with a GDP growth rate of 5.9% in 2017 −a rate much higher than the growth recorded by the other regions of the continent, and above the continental average of 3.6%. The good performance of the East African sub region is stimulated by six countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, Seychelles and Kenya. The outlook remains positive for 2018 and 2019, with growth expected to continue, reaching 5.9% in 2018 and 6.2% in 2019.
See Economic Outlook for East Africa 2018.
Southern Africa: economic recovery started, but contrasting growth
Estimated at 1.6% on average in 2017, real GDP growth in Southern Africa is expected to improve to 2% in 2018 and 2.4% in 2019.
Deputy Director General of the Bank for Southern Africa, Josephine Ngure said: &#8220;The Southern Africa region has made considerable progress in the fight against poverty and improvements in the quality of life of its inhabitants, through the implementation of policies targeting the acceleration of industrialization and the promotion of growth and job creation.&#8221;
However, economic forecasts remain cautious, especially given the very different growth patterns of the region&#8217;s economies. The economic &#8220;locomotive&#8221; of the region, South Africa, shows signs of slow growth, and possibly declining growth, while low-income countries and the economies in transition, such as Madagascar and Mozambique, recorded more important growth.
&#8220;High fiscal deficits and rising public debt pose challenges to macroeconomic stability in several southern African countries. Governments should put in place measures to improve the mobilization of domestic resources and funds from the private sector to ensure adequate levels of development spending, stimulate growth and create jobs, especially for young people, &#8220;said Stefan Muller, Bank’s Senior Economist for Southern Africa.
See Economic Outlook for Southern Africa 2018.
West Africa: Progress in a contrasting panorama
After several good years, economic growth in West Africa stagnated at 0.5% in 2016.   The decline in the price of raw materials and the unimpressive performance of Nigeria, which alone accounts for about 70% of the sub region’s GDP, were some of the key factors identified as responsible for stagnation. Economic growth in West Africa rebounded to 2.5% in 2017 and is projected to rise to 3.8% in 2018 and 3.9% in 2019. Household consumption and the relative price recovery of certain materials are expected to contribute to this performance.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for West Africa, identified job creation, especially for young people as the big challenge for the sub-region.
&#8220;The 2018 Regional Economic Outlook for West Africa presents a comprehensive analysis of the economy and the labor market of 15 countries, focusing on macroeconomic stability, employment and poverty of the population living in West Africa. Let us not forget that some of the countries in this sub-region are facing enormous security challenges, &#8220;she said.
See Economic Outlook for West Africa 2018.
Central Africa: Better prospects after a modest performance
The Central African region recorded 0.9% real GDP in 2017, the lowest growth rate of the continent, although it represents a relative improvement over growth of 0.1% in 2016. This sub regional performance masks many disparities between countries: relatively good growth for Cameroon and the Central African Republic, and very low growth for Equatorial Guinea and Congo. The economic difficulties in Central Africa are largely due to lower raw material prices, which some countries in the region are heavily dependent on, as well as recurring security threats in others.
The outlook for 2018 and 2019 is more encouraging, fueled by rising world prices for raw materials and domestic demand. According to the Bank&#8217;s projections, real GDP growth in Central Africa is expected to reach 2.4 percent in 2018 and 3 percent in the following year. Other enabling factors include sound macroeconomic management and a more favorable institutional environment.
&#8220;With improvements in the economic situations of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, the economic performance of the sub-region is expected to improve in 2018 and 2019. It would be good to include this improvement over time through the diversification of economies of the sub region,&#8221; said Racine Kane, Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for Central Africa.
See Economic Outlook for Central Africa 2018.

African Development Bank assesses Africa’s economies, this is how they fair…

Tarek Amara | dTUNIS
The World Bank has approved a $500 million credit for Tunisia to help the North African country with budget support, a government official said on Tuesday.
The new loan came just after the International Monetary Fund released a $320-million delayed tranche of Tunisia&#8217;s IMF loan after the government agreed to speed up economic reforms.
Praised as a model of democratic transition following its 2011 uprising to oust autocrat leader Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has so far mostly failed to deliver on planned economic reforms to help create jobs and cut public deficits.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; writing by Patrick Markey)
&nbsp;

World Bank approves $500 mln credit for Tunisia: gov’t official

Egypt&#8217;s Trade Ministry has issued tough new regulations on importers by sharply raising the minimum capital they need to operate, the government&#8217;s latest effort to curb foreign-made goods and spur local manufacturing.
Under the ministry&#8217;s executive regulations, the minimum capital required for the smallest companies to register was hiked to 500,000 Egyptian pounds (about $28,000) from 10,000 pounds previously. For limited companies, the minimum threshold was raised to two million pounds from 15,000 pounds previously.
<blockquote>&#8220;This is in line with measures taken by the ministry in the past to limit the import of low-quality goods,&#8221; the Trade Ministry said in a statement.</blockquote>
&#8220;It also aims to encourage new investments in national industries and protecting them from unfair competition from imported products,&#8221; it added.
The new regulations also raise the minimum capital required for a joint stock company to be registered to 5 million pounds. Importers will have six months in order to adjust to the reform, which was contained in an amendment to the Importers Register Law passed in March.
Import-dependent Egypt is struggling to revive its economy and curb a trade deficit since a 2011 uprising drove away tourists and foreign investors.
Importers have criticized previous government measures aimed at reducing demand for foreign goods, saying local producers do not have the capacity to fill the gap.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Helen Popper)

Egypt tightens rules on importers in crackdown on foreign goods

John Irish | TAORMINA, Italy
Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou called on the leaders of the Group of Seven nations to take urgent measures to end the Libyan crisis and derided them for not keeping to aid promises to fight poverty in West Africa&#8217;s poorest regions.
Niger, which adjoins Libya to the south and has fought Islamists at home, is increasingly concerned about the situation in the North Africa country where rival governments oppose each other leaving a power vacuum that has enabled Islamist groups to establish a foothold in the country.
&#8220;The fight against terrorism in the Sahel countries and the Lale Chad demands that urgent measures be taken to put out the Libyan cauldron,&#8221; Issoufou, one of several Africa leaders attending a G7 summit in Sicily, said in a speech
The former French colony remains one of the poorest countries on earth. More than 60 percent of its 17 million people survive on less than $1 a day and as a result it is also one of the main transit points for African migrants seeking to reach Europe through Libya.
&#8220;Be it Niger, a transit nation, or the countries of origin, it is only through development that we will prevent illegal migration,&#8221; Issoufou said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has more than 4,000 troops spanning across West Africa as part of a counter-terrorism operation, said on Friday that more needed to be done to support the development of countries like Niger as well as providing military assistance.
Issoufou on Saturday also took a swipe at the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Britain and the United States, saying they had simply not lived up to their promises.
&#8220;In terms of development aid, rare are the donor countries that meet the level of 0.7 percent of GDP promised 50 years ago and the G8 promised in 2005 25 billion euros in extra development. That target promise was never met,&#8221; Issoufou said.
Italy had hoped to make Africa the major focus of the annual G7 gathering, holding the discussions on the island of Sicily that has taken in hundreds of thousands of migrants over the past four years as they flee war and poverty back home.
However, the two-day meeting got overshadowed by a suicide bombing in northern England on Monday that killed 22 people, and also got bogged down by lengthy discussions on the merit of free trade and the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.

North Africa

UK-Morocco Business Dialogue: CGEM’s Kadiri on what sectors Morocco must focus on to harness international investment

Global Gender Summit: AGF & Attijariwafa Bank sign MoU to fund women-owned businesses in Africa

Op-Ed: What you need to know about Tunisia’s presidential election

Why Sudan needs up to $10 billion in aid to rebuild economy

Creating an enabling environment for Africa’s entrepreneurs

Op-Ed: Parliament goes after populist presidential candidate in Tunisia

Solar plant to provide energy to oilfield in Algerian desert

OpEd: Algeria’s ruling coalition imposes a new speaker

African Development Bank assesses Africa’s economies, this is how they fair…

World Bank approves $500 mln credit for Tunisia: gov’t official

Egypt tightens rules on importers in crackdown on foreign goods

Niger tells G7 to urgently ‘put out Libyan cauldron’, do more on aid

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North Africa

UK-Morocco Business Dialogue: CGEM’s Kadiri on what sectors Morocco must focus on to harness international investment

Global Gender Summit: AGF & Attijariwafa Bank sign MoU to fund women-owned businesses in Africa

Op-Ed: What you need to know about Tunisia’s presidential election

Why Sudan needs up to $10 billion in aid to rebuild economy

Creating an enabling environment for Africa’s entrepreneurs

Op-Ed: Parliament goes after populist presidential candidate in Tunisia

Solar plant to provide energy to oilfield in Algerian desert

OpEd: Algeria’s ruling coalition imposes a new speaker

African Development Bank assesses Africa’s economies, this is how they fair…

World Bank approves $500 mln credit for Tunisia: gov’t official

Egypt tightens rules on importers in crackdown on foreign goods

Niger tells G7 to urgently ‘put out Libyan cauldron’, do more on aid

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