CAMEROON:
On a visit to Cameroon, the President of the AfDB declines his projects for the country: "Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), was received in audience at the Unity Palace by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, on Monday, July 17, 2017. Faced with the press after about an hour of interview, the President of the Group spoke of cooperation between Cameroon and the first African monetary institution. He spoke of an old relationship and mutual trust dating back to 1972. Since then, he indicated, the Bank has provided more than 2.5 billion US Dollars, i.e. nearly 1436 billion CFA Francs, of loans and grants, destined to projects in the fields of national and subregional infrastructure, agriculture, energy, water, sanitation, etc. Other projects underway in Cameroon benefit from the AfDB financing. This is the case of Lom Pangar hydroelectric plant, which will ultimately produce 30 MW of electricity to supply 150 localities in the Eastern region. Still in the energy field, the banking institution has in its portfolio the Nachtigal dam (420 MW), with a funding contribution of 150 million US Dollars... "
TOGO:
The government restructures Togo Telecom and gives it one billion of capital: "In Togo, the government opted for the restructuring of the public telecommunications operator Togo Telecom. According to a decree adopted in Ministerial Council on July 13, 2017, creating, allocating, and organizing the new structure which will bring Togo's policy for the development of telecommunications infrastructure, the operator has been transformed into a holding called "Togolese Holding Company of Electronic Communications (Togocom)." The new structure that will now be the parent company of telecommunications in the country has been allocated a capital of 1 billion CFA Francs. In the structure, Togocom will be a 100% shareholder of all subsidiaries of its entity, which will allow it to redefine strategies and ensure better results..."
IVORY COAST:
The Cocoa Coffee Council in the Heart of Chaos: "In the end of March, Ivory Coast has drastically lowered the guaranteed minimum price to its hundreds of thousands of small producers for the purchase of their cocoa beans from 1,100 to 700 CFA Francs (from 1,6 to 1 Euro) per kilo. A premiere since the major reform put in place in 2012. This harsh blow is only the most visible aspect of the crisis that affects the country's brown gold. The public finances are severely affected. The Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC), which organizes the whole sector and the sales system, has recorded no less than 300 billion CFA Francs of dry losses..."
SENEGAL:
Recovery of debts is a concern for Building and Public Works entrepreneurs: "The difficulties of collecting debts constitute one of the main constraints mentioned by entrepreneurs in the Building and Public Works (BTP) subsector in April 2017, according to a recent survey conducted by the Directorate of Forecasting and Economic Studies (DPEE). In total, 29% of these economic operators mentioned this point where 14% of them pointed out, respectively, the unfair competition, the difficult access to credit, and the cost of inputs. Otherwise, DPEE survey indicates that general activity declined monthly under the effect of simultaneous contractions of public orders (minus 26 points) and private (minus 29 points), according to the surveyed entrepreneurs..."
NIGERIA:
Flour Mills increases its shares in the edible oil producer ROM Oil by 5%: "The Nigerian food processing company Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. (FMN) declared, in a statement released on July 17, having increased by 5% its interest in Rom Oil Limited (ROM), a local producer of edible oil. The transaction thus brings FMN's shares in ROM to 95%, against only 5% for the Shahimi family that founded the latter. According to the managing director of Flour Mills, Paul Gbededo, who signed the said statement, the capital increase is in line with the strategy of the agri-food specialist aiming at more investment in the production of quality food..."
GHANA:
PBC in search of a government loan guarantee of 91 million Dollars: "In Ghana, the Produce Buying Company (PBC Ltd), the main company approved for the purchase of cocoa, seeks to mobilize a maximum loan guarantee of 400 million Cedis ($91 million) with the government, reports Bloomberg. This executive support, which would be the first of its kind since 2010, should enable the company to obtain financing to carry out its activities and to ease the financial burden of granting credit lines at high interest rates. According to Nana Agyenim Boateng, the Executive Director of the Company, while the Ghana Cocoa Council applies an interest rate of 22.5% in accordance with the Central Bank's credit policy, the commercial banks offered to the agricultural companies a rate of 32.1% at the end of June..."
MADAGASCAR:
The Livelihoods Fund invests in the vanilla sector: "The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming and International Enterprises launch an initiative with small producers to restore the quality of vanilla while improving the food security of farmers and to preserve the biodiversity of Madagascar. The project aims to triple farmers' incomes and provide companies with quality vanilla and fully traceable for 10 years. Vanilla is an essential ingredient in food industry, cosmetics, and perfumery. 80% of the world's vanilla production comes from a small region in northern Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. Ever since a decade, the producers of vanilla and industrialists are facing a difficult situation..."
Crédit : IMPERIUM MEDIA
