Economy in North Africa

  • Strong or weak: A look at Africa's economy

    AFRICA, 2016/05/13 At the Africa conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF), currently being held in Rwanda's capital Kigali, participants expressed their optimism about the continent's economic next, writes DW's Manuela Kasper-Claridge. Why is it that there are 10 times as a lot of negative news stories coming out of Africa as there are positive ones? Participants in a background talk on Thursday were at a loss, expressing views of a skewed world perception of Africa to biased or unfair media coverage of the continent. The discussion about Africa's image in the world quickly turned emotional because the World Economic Forum participants were rejecting talking only about Africa's weaknesses. Rather, they wanted to focus on the continent's strengths, too.
  • Africa’s economic growth is likely to be slower in the intervening years

    BOTSWANA, 2016/05/12 Africa’s economic increase is likely to be slower in the intervening years than in the before decade, according to the new rating by Ernst & Young using a barometer to gauge the level of appeal and success.“The baseline projection of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2016 is presently reduced to 3%, while it was estimated at 6.1% in April 2015″, Ernst & Young points out in its rating.
  • Opportunities for African companies to do business with Chinese counterparts

    CHINA, 2016/05/10 China’s influence in Africa has grown rapidly over the last decade. Although China’s economy is not growing as fast as it did in recent years, the Asian superpower remains completely visible in a lot of parts of the continent. Traditionally, China-Africa economic activities have focused on government-to-government relations. But engagement between private sector entities is picking up, says Jinghao Lu, project director at the Sino Africa Centre of Excellence (SACE) Foundation, an organisation seeking to improve China-Africa relations. SACE Foundation has been conducting surveys on Chinese companies operating in a number of African nations. It has as well been working with Kenyan SMEs that want to sell to Chinese companies operating in Africa.
  • The need for better economic data in Africa

    AFRICA, 2016/04/16 The African economy is poised to become the fastest growing economy in the world over the next five years. Unfortunately, the American government, the world foreign aid community and business interests around the world have no meaningful, reliable or easily accessible way in which to monitor this increase. It is time that the U.S. federal government begins to play a additional active role in fostering the development of capabilities with which economic data from emerging markets can be additional easily analyzed.
  • A shopper looks for items at an informal shop piloted by Pick n Pay in Soweto, South Africa

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/03/16 Slumping commodity prices have taken African currencies down with them, exposing the fundamental economic frailties of the world's poorest continent by driving up inflation in nations that import most of their manufactured goods. Regional economies are in no position to use their weakening currencies to their trade chance because they have few exports beyond their natural resources. The hardship for households has been compounded by rising prices for food - one commodity that has defied the price fall due to drought in southern Africa
  • Algeria Year in Review 2015

    ALGIERS, 2016/02/11 While the drop in oil prices has put pressure on Algeria’s export revenues, the impact has been cushioned by large foreign currency reserves and steady increase in non-oil sectors. Low oil and gas prices weighed on the Algerian economy in 2015, with hydrocarbons revenues falling by 50% to an estimated $34bn In spite of external headwinds, Algeria’s economy was expected to expand by around 3% in 2015, according to the IMF. While down from the 3.8% increase recorded in 2014, this tracks with broader prospects for world increase, which stood at 3.1%, and ranks well above the MENA average of 2.3%.
  • Tunisia: Fence Built On Border With Libya Completed

    LIBYA, 2016/02/09 Minister of National Defence Farhat Horchani announced Saturday the completion of the erection of a barrier on the border with Libya. Works, carried out over 250 kms (from Ras Jedir to Dhehiba), lasted only four months instead of a year, he noted. During a field visit to the buffer zone in the Tunisian south, Horchani said the defence system will be equipped in the coming months with an advanced electronic sensor system, in co-operation with the United States and Germany.
  • Egypt: PM - National Debt in Safe Position

    EGYPT, 2016/02/09 Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said his government will fulfill its promises to achieve a breakthrough in the Egyptians' standard of living in a year and half. In press statements, he said the volume of foreign deficit is in a safe position and that the National is capable of handling it without any negative impacts on development and services projects.
  • Global growth will be disappointing in 2016: IMF's Lagarde

    AFGHANISTAN, 2016/01/02 World economic increase will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has as well deteriorated, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide. Added to that, increase in world trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in a lot of nations still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, she said.
  • Africa Vulnerable To Fed Hike As China Slows

    AFRICA, 2015/12/10 With November trade data confirming the slowness in China’s economy and with the possibility of additional renminbi depreciation against the dollar, African nations may need to work harder to attract other investment , according to Fathom Consulting. On the heels of a large conference in Africa at which Chinese President Xi Jinping promised $60 billion for development projects in Africa, alongside deficit forgiveness over the next three years, the consulting firm, in London, writes: “As a country’s trade surplus widens, its currency will tend to appreciate in order to replace external balance. Not so in the case of China. … From presently on the authorities will give in, and permit further devaluations against the U.S. dollar. Unable to rebalance quickly enough, that is the only way to support China’s economy in the near term. ….