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BusinessEconomyFinance & ServicesManufacturingNigeria

SON seeks industry support to reduce the influx of substandard products

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

The Director General of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, has called for collaboration between stakeholders in industrial and manufacturing business to collaborate with SON to reduce the influx of substandard products into the country.

Salim, who was represented by his Senior Special Adviser, Emeka, Duru, made the call in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Thursday, during a one-day stakeholders sensitization forum with the theme “Standardization: Catalysts for industrialization”.

According to Salim, “Manufacturers should patronize SON by collaborating with it to reduce the influx of substandard products, share information with SON on substandard products. let us be kind to humanity in all that we do to help save life.

“Standardisation is a global issue and Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in the comity of nations if we desire economic development.”

He said efforts were geared towards the cooperation of all manufacturers, consumers, service providers and government at all levels with SON in this global subject.

ALSO READ: Nigeria’s economic growth slows to 2.25% in third quarter of 2022

He pointed out that SON has the vision to improve lives through standardisation and quality assurance, saying that its mission was to promote consumer confidence and global competitiveness of Nigerian products and services.

Director, Anambra State Operational Directorate, Pedro Ebenezer, who highlighted SON’s programmes, urged participants to always report any suspicious colleague to the appropriate authorities for prosecution and fine.

The resource person for the sensitisation forum, Dr Festus Ukwueze, while delivering a lecture on the topic: “SON Act as a pathway to industrial growth and development of Nigeria”, said that if the provisions of the SON Act are well implemented, it will boost domestic of consumers products.

Ukwueze said that it would help to eradicate the importation of fake substandard products and conserve foreign exchange which will be invested into industrial activities.

Participants during the question session urged SON to up its game in service delivery to the people.

SOURCE: Punch news

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AFRICA NEWSBusinessEconomyINVESTMENTNigeria

Swiber Africa and PowerChina set up an agro-industrial park in Abia to boost foreign exchange

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

PowerChina and Swiber Africa have set up an agro-industrial park in Abia State to drive industrialization and boost foreign exchange earnings.

The project, estimated at over $500m, is targeting to create 20,000 jobs directly and hundreds of jobs indirectly.

The project will criss-cross communities in Bende Local Government Area, which include Ugwuoke, Alayi, Abiriba, Ozu Item and Ohafia.

Speaking during the project signing ceremony in Abuja on Monday, the adviser to the contracting parties and Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, described the four industrial parks as a mega project, noting that everything processed at the park would be exported to earn foreign exchange.

“The project entails building an agriculture industrial zone, which includes crop planting and processing plants for rice, cassava, cashew nut and related products. The integral part is that everything is for export.”

He said since the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation no longer contributed to the federation account, efforts should be made to raise revenues and chart a new course for the economy.

ALSO READ: Average price for 5kg cooking gas in Nigeria increases to 71% in one year

“We hope the Federal Government will come to our aid. We need dams; we need the Customs and the government to declare the area as free trade zone area, among others.

“It will create thousands of jobs and income for the government and stakeholders. It will create economic activities that will favour Abia State and Nigeria in general. This is a public-private partnership project and we look forward to the takeoff and completion of the project.

He said the Abia State government would buy into the initiative, noting that Governor Okezie Ikepazu was already aware of it. “I am here in an advisory capacity. Any day I leave politics, I’ll go back to this business,” Kalu said.

Also speaking, Chairman of SWIBER Africa, Emeka Eboh, said the four industrial parks would create enormous jobs, noting that it would be mutually beneficial to all parties. ‘This partnership will yield a greater result. This is something we will remember in history as the first in Abia State,” he said.

The Managing Director, PowerChina Nigeria, Diego Tian, said the project would make positive impact on the lives of Nigerians, especially citizens of Abia State.

“This project is to build an agriculture industrial zone, which include crops planting and processing plants for rice, cassava, cashew nut and related products. One or two years later, that will highly boost Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in food security to its citizens.

“Meanwhile there will be at least 20,000 job opportunities to be provided for the local employees,” he added.

SOURCE: Punch news

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Banking, Finance & InvestmentBusinessEconomyMorocco

Bank Al-Maghrib and Foreign Exchange Office Sign a partnership Agreement

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), Morocco’s central bank, and the Office des Changes (OE), the country’s foreign trade watchdog, signed a partnership agreement on Monday in Rabat. The agreement aims to establish a formal framework for the exchange of data and know-how in areas of common interest.

Through the partnership, OE and BAM pledged to enhance their cooperation through joint initiatives aiming to improve data quality and build capacity in the fields of statistics and data management, according to a joint statement.

To ensure the full implementation of the agreement, the two institutions agreed to form a joint committee that would monitor progress made under the agreement on an annual basis.      

The partnership “reflects the common will of Bank Al-Maghrib and l’Office des Changes to promote their cooperation relations as regards experience sharing, best practices exchange, and data reliability,” the statement explains.

ALSO READ: Morocco to build a competitive renewable energy infrastructure

The OE and BAM’s information exchange agreement is not isolated. In recent months, Morocco’s central bank has signed a number of data exchange protocols and agreements with other state partners to enhance the efficiency of public services.

Morocco’s central bank signed an information exchange protocol with the country’s public prosecutor’s office on March 31 in Rabat. Earlier this year. BAM and Morocco’s public prosecution signed a similar cooperation agreement aiming to boost the country’s capacity to fight against financial crimes.

The protocol establishes a secure channel for sharing data between the two institutions as well as paving the way for the creation of a national forum on money laundering and deterring the financing of terrorism.

SOURCE: Morocco news

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Banking, Finance & InvestmentBusinessEconomyKenya News

Central Bank of Kenya bags Sh68bn forex gain from weaker shilling versus

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

The significant weakening of the shilling versus the dollar handed the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) an unrealized exchange gain of Sh68 billion on its forex holdings in the year ended June 2022, helping double its surplus for the period to Sh76.9 billion.

The unrealised forex gain surged from Sh25.27 billion a year earlier, according to disclosures in the banking sector regulator’s latest annual report.

The CBK held $8.5 billion (Sh1.029 trillion) in official foreign exchange reserves by the end of June this year, the bulk of it in dollars. The local unit on average depreciated by 3.7 percent against the greenback in the year to June 2022 to exchange at an average of 117.83 units—meaning that those with dollar holdings saw an increase in the shilling value of their hard currency.

ALSO READ: KRA to collect extra Sh3 billion from beer, juice and water taxes

Thanks to the higher forex revaluation, the CBK was able to raise its surplus from Sh36.9 billion in the year ended June 2021, pointing to the advantage that dollar holders enjoyed in the country in the period even as spenders such as importers suffered losses arising out of higher forex purchase costs.

The CBK’s actual or realized gains in the year, however, fell to Sh8.33 billion in the review period from Sh11.72 billion the year before, largely due to lower trading income due to fair value losses on financial assets.

The apex bank subsequently transferred Sh4 billion of the realized gains as dividends to the Government Consolidated Fund last month and used the balance to boost its paid-up capital from Sh35 billion to Sh38 billion.

“During the financial year ended 30 June 2022, the bank’s operating surplus was Sh8.33 billion (2021: Sh11.7 billion) due to lower rates offered on foreign deposit placements. An unrealised foreign exchange gain of Sh68.56 billion was recorded during the year (2021: Sh25.27 billion) due to the strengthening of the US dollar,” said the CBK in its annual report for the year ended June 2022.

The bank also recorded a fair value loss on fixed income securities of Sh21.61 billion (2021: loss of Sh6.32 billion) as a result of a decline in market prices.”

With the shilling weakening further since June to exchange at 121 units to the dollar on Tuesday, the CBK will be eyeing further revaluation gains this year, although falling volumes of reserves will dampen the gains. The private sector has also been eyeing the capital gains on offer from holding onto dollars in recent months, pushing their holdings of the greenback in local bank accounts to a record Sh905 billion equivalent by the end of July.

Other than the potential for capital gains, depositors have also held tightly to their dollars due to ongoing concerns about accessing forex in the market. Some manufacturers have complained of difficulties in getting forex from banks and having to pay higher than the official printed rate for dollars when they get them.

But the large dollar holdings point to forex market inefficiencies, with dealers telling the Business Daily that lenders have been unwilling to sell the greenback to each other, either out of concerns about the ability to replenish their stock, or fear of trading higher than the official rate and attracting regulatory scrutiny.

SOURCE: Business daily

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BusinessEconomyFinance & ServicesMorocco

Moroccan Diaspora Remittances reach $6.5 Billion in the first eight month of 2022

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Remittances from Morocco’s diaspora reached more than MAD 71.42 billion ($7.5 billion) in the first eight months of 2022.

According to Morocco’s Foreign Exchange Office’s recent data, the number represents an increase of 11.3% compared to the same period in 2021, when remittances amounted to MAD 64.19 billion ($5.9 billion). 

The recent figures also showed that the net flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of this year was MAD 19.57 billion ($1.8 billion), up by 67.9% over the same period in 2021.

FDI income increased by 35.9% to MAD 26.73 billion ($2.4 billion) by the end of August, compared to MAD 19.67 billion ($1.8 billion) the previous year, while expenditures declined by 10.7%.

ALSO READ: Morocco’s Trade Deficit increases to 56% Amid Rising Energy and Wheat Prices

According to the Foreign Exchange Office, Moroccan direct investment abroad was MAD 11.94 billion ($1.1 billion) at the end of August, a 2.5% decrease from the same period in the previous year.

Transfers of these investments totaled MAD 8.13 billion ($744 million), a 17.3% decrease.  As a result, the net flow of Moroccan direct investment aboard grew by 58.2%, or more than MAD 1.39 billion ($127 million). Compared to 2018, diaspora members’ money transactions grew by more than MAD 15 billion ($1.4 billion).

According to Statista, money transfers to Morocco from its diaspora contributed to around 5.8% of the country’s GDP in 2020. In 2020, Morocco was ranked among the top 10 Arab countries in terms of remittances received, in a study conducted by the Union of Arab Banks.

In September, Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, predicted that remittances from Moroccans abroad would reach MAD 100 billion ($9 billion) by the end of 2022.

SOURCE: Morocco news

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Banking, Finance & InvestmentBusinessMorocco

Morocco’s Automotive Exports record 31.6% increase in July 2022

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

 Morocco’s automotive exports reached MAD 59.6 billion ($5.6 billion) at the end of July 2022, an increase of 31.6% compared to a year earlier.

This growth, according to a new Foreign Exchange Office report, is due to sales in the construction sector (+56.7%) and the wiring industry (+14.6%), despite a 2.2% decrease in exports of the vehicle and seating sector.

In just seven months, the national automotive exports have come close to the Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) annual expectations, which predict a 33.7% growth in car exports, to reach MAD 52.6 billion ($5.2 billion) by the end of 2022.

BAM further expects that Morocco’s car exports would increase by 10.5% to MAD 58.1 billion ($5.7 billion) in 2023.

ALSO READ: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to Host Moroccan-Israeli Conference to discuss Investment opportunities

In addition to the automotive industry, Morocco’s exports of goods amounted to MAD 246 billion ($23.3 billion) at the end of July 2022, against 174.9 billion ($16.5 billion) a year earlier, an increase of 40.7%, to reach 71.1 billion ($6.7 billion). 

According to the report, this surge concerns all industries, including phosphate, agricultural and agribusiness exports, as well as textile and leather.

The value of phosphate exports climbed by 81.1% in the first seven months of 2022, reaching more than MAD 68.7 billion ($6.5 billion).

Similarly, agricultural and agri-food exports reached MAD 50 billion ($4.7 billion) at the end of July 2022, up from MAD 40.5 billion ($3.8 billion) in the same time the previous year, an increase of 23.3% or MAD 9.4 billion ($891 million).

For their part, exports of textile and leather products increased by 28.8%, representing MAD 5.7 billion ($540 million) in the first seven months of the year 2022.

SOURCE: Morocco news 

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