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Author: CTGN NEWS

  • Maroc Telecom first-half profit up 2.3pc boosted by African markets

    Maroc Telecom first-half profit up 2.3pc boosted by African markets

    Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, reported on Wednesday a 2.3pc rise in first-half profit to a higher than targeted 2.9 billion dirhams ($300 million), citing efficient cost containment.

    Consolidated revenue rose 4.7pc to 18.39 billion dirhams thanks to its African subsidiaries, where mobile data and mobile money services are growing faster than in Morocco, the company said in a statement.

    Maroc Telecom has 75 million customers and operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.

    The company, which is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, is 53pc controlled by the UAE’s Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 22pc.

  • Algerian president’s China visit to consolidate trade relations

    Algerian president’s China visit to consolidate trade relations

    Relations between Algeria and China are characterized by their historical depth and comprehensive strategic nature, and they will be further strengthened and rise to higher levels on the occasion of the state visit of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to the People’s Republic of China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

    Since China was the first non-Arab country to recognize the Algerian interim government in 1958, their historical relations returned quickly after Algeria’s independence. The two countries also aspire to elevate the comprehensive strategic partnership that has brought them together since 2014 to a higher level in order to serve the interests of the two countries and achieve their ambitions in light of the current international changes, based on their commitments to the principle of respect and mutual interests and the keenness of the leaders of the two countries to maintain continuous consultation and close cooperation.

    In an effort to consolidate bilateral relations, the two countries signed last November the second five-year plan for strategic cooperation for the period 2022-2026, which aims to intensify communication and cooperation in all fields, including economy, energy, agriculture, science and technology, space, health, and cultural communication, in addition to strengthening the alignment between the development strategies of the two countries.

    In order to enhance parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, in February 2022, the Parliamentary Group of Algeria-China Friendship was established with the aim of intensifying the exchange of high-level visits and enhancing consultation on international issues.

    In the economic field, the pace of bilateral partnership is accelerating through the completion of several projects of strategic importance to the Algerian economy, such as the Port of El Hamdania, the exploitation of phosphate and iron, and the development of the railway network, which would increase Chinese investments in Algeria.

    Outranking France as Algeria’s most important trading partner in 2013, China has occupied the first place for the last decade, with a total investment at $23.85 billion in the North American country, especially their transport and real estate sectors.

    Work is currently underway to strengthen the Algerian-Chinese partnership in the fields of renewable energies, particularly solar photovoltaic energy, hydrogen, wind energy and geothermal energy, in addition to the field of manufacturing equipment and mineral resources used in energy industries.

    Seeking to join the BRICS, Algeria submitted last year its official application to the bloc of emerging economies, which includes China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. The Algerian president has also restated his country’s intention to join the BRICS on many occasions, which has been welcomed by the member states.

    Cooperation between Algeria and China have developed further within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China in 2013 and Algeria joined in 2018.This initiative is based on mutual benefit and constructive cooperation between nations and peoples in accordance with a purposeful and fair global system for the sake of international peace and security away from the domination of any single system.

    In this context, last December, the two countries signed an executive plan for the joint development of the BRI in order to deepen cooperation.The two countries has also agreed the three-year cooperation plan in key fields 2022-2024, which is another practical mechanism to push forward cooperation.

  • Yellen’s Beijing trip: China hopes U.S. to lift tariffs, relax export controls

    Yellen’s Beijing trip: China hopes U.S. to lift tariffs, relax export controls

    China hopes the U.S. side will take concrete actions to respond to China’s major economic concerns, including lifting tariffs and relaxing export controls, said China’s Ministry of Finance while commenting on U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China.

    The U.S. treasury secretary met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vice Premier He Lifeng and held talks with several Chinese officials during her four-day visit. She concluded the visit on Sunday.

    The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the meetings and talks between Yellen and senior Chinese officials were “frank, pragmatic, in-depth and constructive” and that China hopes the U.S. side will meet it halfway with a rational and pragmatic attitude and work together to bring China-U.S. relations back on track at an early date.

    Talking about the common challenges China and the U.S. face, the statement said the “decoupling” of the world’s two largest economies would be disastrous for both countries, as they have formed huge common interests after decades of economic and trade exchanges. China believes its development is an opportunity rather than a challenge and a benefit rather than a risk to the U.S., the statement said.

    The ministry said that during a series of talks with Yellen’s team, China reiterated its concerns in bilateral economic relations and asked the U.S. side to lift tariffs, treat Chinese investment fairly, relax export controls and cancel prohibitions on Xinjiang-related products.

    China also clarified its position on China-U.S. economic competition in the talks, the ministry added. It said China is now striving to open up to the outside world at a higher level and is committed to accelerating the development of a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.

    China pledges to protect intellectual property rights in accordance with the law, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and treat all market entities, including foreign-funded enterprises, equally and fairly, the statement said.

    “Differences should not be a reason for estrangement but rather a driving force to strengthen communication and exchange,” read the statement.

    The ministry also urged strengthening China-U.S. coordination and cooperation to address global challenges, such as financial stability, climate change and debt issues. However, it also said that developed countries, including the U.S., should understand the concerns of developing countries and do more to promote global common development.

    Both sides also agreed to maintain high-level economic exchanges and communication at all levels in accordance with the important consensus reached at the Bali Summit between the two heads of state last November in Indonesia, according to the ministry.

  • Oil prices rise 2pc as market weighs supply cuts against economic outlook

    Oil prices rise 2pc as market weighs supply cuts against economic outlook

    Oil prices climbed 2% on Tuesday as markets weighed August supply cuts by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia against a weak global economic outlook.

    Saudi Arabia on Monday said it would extend its voluntary output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to August while Russia and Algeria volunteered to lower their August output and export levels by 500,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd, respectively.

    If fully implemented, that would bring a combined reduction of 5.36 million bpd from August 2022 – possibly even more because several countries in the OPEC+ producer group are unable to fulfil their output quotas, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.

    The total cuts now stand at more than 5 million bpd, or 5% of global oil output.

    On Tuesday, Brent crude futures were up $1.49 at $76.14 a barrel by 1520 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.41 at $71.20.

    “Clearly, the Saudis are taking proactive and pre-emptive steps to stabilize the price of crude oil as well as see gains to reach $80 a barrel to sustain their domestic budgets,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates.

    Even so, the market will wait to verify Russia’s announced cuts, and concerns continue that high interest rates will weigh on global demand, Lipow said.

  • Israel’s arms export hits record high of $12.6B in 2022

    Israel’s arms export hits record high of $12.6B in 2022

    The export of Israel’s military equipment reached an all-time high of $12.55 billion in 2022, Israel’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

    According to the ministry, 2022 was the second year in a row that the overall value of defense agreements broke records. Israel’s export of military equipment has surged by 50pc over the past three years.

    Some 120 Israeli companies signed “hundreds” of new sales deals in 2022, with about half of them valued at over $100 million, according to the statement.

    Notably, in the wake of the so-called Abraham Accords, a series of deals signed in 2020 in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco agreed to normalize ties with Israel, exports of military equipment to these countries reached $3 billion, the ministry said.

    In the global market, reconnaissance and attack drones attracted significant attention, with a quarter of the deals signed with foreign armies specifically focusing on these technologies.

    Missiles, rockets, and air defense systems accounted for 19pc of Israel’s exports of military equipment, while radar systems made up 13pc.

    Observation equipment and optronics comprised 10pc, intelligence, information, and cyber systems constituted 6pc, and communication systems made up 6pc of the sales. Manned aircraft and avionics represented 5pc, and weapon stations and launchers made up another 5pc. The remaining portion consisted of exports in vehicles, ammunition, armaments, maritime systems, and services combined.

    Global instability “increases the demand for Israeli air defense systems, drones, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), and missiles,” Director General of the Defense Ministry Eyal Zamir was quoted as saying in the statement.