Foreign exchange market

The market is focused on US employment, after the first positive figures and on the eve of official data. Thus, the dollar moved to its highest for three months against a basket of other major currencies. The value of the SANUSI 18 Currency Index depreciated by 0.15% against the US Dollar during the week of June 18-25, 2021. The value of the Ghanaian Cedi, South African Rand, Pula Botswanan, Angolan Kwanza, Ethiopian Birr, Algerian Dinar and Egyptian Pound depreciated against the US Dollar during the week of June 18-25, 2021. In contrast, the Sierra Leonean Leone, the Liberian Dollar , the CFA franc, the Cape Verdean escudo, the Central African CFA franc, the Tanzanian shilling, the Moroccan dirham, the Gambian dalasi, the Kenyan shilling and the Nigerian naira appreciated against the American currency. The same is true of the Guinean franc, which remained stable.

The report of the Council of Ministers announced the draft decree on the outflow and repatriation of foreign currency. New regulations relating to currency flows will be published and put into effect. In 2018, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) put in place a circular relating to foreign exchange allocations to put an end to the abuse and flight of capital, encouraging money laundering. According to the report of the Council of Ministers, this circular will be converted into a decree.

Money Market

The State of Mali, through the National Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounting, raised on June 30, 2021 on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) 25 billion FCFA (37.500 million euros) at the end of its issue of treasury recovery bonds (ODR) with a maturity of 7 years. Côte d'Ivoire, at the end of its issuance by auction of assimilable treasury bonds (BAT) with a maturity of 91 and 182 days, raised an amount of 51.002 billion FCFA on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU). Of the amount of the bids, the issuer retained only 51.002 billion FCFA and rejected the remaining 18.500 billion FCFA, ie an absorption rate of 73.38%. The resources retained are intended to cover the financing needs of the State budget of Côte d'Ivoire.

Stock market

At the end of the trading session of this Thursday, July 1, 2021, the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) recorded a sharp drop. The total value of transactions amounted to 2.491 billion FCFA against 10.803 billion FCFA the day before, a decrease of 8.312 billion. The market capitalization of the equity market recorded a sharp drop of 23.797 billion FCFA. It stood at 4793.570 billion FCFA against 4817.367 billion FCFA the day before. That of the bond market also experienced a drop of 1.1 billion FCFA, to 6617.027 billion FCFA against 6618.127 billion FCFA the day before. The BRVM 10 index (the index of the 10 flagship stocks of the Stock Exchange) thus recorded a drop of 0.42% to 129.31 points against 129.85 points the day before. For its part, the BRVM Composite index (the general stock market index) lost 0.49% to 159.28 points against 160.07 points the day before.

Raw materials

Oil remains at a high level. Oil prices accelerated significantly, supported by hopes of a moderate increase in production by OPEC member countries and their allies, as well as by the decline in crude inventories in the United States.

On the occasion of the first session of the steering and orientation committee responsible for implementing the policy of agricultural subsidies in Cameroon, Gabriel Mbaïrobé, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader) announced the ambition of the government to boost the cocoa-coffee sector. According to the administrator of the Cocoa and Coffee Sector Development Fund (Fodecc), Samuel Donatien Mengue, the system that is being put in place at this stage is open to all cocoa and coffee producers.

Companies

In an interview with La Tribune Afrique, Benson Adenuga, head of the CDC Group office in Nigeria, assures that CDC Group is ready to meet the most complex development challenges in Africa. The UK's development finance institution invests in sectors that generate transformational impact and significantly improve people's quality of life in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

The mutual fund for Ivorian journalists recorded its first positive result at the end of the 2020 financial year. As of December 31, 2020, the general mutual fund for private media agents in Côte d'Ivoire (MS-Médias) had 494 main members for 1,607 beneficiaries. - rights, i.e. an average of 04 rights holders per subscription. The costs of medical services, the main expenses of the mutual, increased from 117,078,211 FCFA in 2018 to 110,867,622 FCFA in 2019, then to 116,370,289 FCFA in 2020. Financially, the MS-Médias remains highly dependent aid from the Press Support and Development Fund (FSDP), which is 60,316,000 FCFA in 2018, i.e. 30% of the budget, 90,982,000 FCFA in 2019, i.e. 38.5% of the budget and 100,000 000 FCFA in 2020, i.e. 38.5% of the budget.

A new chapter is opening for Gounou, the company specializing in cocoa processing, with the entry of an investor into its capital. The brand opens its capital to the investment company M&A Capital in order to conquer the African market and position itself as a leader in chocolate products in Africa. According to financialafrik, the company's objective is to accelerate its development plan and regional expansion. This partnership represents another important step in the efforts to support the development of this agri-food industry and bring the experience to a higher level. The creation of Gounou intervenes to change and offer a new taste experience and an original, authentic and unique offer. The spread, made with cocoa and cashew kernels, is the work of Gounou Moutawakilou.

The "Huawei ICT Academy" will cover five public and private universities in Benin. It will not only prepare Beninese students for the job market, but also provide the country with ICT talent and make it more competitive in this field in Africa. It has several modules, including the training and certification of teachers by Huawei, the delivery of certification courses to students and free access for students to the certification exam.

Nestlé Côte d'Ivoire experienced a slowdown during the month of June after an increase of 233.3% last May. After having aligned several sessions up 7% during the month of May, the Nestlé Côte d'Ivoire stock took a break in June, with a weaker evolution. It slowed its progress during the month of June on the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), with an increase of 5.8%.

The net dividend per share of the Ivorian Electricity Company (CIE) amounts to 167.14 FCFA against 104.979 FCFA in 2019. Thus, the shareholders will receive 9.359 billion FCFA in dividend. The CIE achieved at the end of the 2020 financial year a consolidated net result of 17.183 billion FCFA against 7.826 billion FCFA in 2019, an increase of 9.357 billion FCFA. For its part, turnover increased by 35.190 billion FCFA to 222.127 billion FCFA against 187 billion FCFA in 2019. The operating result more than doubled to 23 billion FCFA against 11 billion FCFA in 2019.

Banks and Insurance

The Board of Directors of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) met by videoconference for its 124th ordinary session. On the occasion, the directors took note of the report on the mid-term achievements of the financial forecasts for the 2021 financial year, the information note relating to the conclusions of the annual review of BOAD's financial rating by the agencies. rating system and the Bank's 2021-2025 Development Results and Impact Measurement Framework. They also examined and approved nine (09) financing proposals for a total amount of 102.549 billion FCFA. These new approvals bring to CFAF 6,532.7 billion, BOAD's total commitments (all operations combined) since the start of its operational activities in 1976. The Bank also granted an additional CFAF 5 billion facility to Togo for the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed plant, inaugurated on June 22 by Faure Gnassingbé. This new financing brings the overall cost of the infrastructure co-financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), to 26 billion FCFA. It is intended for extending the power of the photovoltaic power plant from 30 to 50 MWp.

Coris Bank International of Burkina Faso has benefited from a financing of 20 million euros for the development of SMEs in West Africa. This Murabaha financing endorsed by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) aims to improve access to trade finance lines for the private sector in Burkina Faso. The West Africa SME Program aims to improve access to finance for SMEs in the region by providing credit facilities and a two-part capacity building program, benefiting participating SMEs but also partner banks. .

The World Bank and Senegal have signed four agreements for a total amount of 423 million dollars (more than 232 billion FCFA), including 241 million dollars in the form of a grant. The global financial institution is granting initial additional funding support of $134 million, 50% of which is in donations for the Covid-19 Response Project. The second additional financing concerns 110 million dollars, including 70 million in the form of a donation, intended for the Support Project for Social Safety Nets. The third agreement relates to universal access to electricity. The 4th and last financing concerns land, the first and last major reform of which dates back to 1964. It concerns 80 million dollars, half of which is a donation, and is intended for the Cadastre and Land Security Project (Procasef).

To help small agribusinesses boost production and quality control, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and funding from the Italian Technical Cooperation Fund have awarded a grant of more than FCfa 640 million to Mozambique. The project will enable companies to better exploit national and regional markets, and capitalize on the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

91 commercial banks from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) have tendered for this new call for tenders from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). In total, they received a sum of 178 billion FCFA. Thanks to this financing, these banks were able to fully cover their liquidity needs through an injection of 3.393 billion FCFA, an increase of more than 173.2 billion FCFA, compared to the previous operation of June 7, 2021, with a 2% fixed interest rate. Ivorian and Senegalese commercial banks were respectively refinanced by the central bank to the tune of 940.98 billion FCFA and 773.41 billion FCFA.

Société Générale announces several appointments for more efficient management of the institution. Thus, from July 5, 2021, the new managers will take office.

Financial crimes

The parliamentarians of Senegal adopted the new amendments to the Senegalese penal code and penal procedure code. According to the Minister of Justice, Me Malick Sall, the major changes actually concern the fight against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and offenses related to maritime navigation.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has announced that it has placed Haiti, Malta, the Philippines and South Sudan on the "grey" list of countries subject to increased surveillance, following its plenary assembly. The Gafi has also removed Ghana from this "grey" list of countries that do not do enough against money laundering, the financing of terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In addition, the Gafi estimated that Mauritius and Botswana had both "largely completed their action plans at the technical level" and should soon receive Gafi teams who will verify "as soon as possible" on the ground the progress made. A total of 22 countries are now under enhanced surveillance, compared to 19 when the list was last updated in February.

A report by the European Court of Auditors details a list of shortcomings that would cause Europe to lose billions of euros every year. Even if the fight to stem the phenomenon of money laundering is announced as a priority by its Member States, the European Union does not manage to carry it out with enough efficiency. The Luxembourg institution's report, however, insists on what seems to it to be the main current deficiency in Europe: the weakness of the response from the member countries, even though they exercise most of the responsibility and that 75% of doubtful transactions concern more than half of them.

Regional growth

A new joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC), reveals that fruits, vegetables and proteins remain out of reach for most Africans. According to the document, sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where the number of stunted children continues to increase. Smart policies and interventions across agrifood systems are needed to increase yields, reduce costs, promote nutritious foods, and reduce health and environmental costs.

The directors general of the customs administrations of Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Burkina Faso were in Abidjan on Tuesday 22 June. The 3 countries have signed a legal framework to coordinate the implementation of a project called Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT) by rail. This aims to simplify customs procedures for goods in transit transported by rail. The project, already being implemented between these 3 countries for goods transported by road, has the essential objectives of facilitating trade, securing transit procedures and combating customs fraud.