Foreign exchange market

The US dollar was still up a little against a basket of other major currencies ahead of the release of US jobs data for March. The pound was down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.3125 as manufacturing growth fell to its lowest level in 13 months. For its part, the euro continues to decline after having stumbled the day before.

Cryptocurrencies

The advantages of digital assets, whether cryptocurrencies (currency tokens like bitcoin) or other forms of tokens (utility, security tokens or NFT) are attracting more and more investors. The craze will increase with the development of virtual reality in the making, metaverses integrating the use of cryptos. This global market of 15,000 billion dollars of transactions in 2021 is a tax windfall, which the States intend to exploit.

Over the weekend, bitcoin was down 0.2% at $47,191, while Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, was up 0.45% at 3,402. $.

Binance is recruiting over 100 positions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and helping shape Dubai's new virtual asset regulations. According to the regional official, the UAE's cryptocurrency push comes as international authorities express growing concerns over the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering and other crimes.

Stock markets

The Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) started the week with a general decline in key indicators. This trend continued over the weekend. The last trading session of March 2022 shows declines at various levels. The market ended the month in the red zone. The BRVM Composite index thus recorded a decline of 0.74% to 219.34 points against 220.98 points the day before. For its part, the BRVM 10 index lost 0.62% to 167.24 points against 168.28 points previously. As for the market capitalization of the equity market, it fell by 49.395 billion, from 6652.096 billion FCFA on Wednesday March 30 to 6602.701 billion FCFA on Thursday March 31. That of the bond market is on the other hand up by 1.182 billion, standing at 7642.150 billion FCFA against 7640.968 billion FCFA the day before.

Money Market

The State of Benin raised 44 billion FCFA, at the end of its issue of bonds assimilated by the treasury (OAT) with a duration of 3 years launched this Thursday, March 31, 2022. Out of an auctioned amount of 40 billion FCFA , this issuer was offered by investors overall bids of 95.567 billion FCFA, ie a coverage rate of 238.92%.

Raw materials

On Friday, oil shows a slight drop. Oil prices were trading in a tight range ahead of a meeting of consuming nations to discuss a further release of emergency oil reserves, alongside a huge release planned by the United States. Russian gas poured into Europe on Friday, as European gas prices continued to rise.

Gold fell on Friday and was heading for a weekly decline. US gold futures fell 0.9% to $1,936. Spot silver fell 0.5% to $24.65 an ounce and is expected to see a weekly decline. Platinum rose 0.1% to $984.56, while palladium rose 0.6% to $2,274.34. Both metals were on course for a fourth consecutive weekly loss.

The Beninese government has decided, for the next three months, to lower the value added tax (VAT) on wheat flour and vegetable oils, produced locally or imported, announces a government press release. This initiative will allow an exemption "of 15% of the price of the can of 25 liters of local cotton oil, refined palm oil" local and imported, indicates the document.

Within the framework of the exploitation of the immense Simandou iron deposit (south-east), a framework agreement of 15 billion dollars was signed between the Guinean State, Winning Consortium and Rio Tinto Simfer. The three-party agreement, lasting 35 years, provides for co-development between Rio Tinto with its subsidiary Simfer (block 3 and 4) and Winning Consortium (block 1 and 2).

Companies

In Nigeria, the American oil and gas producer, ExxonMobil has announced that it is preparing to launch the pilot phase of a bitcoin mining project from surplus natural gas that would normally be flared. The operations were scheduled to be carried out at the company's terminal in Qua Iboe, Akwa Ibom State, but no date has been announced for the start of operations.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has announced record profit for 2021. Chinese telecom giant, Huawei, generated a net profit of 17.8 billion dollars, or 10. 633 billion Fcfa with a net margin of 17.9 %, said Karl Song, vice president of the group.

In addition to powering 50% of its factories partly with solar energy, the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) aims to invest $17 million to tackle the energy deficit in Nigeria. This initiative is part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint on the national territory through a series of regular investments in favor of sustainable manufacturing and the transition to renewable energy sources.

Cameroonian e-health startup Waspito has just completed a Series A funding round worth $2.7 million to grow its user base in its home market and expand to Côte d'Ivoire . The funding round was raised from Launch Africa Ventures, Newtown Partners through the Imperial Venture Fund, BLOC Smart Africa managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, Orange Ventures, Saviu Ventures, Plug and Play and BringCom. “We are proud of the group of investors we were able to secure in this round.

Banks and Insurance

The World Bank is committed to supporting business creation in Congo. To this end, the bank has signed an agreement with young entrepreneurs to monitor the opening of bank accounts where grants of 15,000 (fifteen thousand) to 20,000 (twenty thousand) USD will be lodged, depending on the size of the company. . 920 young Congolese entrepreneurs throughout the DRC will benefit from this boost from the government through the World Bank.

The African Development Bank has allocated USD 88.2 million to Liberia and Sierra Leone. This support will be used to finance projects that prioritize road infrastructure and river crossings. The funding will be used for the upgrading of 50 km of roadway in Liberia and 25 km in Sierra Leone, feasibility studies for the construction of 170 km of roads in the two countries.

At the end of the 2021 financial year compared to the 2020 financial year, the net result of the Bank Of Africa (BOA) Benin increased by 25.17% to stand at 16.663 billion FCFA. The balance sheet total recorded a decrease of 18.574 billion, standing at 884.426 billion FCFA against 903 billion FCFA in 2020. The bank's debts to customers increased by 33 billion to 646 billion FCFA against 613.301 billion of FCFA in 2020.

For the ninth consecutive year since 2014, the Attijariwafa bank group is perpetuating its commitment to supporting the development of VSMEs in all circumstances. As such, in 2022 the Group plans a substantial envelope of MAD 30 billion in financing for SMEs and VSEs. This envelope will be broken down into 60,000 new credits to be granted in order to enable them to meet operating needs, relieve their cash flow, maintain, where appropriate, planned investments or even launch new projects, despite a difficult economic situation linked to geopolitical tensions at the international level and the rainfall deficit at the national level.

In full recapitalization, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) intends to inject 5 billion dollars into the economy of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). This support is in line with the Djoliba strategic plan (2021-2025) which includes five priority sectors (Infrastructure, agriculture, energy, health-education and social housing).

Swiss bank Julius Baer was fined 5 million euros in Paris in mid-March in a carbon tax fraud case dubbed “Twilight”. According to AFP, the banking establishment was condemned for not having carried out the necessary checks on an account created in February 2008 within its branch in Singapore, in the name of a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Montibely Investors.

The Central Bank of Ghana noted “increased volatility” in the foreign exchange market during the first months of the year. Thus, foreign exchange reserves were hit by a decline. Ghana's gross international reserves stood at $9,547.96 million at end-February 2022, representing 4.3 months of imports of goods and services, compared to $9,695.22 million at end-December 2021, covering 4.4 months import coverage. The Ghana cedi depreciated 14.6% against the US dollar and 11.6% each against the British pound and the euro in the year ending March 15, 2022.

Coris Bank Guinea Bissau was inaugurated on March 30, 2022 in the capital Bissau. With this opening, the Coris Bank Group completes its presence in the 8 countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The success of the bank with a total balance sheet of 4,750 billion CFA Francs (8 billion euros) comes from its proximity to States and economic operators in general.

The Nigerian Access Bank had indicated in January 2020, the upcoming creation of a subsidiary in Cameroon. The group finally obtained its license to carry out its activity and thus become the 16th bank in the country. With an initial capital of nearly 14.5 billion FCFA, Access Bank Cameroon will have its headquarters in Douala, the economic capital of the country. Created for a period of 99 years, the bank will operate in the management of current accounts, the collection of savings, the payment of checks, the granting of credits, etc.

Rawbank has renewed its partnership with Mopepe, the first electric and solar energy mobility service in Central Africa. In this context, the bank announces new aspects covered by its support for this 100% Congolese solution: Eco Ride and Eco Bike.

The banking group BGFIBank Côte d'Ivoire celebrated its 10 years of presence in Côte d'Ivoire on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The bank has supported the State of Côte d'Ivoire in infrastructure projects to the tune of 850 billion FCFA in three years through fundraising. Fundraising is underway, which will bring the amount financed in State projects to 1200 billion FCFA.

Subsidiary of Sanlam Pan Africa Assurance Non-Vie, SAHAM Assurance achieved under its 2021 management, an overall turnover is up by +9.7%. Non-Life revenue came to 4,703 MMAD , up +9.2% compared to the end of December 2020. This growth is mainly due to the increase in motor vehicle turnover and bodily accidents.

Financial crimes

Investigators from the Public Ministry of the Confederation searched the premises of the Geneva private bank in mid-March. This search is linked to the Petrobras affair, named after the gigantic corruption scandal that occurred in Brazil between 2013 and 2014, and involved dozens of Swiss banks. Pictet is therefore the fourth Swiss bank to be notified in connection with the Petrobras affair.

Three people including two men and a woman were apprehended in an operation by the Congolese national police. This band of criminals tamper with the owners of bars, terraces, shops, nightclubs, hotels..., in the name of the Congolese Society of Authors' Rights and Neighboring Rights (SOCODA) in Kinshasa. These thugs used false documents from the Company in order to collect the artists' dues from a clothing store in the Ruflaert district, in the town of Kisenso.

As part of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the Foreign Exchange Office has announced the creation of a section called “Manual change and AML/FT” on its internet portal. Any citizen who visits this platform will be able to find information on the legislative and regulatory provisions incumbent on currency exchange companies in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and on the manual exchange activity.

Facebooker Swindler Sabir Ukkho has been arrested for defrauding a 19-year-old woman of Rs 140,000. His new victim on social networks, his favorite terrain is a 19-year-old resident of Quartier-Militaire. She accuses Sabir Ukkhoy of having extracted Rs 140,000 from her. The latter presented himself as a bank employee, domiciled in the Curepipe region. After several exchanges via Messenger, the young woman admits that they got closer. She claims to have fallen under the spell of Lovish Ramchurn, so much so that the resident of Quartier-Militaire confides to the latter that she has a sum of Rs 140,000 in her bank account.

Regional growth

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have signed a $3.56 million memorandum of understanding to develop the pharmaceutical industry in West Africa. the West. At a total cost of $3.77 million, the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Project in the ECOWAS region will support the implementation of regulations relating to the application of duty-free pharmaceutical raw materials, packaging and finished products under the ECOWAS Common External Tariff.

During the double summit held Friday in Accra (Ghana), the Beninese head of state Patrice Talon was promoted by his peers to the head of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The Beninese president succeeds Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, the former president of Burkina Faso overthrown on January 24 by a military junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Also, the Beninese Minister of Economy and Finance Romuald Wadagni will now lead the conference of finance ministers of the organization. As a reminder, Benin is at the head of the WAEMU Conference of Finance Ministers.

T he 3rd edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair will take place from November 21 to 27, 2023, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. It will once again be an opportunity to demonstrate all the potential Africa has in all sectors of its economy (industry, agriculture, etc.). 20,000 participants are expected at this business meeting during which business leaders from the continent and elsewhere will come to present their products and services, in order to establish new commercial contracts.