THE
NORTH AFRICA JOURNAL
149th. Issue
Week ending June 20, 2004
entire PDF
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Non-Hydrocarbon
Exports in Sharp Decline in Algeria. Red Tape and Bureaucracy Cripple
Export Activity - By
Arezki Daoud
This
is a warning that Algerian policy makers have heard over and over
again and yet very little is done to improve the weak state of non-petroleum
related trade. Algeria is heavily dependent on oil and gas and 2003
provides the strongest evidence of this. After a tentative start
in the second half of 2002 when the port of Oran recorded an actual
pick up in export of non-petroleum related goods toward the United
States and Maghreb countries, observers had hopes that international
trade was on the much needed path of diversification. But the latest
report from Oran indicates that export activity has virtually faded
away as the year 2004 evolves.
Corporate/Telecom:
Orascom Algerie, “Biggest Non-Oil Foreign Private Investor in Algeria”, CEO
Orascom Telecom Algerie (OTA), a subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom is forecasting more than $600 million in sales in 2004. If achieved, this would represent a more than 50% year-on-year revenue increase for OTA. According to the company’s managing director, Hassan Kabani, OTA has invested $1.6 billion in the Algerian mobile phone infrastructure, representing the biggest foreign private investment outside of the oil and gas sector.
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Corporate/Tourism
Club Med Strategy in Morocco
Holiday giant Club Méditerranée (Club Med) signed two agreements with key players in the Moroccan tourism sector. They are the Accor group, owner of a series of hotels and lodging facilities, which now becomes a major shareholder of Club Med, and financial firm Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) which becomes the primary partner of Club Med in developing lodging infrastructure in the North African country. The agreements are likely to benefit Morocco’s tourism industry thanks to a combination of strength, skills and industry leadership that each of the three bring.
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Banking/Acquisitions
CIC Paris Acquires 10% of BMCE Bank
On June 15, the Moroccan stock exchange authority, the Conseil Déontologique des Valeurs Mobilières or CDVM decided to suspend trading of BMCE Bank in the Casablanca bourse for two days as the French Crédit Industriel et Commercial, also known as CIC Paris finilized a stake acquisition in the bank.
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Trade
Non-Hydrocarbon Exports in Sharp Decline in Algeria. Red Tape and Bureaucracy Cripple Export Activity
This is a warning that Algerian policy makers have heard over and over again and yet very little is done to improve the weak state of non-petroleum related trade. Algeria is heavily dependent on oil and gas and 2003 provides the strongest evidence of this. After a tentative start in the second half of 2002 when the port of Oran recorded an actual pick up in export of non-petroleum related goods toward the United States and Maghreb countries, observers had hopes that international trade was on the much needed path of diversification. But the latest report from Oran indicates that export activity has virtually faded away as the year 2004 evolves.
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Corporate/Stock Exchange
BCP Bank of Morocco to Launch an IPO at MAD 680 per Share
The Moroccan bank Banque Centrale Populaire or BCP, a unit of Credit Populaire du Maroc, will float 20% of its capital in the Casablanca Stock Exchange though a public offering made by the state, which is also the current stakeholder. The date for introduction into the bourse was set for July 8, 2004 but institutional investors could already buy shares at the introductory price of MAD 680 per share or the equivalent of $76. A little more than 1.77 million shares will be floated as the state hopes to raise MAD 768 million (about $85 million).
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Business
French SMBs Seek Business in Algeria
A number of small and mid-sized companies from the city of Montreuil in France are leading the way in boosting commercial relations with Algeria and are preparing to establish operations there. Many of these companies are led by Algerian expatriates or French nationals of Algerian origin.
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Corporate/Airlines
Tunisian Domestic Airline Tuninter Records Small Profit
The small Tunisian airline carrier Tuninter announced that it has made a profit in its fiscal 2003. After years of service and five painful restructuring plans, the company, which is a subsidiary of state-owned Tunisair and which also has one single private individual investor, Mr. Hedi Djilani, the powerful head of the Tunisian corporate association, the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Craft ( UTICA), announced that it has generated Td 2 million in sales serving 300,000 passengers, and managed to lower its operating costs.
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Corporate/Markets
LG Electronics Plans Sales Boost in Morocco
Two advertisement agencies are currently competing to win the LG Electronics Morocco ad contract. The companies are Media 5 and Team Young Rubbican, and they are in tight competition to grab the South Korean advertisement budget for the Moroccan market as LG’s business in the North African country is booming. With its goal to more than double its sales this year, LG’s ad budget must indeed be significant.
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