THE
NORTH AFRICA JOURNAL
152nd. Issue
Week ending July 19, 2004
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Illegal
Drugs
Morocco,
the World’s Biggest Supplier of Cannabis
Cannabis output (including marijuana, hash, and hash
oil) continues to rise in Morocco and production has been climbing
since the 1980s. In 2003, the Moroccan government began investigating
the state of the drugs business and the resulting report suggests
that 134,000 hectares of land are dedicated to cannabis. Former
interior minister Driss Basri used to estimate the value of the
drugs market in Morocco is at about $20 billion, but analysts say
that number is not necessarily accurate.
Corporate
Tunisair to Announce Improved Results, Narrows its Losses
Next week, the Tunisian airline carrier Tunisair will hold its annual general assembly. The company is preparing to announce improvements in its operations after difficult years, particular in 2001 and 2002 amid a global crisis affecting airlines and tourism. Tunisair was becoming a case study of a large state-owned company that failed with poor financials. In 2001 it generated a loss of TD 37.4 million, before worsening further to TD 49 million in 2002. Continue here
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Law
Algeria to Abolish Death Penalty But Not for Acts of “Terrorism, Treason, Infanticide and Parricide”
Algeria is preparing to abolish death penalty but on the selective basis. An amendment on this issue was recently introduced and was just presented to the nation’s parliament currently in session. The parliament is also reviewing proposed broader changes in the criminal code. The announcement of the government’s intention of to abolish death penalty, first made by Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz and confirmed by the Prime Minister, coincided with a difficult period in the relationship between the government and the independent press, as well as human rights activists. Although we believe that timing was coincidental, many say the government is trying to lessen the pressure it has been getting related to the imprisonment of prominent editors and journalists. Continue here
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Fisheries
Octopus Fishing in Morocco: A Failed Season
A few weeks before the end of the fishing season and the volumes of octopus caught in Morocco's waters thus far are dismal. Octopus is becoming rare in this part of the world despite the nine month ban on fishing that was supposedly meant to replenish the depleted stocks in form of a biological rest.Continue here
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Pharma Market
Novo Nordisk to Produce Drugs in Algeria
Targeting the diabetics market, the Danish drugs company Novo Nordisk is preparing to establish a production unit in Algeria and has been looking for suppliers to launch an insulin factory. After nearly two years of a ban on import into the Algerian market, Novo Nordisk has also been re-authorized to engage in imports to serve the Algerian market as it prepares to switch to production. Continue here...
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Telecom Policy
Morocco Has New Plan to Develop Fixed Telephony Sector
Most of the investment made in the past years in the Morocco telecom sector focused on the mobile GSM technology and after the series of failures of the past two years to sell a fixed telephony license, Morocco has now a new plan it believes will energize investments in the sector. A new strategy based on the concept of lessening the amount of investment to be made by a single licensee, was recently put forward by the government and endorsed by the telecom watchdog Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications or ANRT. The strategy calls for the involvement of a large number of operators who, individually, will be able to invest relatively limited amount of money but collectively would represent a major player in the fixed telephony sector. Continue here...
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Economy/Trade
The Remaining Obstacles to Algeria’s Entry in the WTO
The Algerian government is to scrap a legislative decision made earlier by the national parliament to ban the import of alcoholic beverages. The decision was made before the presidential elections by a parliament dominated by religious conservatives and nationalists. Fearing a backlash before the elections, president Bouteflika and his ministers did not oppose it and allowed it on the temporary basis even though it was clearly contradicting the country’s commitment to adopt international trading norms Continue here
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Law
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