Corporate
Affairs:
Uncontrolled
Expansion and the End of the Batam Group in Tunisia
Fast
growth can be damaging if uncontrolled. This is certainly
the case for the Tunisian distribution firm Batam Company,
which at its peak had 30 business entities established in
record time. It took the Ben Ayed brothers only 13 years to
build their small distribution empire, after opening their
first two outlets in August 1988, Héla d'Electroménager
and Confort Batam. Their first home appliances store opened
in the city of Sfax and in the subsequent decade they developed
a retail chain of 50 stores, spread across the country and
employing 1,000 workers. Their launching pad was their small
family-owned home appliances store and until 2002 everything
looked promising for a company that employed several hundred
workers and generated TND 200 million in sales each year.
[read
here]
Economy/Trade:
Update on the Moroccan Privatization Program
Of
the 17 state companies that are in Morocco's privatization
list, a half dozen such companies are expected to be sold
this summer. Among them are four sugar refineries called Suta,
Sucrafor, Surac and Sunabel. The government tried to sell
them in 2002 but it failed to gather interest and was forced
to reengineer its offer to make the deal more attractive..
[read
here]
Agriculture:
Algeria's Untapped Vine Growing Potential,
But Negative Outlook
Vine
growing in Algeria remains an insignificant business. The
arable land used for vine growing is small, and yet Algeria's
potential for vine growing is important. Based on a survey
of agricultural land and Algeria's historical wine production,
some 104,517 hectares of land can be used for the purpose
of vine growing and have already been earmarked by the agricultural
authorities. Of that surface, 56,281 hectares have been set
aside for table vine and 48,236 hectares for wine vine. Despite
a lack of activity and a poor outlook, Algeria is probably
the only nation in the world that earmarked more land for
table vine than for wine vine. [read
here]
Finance
and Banking:
Prudent Growth of Morocco's Household and
Consumer Credit
Banks
and other financial institutions lent to Moroccan households
MAD 22 billion in 2004. This amount was up 5% from 2003. This
progress was constrained by the introduction of new financing
mechanisms that enabled financial institutions to substantially
reduce lending risks. Hence, the growth of consumer loans
remained low.
[read
here]
Industries
and Markets:
ACC-Orascom
Cement Plant in Algeria to Double Capacity, Algeria to Halt
Cement Import in 2006
The
Algerian Cement Company (ACC-Orascom) is a new comer in the
Algerian market. A subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom, ACC is one
of Algeria's latest foreign direct investors. The company
established a production plant in M'Sila, Algeria with an
output capacity of 2 million tons per year. Although the company
is basing its investment strategy on the expectation that
the Algerian infrastructure building market will remain solid
in the decades to come, ACC is not operating alone as it is
competing with 11 other companies.
[read
here]
Industries
and Markets:
The
Algerian Textile Industry in Precarious State
The number of textile workers in Algeria shrunk by 60% from
its mid-1980s level. In all, today the industry employs less
than 25,000 workers. This assessment came from a trade union
report. According to the report, key sectors within the textile
industry function at minimal capacity use. For example, the
leather industry uses only 29% of its production capacity.
The best performing sector, cloth making, uses just 52% of
its own production capacity.
[read
here]
Industries
and Markets:
Sizing
Morocco's Government Owned Land and Real Estate
A great deal of the Moroccan government income comes from
the sale of its assets. The privatization of its companies
is expected to generate more than MAD 12 billion this year.
But selling companies is not the only thing the government
has in mind. There is plenty of land and real estate properties
that will go on the market to the highest bidders. This report
looks at what the Moroccan government holds in terms of land
and real estate properties.
[read
here]
Industries
and Markets:
Tunisian
PC Makers to Face Foreign Competition
Five year ago Tunisia launched a government program aimed
at boosting computer penetration of Tunisian households. The
program already underwent what the Tunisians called version
1 and version 2 has just begun. In version 1, the role of
the government led to the emergence of five domestic companies
to compete against the international brands. These companies,
IGL, Sami, Aster, Microlux, and Maxter received ISO certification
and underwent industry certification including certification
from Microsoft and key component suppliers.
[read
here]
Industries
and Markets:
The
Luxury Spa Business in Morocco
It was in 1995 that the Hammam (public bath and spa) Ziani
opened its doors in the Casablanca neighborhood of Benjdia.
Back then the event made a lot of noise because the spa was
a four-story building offering spa, sauna, and beauty services,
along with modern facilities including a cafeteria. The Ziani
challenged the existence of the traditional Turkish hammams.
A decade later the number of luxury spa businesses mushroomed
and they are no longer a novelty. In Casablanca, Morocco's
financial capital, beside the Ziani, the pioneer in this business,
are the Pacha, the Topkapi, and Jacques Dessange on Anfa Boulevard.
The Zaki in Maarif, which opened in 2001, has lost some of
its early momentum given its diversification program that
evolved a little too fast.
[read
here]
