Features

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa): The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) will constitute the world’s largest free trade area, consolidating an integrated market of 1.3 billion consumers with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $3.4 trillion.  The objective is to realise a continent-wide single market for goods and services with free movement of business, persons and investments. The AfCFTA envisions to expand intra-African trade and intensify regional integration by successively eliminating…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.K. fraud prosecutors sought an Israeli billionaire’s correspondence with the former President of Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila as part of one of their largest bribery investigations, a lawyer for the Serious Fraud Office said at a London trial. SFO attorney Jonathan Hall described the request at the start of the two-day trial against Anna Machkevitch, 37, who’s accused of failing to produce the documents concerning her mining magnate father, Alexander….

January 9, 2020 – Ziraat Participation Bank in Sudan, a unit affiliated to Ziraat Katilim Bankasi and Ziraat Finans Group, one of largest banking groups in Turkey operating on both Islamic and conventional platforms, has taken the big leap to implement Path Solutions’ multi-award winning iMAL Islamic core banking platform. The scope of work includes the implementation of a number of iMAL solutions including Murabaha, Musharaka, Mudaraba, Ijara, Istisnaa, Salam, Qard Hasan, time deposit, profit…

 The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) carried out a rigorous process of testing the compliance of iMAL Islamic financial software and issued a certificate to confirm its compliance with AAOIFI’s Shari’ah and Financial Accounting standards. Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, Secretary General, AAOIFI, commented on the occassion, ‘AAOIFI, by virtue of its mission and role in the preparation of Shari’ah and financial accounting standards for the global Islamic finance industry, fully welcomes…

CASABLANCA, Morocco, January 8, 2020/ — Today, Orange officially inaugurates the Orange Middle East and Africa operational head office in Morocco in the presence of Stéphane Richard, Chairman, and CEO of Orange; Alioune Ndiaye, CEO Orange Middle East, and Africa; the members of Orange’s Executive Committee and local officials. The new headquarters is located in Casablanca Finance City Tower (CFC) (http://bit.ly/2NkSTSv) in the heart of Casablanca. The building meets the most recent standards with international…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambian copper producers see their biggest risk this year as the looming expiry of an electricity-supply deal between a state utility and the private company that distributes power to the mines. A more than two-decade-old agreement where state-owned Zesco Ltd. sells power to Copperbelt Energy Corp., which then distributes it to companies including the local unit of Glencore Plc, comes to an end on March 31, and the government…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – World leaders urged restraint and moved to recall their citizens after Iran fired missiles at U.S.-Iraqi airbases in its first counterattack since the killing of General Qassem Soleimani by American forces. From Asia to the Americas, worries mounted about an armed conflict spinning out of control, as the tensions roiled global markets. The response showed just how little appetite there was among U.S. allies for another outright war in the vital energy-producing region….