PotashCorp’s shareholders baulk at Bou Craa project
Like more and more investors in quoted firms, the shareholders of PotashCorp are voicing concern over the Canadian behemoth’s operations [...]
Published on 03 May 2016
Phosphates: the OCP behemoth out to conquer a continent
The OCP group (Office Cherifien des Phosphates) launched an unprecedented offensive to conquer Africa in September, 2015. Working out of its Parisian arm named OCP Africa, which is staffed by former executives of Areva, the Moroccan giant is laying the groundwork for a supply and distribution network that is to include East Africa, the continent's new economic frontier. In West Africa it will overhaul its local fertilizer units, some of which are struggling.
And on the operational front, the Office is working overtime to justify its long-standing presence in phosphates at Bou Craa in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. With that in mind OCP has engaged in a huge public relations exercise to persuade its customers - and the international community - that it has the law on its side. But there's no saying that many will be convinced. Several big international fertilizer companies have bowed to the arguments of Polisario and its backers - and turned their backs on OCP.
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MOROCCO 03/05/2016
OCP counter-attacks in Euro Parliament
OCP group has launched a public relations campaign in the [...]
MOROCCO 12/04/2016
Infrastructure unsuited at Bou Craa, according to WSRW
In the latest P for Plunder report by the NGO [...]
Sofitex: Yameogo could switch to an entirely new fertilizer game
The dismissal of Bernard Zougouri as boss of Sofitex (Societe des Fibres Textiles, AMI 365) in late March could well usher in a new chapter concerning the supply of fertiliser to Burkina Faso. Wilfried Yameogo, who was asked to take [. [...]
OCP scouting Africa's potential for potash
With its mind set on developing a retail network for NPK fertilizer in Africa for the coming years (AMI 364), [...]
BURKINA FASO 29/03/2016
Question mark over Sofitex fertilizer contract
Appointed by the transition government, the managing director of the [...]
MOROCCO 24/03/2016
OCP continues its expansion drive in East Africa
Phosphates giant OCP, which needs to establish itself on African fertilizer markets, is pressing on at pace with extending the [...]
MOROCCO 15/03/2016
What role for Imane Belrhiti in OCP’s new Africa-wide venture?
OCP chief Mostafa Terrab raised questions when he announced the phosphate giant was setting up 15 African subsidiaries to retail [...]
MOROCCO 10/03/2016
Khaled Igue appointed African “sherpa” by OCP
Phosphates giant OCP has appointed Khaled Igue as public affairs [...]
MOROCCO 01/03/2016
Who were the happy few invited to Marrakech by OCP?
Mostafa Terrab, the outgoing boss of Africa’s leading producer of [...]
Lifosa stops importing Western Sahara phosphates
One of the biggest importers of rock phosphates from OCP's mine at Bou Craa, the Lithuanian company Lifosa (AMI 359) [...]
MOROCCO 25/02/2016
Ethiopia is new hunting ground for OCP… and Morocco
Phosphates giant OCP has opened a branch in Addis Ababa, according to our sources. This first opening in sub-Saharan Africa [...]
OCP hesitates between ETG Fertilizers or organic growth
The new African division of OCP set up last summer under Tarik Choho (AMI 360) appears to be of two minds concerning its strategy to conquer new markets and sell its fertilizer on the continent. Some OCP executives are in favour [. [...]
Mohammed VI takes back charge of Sahara question
By reorganizing his foreign affairs team on February 7, Mohammed VI ("M6") hopes to regain the initiative on the key Western Sahara question, on which Morocco is currently marking time. New junior foreign minister Nasser Bourita will have no difficulty [. [...]
MOROCCO 04/02/2016
Mohammed VI recruits Areva’s “orphans”
Mohammed VI is drawing heavily on the pool of executives formerly employed by French nuclear giant Areva to form his [...]
MOROCCO 28/01/2016
Terrab cultivates his African connections
Mostafa Terrab, head of OCP, may be due to leave [...]
MOROCCO 19/01/2016
Elite team in Paris to lead OCP push into sub-Saharan Africa
With Mostafa Terrab about to stand down after ten remarkable years at the helm of OCP, the Moroccan phosphates giant [...]
MOROCCO 05/01/2016
Business at Bou Craa picks up for OCP
According to our sources, shipments of phosphate from OCP’s mine [...]
Importers of Sahrawi phosphate could face boycott
Firms that import phosphate from the disputed territory of Western Sahara are coming under increasing pressure to stop trading OCP (Office Cherifien des Phosphates) in the wake of a finding by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) [. [...]
MOROCCO 24/12/2015
The OCP sets up an African subsidiary
The OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates) has just given its [...]
MOROCCO 12/11/2015
The OCP's subliminal advertising on LeMonde.fr
French website Le Monde.fr published a video to the glory [...]
MOROCCO 29/10/2015
OCP drops Covington & Burling from Washington role
Phosphates giant OCP has terminated its contract with Covington & Burling, the law firm that has been representing its interests [...]
MOROCCO 08/09/2015
Canada's Agrium still buying up Sahrawi phosphate
The NGOs Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) and Afrika Kontakt have confirmed to Africa Mining Intelligence that the vessel Amis [...]
TOGO 25/08/2015
Prime minister wants SNPT to supply OCP
Togolese prime minister Selom Komi Klassou is working on forging a key partnership between Morocco’s OCP group and the national [...]
MOROCCO 16/07/2015
OCP takes to farming in Africa
Set up in 2010 to invest in Moroccan agri-business projects, [...]
Spotlight WESTERN SAHARA 23/06/2015
Polisario seeks to dish out mining concessions
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is currently in talks with three mining companies – Russian, Polish and Spanish – on granting them exploration rights on territory controlled by Polisario to the east of the demarcation line with Morocco. [...]
OCP's political ties in the U.S.
Officials from OCP, with the group’s CEO Mostafa Terrab in the forefront, will figure prominently in the Clinton Global Initiative [...]
WESTERN SAHARA 07/04/2015
Quality dips at OCP's Bou Craa mine
According to our sources, the quality of the Bou Craa mine operated by Morocco’s Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) since [...]
IVORY COAST 10/02/2015
SODEMI in exclusive negotiations with OCP
Kadio Kouame, managing director of the state-owned mining company Societe pour le Developpement Minier de Cote d’Ivoire (SODEMI) has begun [...]
Canada's Agrium the new leader in Sahrawi phosphates
The North American fertilizer giant, Agrium Inc of Canada, reportedly became the leading importer of Western Sahara's phosphates in 2014, Africa Mining Intelligence has learned. Figures from the NGO Western Sahara Resources Watch (WSRW) haven't yet been fully completed for [. [...]
MOROCCO 13/01/2015
Incitec still present in Western Sahara phosphates Free
Kicked out of several international pension funds in recent years, [...]
Spotlight WEST AFRICA 03/06/2014
OCP set for long rule over fertilizer market
Morocco’s powerful Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP) is about to open an office in Abidjan and for a very good reason - the market for NPK fertilizer in the sub-region has gone through the roof. [...]