OCP Group

The New Guard
Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Morocco

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence spotlights a new generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

Angola Nelito Ekuikui, UNITA's new youth leader

Cameroon Stéphane Tiki, sales rep for French-speaking companies

Ivory Coast Danielle Benoist, Ivorian VP Tiémoko Meyliet Koné's spin doctor

Morocco Loubna Tricha, queen of professional integration

Morocco
OCP North America strengthens its board ahead of anti-subsidy duties review

The US subsidiary of Morocco fertiliser giant OCP is bolstering its board of directors as it prepares to request a review of the countervailing duties imposed on it by Washington in 2021.

Morocco
Obaid Amrane and Mostafa Terrab to roll out king's green energy roadmap

The Cluster EnR chairman and the OCP boss have been put in charge of carrying out Morocco's renewable energy strategy. The pair plan to depart from the policies of Masen boss Mustapha Bakkoury, who has fallen out of Mohammed VI's favour.

Morocco
Danone's Moroccan branch tries one last throw of financial dice

The danger signals are everywhere for Centrale Danone, the Moroccan subsidiary of the French dairy giant, which has launched a financial salvage operation. The stakes are high for the parent company, since Morocco is its main African market.

Morocco
OCP appoints new North America CEO

The Moroccan fertiliser giant changed its New York chief last month.

Morocco
Mohammed VI expected in Dakar to see Macky Sall

The Moroccan King Mohammed VI will visit the Senegalese capital on 20 February, with a meeting with President Macky Sall the top priority.

Morocco
Rabat's heavyweight Davos delegation

Africa's fifth largest economy, which aims to decarbonise its economy by 2050, will turn up in force this month at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.

Senegal
AU fertiliser summit backed by Bill Gates Foundation

To address the severe impact of rising food prices in several African countries, the AU is organising the African Union Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit from 23 to 30 June in Dakar.

Morocco
Canadian Benoît La Salle plans to shake up Morocco mining sector

The Aya Gold & Silver boss plans to invest $140m to quintuple production at his Zgounder silver mine by 2024. He is continuing his exploration campaigns, hoping to make discoveries that will attract other Canadian juniors to Morocco, as he did in Burkina Faso.

Australia, Morocco, Western Sahara
OCP resumes Western Sahara phosphate exports to Australia

Faced with supply difficulties linked to Russia's war on Ukraine, the Australian fertiliser producer Incitec Pivot has restarted its imports of phosphates from the Boucraa mine in the Sahara, operated by OCP. It had stopped sourcing there in 2016, after protest from Scandinavian shareholders.

The New Guard
South Africa, Uganda, Morocco, Algeria

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

South Africa Fasiha Hassan, Gauteng's MPL pushing to rejuvenate ANC

Uganda Elison Karuhanga, the Lake Albert-connected oil lawyer

Morocco Boucharab, former IT chief of OCP, LVMH and Total, heads into the cloud

Algeria Benghanem keen to put Algeria back on investors' radar

Ghana
Cocobod faces soaring fertiliser costs and large-scale illicit resales

Cocobod hasn't changed the price it charges cocoa farmers for fertiliser even though the international market price has gone through the roof. Meanwhile the illegal resale of the heavily subsidised fertilisers that it distributes to its Ghanaian affiliates is flourishing.

Morocco
Jean-Baptiste Barian appointed boss of royal residence firm Primarios

Barian, a specialist in Arab-Andalusian architecture who has worked for the Moroccan monarchy for half a century, has been appointed to run Primarios, the company tasked with furnishing and maintaining the country's royal palaces and residences.

Ethiopia
Cash-strapped Addis faces fertiliser shortage

The Ethiopian government stockpiled fertiliser before the crisis and price hike. At a time when foreign exchange reserves are at their lowest, this hoard could help finance farming subsidies.

Tunisia
Tunis seeks backers for struggling PPP infrastructure projects

In addition to existing projects such as the Sfax tramway and desalination plants, the Tunisian government has several longer-term ecological and energy-based ideas in the pipeline. These include a phosphate pipeline facility and the development of green hydrogen.

Morocco
OCP fails to get visas to attend the Vivatech trade fair in Paris

The giant Moroccan phosphates group has become the latest victim in the visa war raging between Paris and Rabat. Relations between the two countries are currently at a low ebb.