Phosphates

A key agricultural input, phosphates are mainly produced and sold in Africa by Morocco's OCP. Numerous other companies have begun producing, transforming and selling phosphates, whether these are public (Compagnie des phosphates de Gafsa, Societe nationale des phosphates du Togo (SNPT) or private, Foskor and soon Kropz and Great Quest Fertilizer.

ANGOLA Mining 23/10/2020

Luanda finally places fertiliser order after growing season kicks off 

Even though Angola's growing season is already under way, the government has only now finally decided to launch a public tender for the importation of fertiliser and seeds. [...]

SpotlightMOROCCO UNITED STATES Mining 23/10/2020

OCP determined to keep hold of US market 

TUNISIA Business 19/10/2020

World Bank consults oracles to prepare 2021-2026 and save "social contract" 

The World Bank has convened former ministers, consultants and economists to take stock of its engagement with Tunisia and lay the foundations for its next five-year country partnership with the north African state. But their alarming diagnosis focuses above all on political stalemate. [...]

SpotlightANGOLA Mining 16/10/2020

Local fertiliser importers despair as Lourenço procrastinates over tender 

ALGERIA MOROCCO Diplomacy 15/10/2020

African Union: Algiers aims to return to the Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department by the back door  Free

Algeria wants to ensure it remains present in the African Union's key department, as Smaïl Chergui prepares to end his term as peace and security commissioner. Meanwhile, Morocco's efforts to obtain representation on the African Commission, which were spearheaded by intelligence chief Yassine Mansouri, have flopped. [...]

MOROCCO Business 14/10/2020

Menasteel boss Nabil Rtabi opens new branch with former OCP exec 

Nabil Rtabi is expanding his industrial empire with a new consultancy alongside a former OCP engineer. [...]

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MALI Mining 22/09/2020

Fertiliser manufacturers on the rack after coup d'état 

Already negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the prospects for fertiliser sales in Mali, one of the leading markets in West Africa, have deteriorated further. The recent coup d'état has increased uncertainty among international commodities producers and local blenders. [...]

MOROCCO Business 14/09/2020

El Majidi Inc. or how the king's private secretary and his clan are prospering on the coat-tails of royal group Al Mada 

Mounir El Majidi, the king's private secretary and business manager, is building a business empire of his own through contracts with royal holding company Al Mada. His brother Mahdi El Majidi and his former aide Zouhair Fassi-Fehri are following his example. [...]

ALGERIA Business 25/08/2020

Senator-businessman Khaled Boudjabeur provides security for new phosphates rail line 

Security company El Amine Gard, which is owned by the Tebessa senator, is to protect the Infrarail base in the city in charge of the project. [...]

EAST AFRICA SOUTHERN AFRICA Mining 30/07/2020

Fertilizers: Yara goes on donation spree to hang on in race against OCP, Phosagro, Maaden 

The Norwegian group Yara is using a mix of grants and infrastructure builds to promote its interests to African governments, who largely call the shots on how much fertilizer their countries order. [...]

UNITED STATES MOROCCO Mining 23/07/2020

Fertilisers: Mosaic calls in Trump camp lobbyists and lawyers to back its offensive against OCP 

American fertiliser group Mosaic has reportedly brought in Brian Ballard, a lobbyist close to protectionist US president Donald Trump, and lawyer David Ross, who has links with the Republican Party, to defend its call for action against "subsidised" phosphate imports from Morocco's OCP and Russia's PhosAgro. [...]

Focus ALGERIA TURKEY Business 20/07/2020

Allab, Tosyali, Bora and Demiral blaze trail for Erdogan's Algerian business crusade 

A small group of Turkish and Algerian billionaires are serving as the advance guard for President Erdogan in Algeria. They stand ready to replace French entepreneurs, who are increasingly losing support in the North African country, and compete with the omnipresent Chinese. [...]

MOROCCO Diplomacy 13/07/2020

Family ties trump experience in Bourita's latest diplomatic appointments 

Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita makes ambassadors of top officials' sons, sidelines his Africa director, and promotes a loyalist. [...]

Spotlight MOROCCO UNITED STATES Mining 10/07/2020

Morocco's OCP brings in new recruits to boost its North American fertiliser sales 

Moroccan fertiliser giant OCP, which is facing competition in its African "home" market and regulatory problems in Europe, is expanding its management team in the United States in a bid to find new outlets and increase its sales in both the US and Canada. [...]

RUSSIA SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Business Diplomacy 10/07/2020

Roscongress Foundation spearheads Kremlin's sub-Saharan business drive 

Run by figures close to the seat of power of Moscow, Roscongress Foundation is using the holding of international events to further Russia's drive to extend its links in Africa beyond its longstanding partners in the north of the continent. [...]

TUNISIA Business 07/07/2020

Top civil servant Abdellatif Hamam takes the reins of Ennakl Automobiles dealerships 

After heading the national tourism office, a public phosphates company, and the secretariat of Youssef Chahed's government, Abdellatif Hamam is now in charge of retail distributor Ennakl Automobiles. [...]

ANGOLA Mining 02/07/2020

Brazilian businessman Paul Ang takes control of Lucunga phosphate 

The Ang family-owned Genea Angola is behind Cimenfort, the new kid on the block in Angola's phosphate exploration sector. This Brazilian clan with Chinese roots first came to prominence as property developers in the suburbs of São Paulo and Luanda. [...]

Focus AFRICA Mining 22/06/2020

Moscow and Riyadh challenge Rabat on African phosphates market 

Morocco's OCP, which is the leader in the fast-growing African fertilisers market, has run into increasing competition from Russia's PhosAgro and Saudi Arabia's Maaden, particularly on its west African "home" turf. The battle has been made fiercer by the direct interventions made by heads of state and governments. [...]

ETHIOPIA GHANA MOROCCO Mining 11/06/2020

Gas shortages put brakes on OCP's fertiliser plans 

When presented in 2016 it was to drive OCP's expansion across the continent, but the project to build fertiliser plants in several African nations has snagged on the Moroccan sector giant's own strategy in Ethiopia and Ghana: [...]

TUNISIA Business 26/05/2020

Mongi Marzouk wants to scupper CPG's PPP desalination project in Gabès 

The energy and mines minister, who is against public-private partnerships, wants to cancel plans to build the plant which is supposed to supply water to the phosphate processing complex in Gabès. He risks incurring the wrath of the international financial institutions, however. [...]