Foreign exchange market

The euro ended the week without taking off against a dollar at its highest in fifteen. Between betting on American monetary policy and the resumption of Covid-19 contamination in Europe, the two currencies are evolving in scattered ranks. Over the week, the single European currency lost 1.2%. For its part, the dollar benefited this week from a more significant rise than expected in inflation in the United States which prompted investors to bet on a more rapid US Federal Reserve (Fed) to act.

Cryptocurrencies

The cryptocurrency leader is approaching $70,000 per unit, nearly double its value three months ago. Bitcoin is asserting itself as a safe haven in the face of inflation. Its price has climbed 21% in one month, according to the Bitstamp site. The cryptocurrency has even gained 450% since the start of the year. It must be said that cryptocurrencies are establishing themselves in the financial wealth of households, irrigating the asset allocations of the portfolios of institutional investors and attracting all players in the financial industry, including payment giants, such as Visa or Mastercard. The success of bitcoin leads to that of other cryptocurrencies, with the exception of those that are too exotic, such as Dogecoin, presented from the start as a joke.

Money markets

Senegal was on the regional government securities market of the West African Economic Monetary Union (UEMOA) to raise 55 billion FCFA of assimilable Treasury bonds. This fundraising was done after an issue by auction of similar Treasury bonds with a maturity of three years and an amount of fifty billion FCFA.

Through its National Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounting, Mali also raised on November 10, 2021 at the level of the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) an amount of 25 billion FCFA. Of the amount of the bids, the Malian Public Treasury withheld 25 billion FCFA and rejected the remaining 19.236 billion FCFA, ie an absorption rate of 56.51%. Reimbursement of the capital of the securities issued will take place on the first business day following the maturity date set at November 11, 2031.

Stock markets

At the end of the trading session of this Thursday, November 11, 2021, the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) saw its transactions amount to more than 6 billion FCFA. The total value of BRVM transactions increased from 451.222 million FCFA on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 to 6.471 billion FCFA this Thursday, November 11, 2021. The market capitalization of the equity market recorded a slight increase of 1.444 billion FCFA, from from 5753.433 billion FCFA the day before to 5754.877 billion FCFA. That of bonds left its stationary position, rising from 102.175 billion to 7184.939 billion FCFA against 7082.764 billion FCFA the day before. The BRVM 10 index gained 0.71% to 146.75 points against 145.72 points the day before. For its part, the BRVM Composite index rose slightly by 0.03% to 191.30 points against 191.25 points the day before.

Raw materials

Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by the latest data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) published the day before and pointing to weaker-than-expected growth in demand for black gold in 2021. As of 10:35 a.m. GMT (11:35 a.m. CET), the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for January delivery was down 1.18% from Thursday's close at $81.89. In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of December lost 1.47% to 80.39 dollars.

Côte d'Ivoire, the world's second largest producer of cashew nuts, wants to strengthen its production capacity. According to official figures, gross cashew production reached one million tonnes for the first time in 2020, compared to 850,000 in 2019. Only 10% of this production was processed on site. The country wants to have three new cashew nut processing factories.

Côte d'Ivoire's gold production rises to 38 tonnes in 2020, from 32.5 tonnes in 2019 to 38 tonnes in 2020, according to data provided by Ibrahim Coulibaly, the Director General of Mines and Geology, November 3, 2021 in a television broadcast. However, the corporation is under severe strain due to clandestine gold panning which plagues mining activity in the country.

The cotton sector in Côte d'Ivoire is performing well. Having experienced strong growth over the past decade, production should reach another historic milestone in 2021/2022. Cotton production in Ivory Coast should increase to 600,000 tonnes for the 2021/2022 campaign. This upward revision is mainly due to the good rains that fell in the production areas.

Companies

After the difficulties of 2020, Uniwax announces a profit up 226% in the 1st half of 2021. The Ivorian company operating in the textile industry declared a net result of 1.1 billion CFA francs. The results for the first half of 2021 are clearly above those achieved during the first three months of the current year. The company said operating income at the end of June 2021 reached 1.5 billion CFA francs, up 246.6% compared to its level in the same period in 2020. Its turnover also jumped 23.6% to 20.5 billion CFA francs.

IAMGold Corporation's financial result was approximately $121.6 million from its mining sites in Q3 2021. The combined total of the company's consolidated results and operating results, for the three and for the nine months ended September 30, is 448,000 ounces” and 2021 year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA is $265.7 million.

The Dutch investment company Oikocredit is granting a loan of 5 million euros (5.8 million dollars) to Crédit Mutuel du Sénégal (CMS). The loan will serve to reinforce CMS's leading position in the market, having emerged from the Covid-19 crisis in a stronger position than most of its competitors, increasing its outreach to women and young people.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has arranged a financial package of 161.25 million euros for the CIMAF group (Ciments d'Afrique) in order to stimulate its cement production and finance its sub-regional ambitions. Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) also participated in the financing. The facility includes a loan of €92.5 million for IFC's own, a parallel loan of €33.75 million from Proparco and a B loan of €35 million from EAIF.

Banks and Insurance

The Bank of Africa (BOA) is providing financial support of 40 billion FCFA to the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (BIDC). This line of credit is intended to support the private sector in the 15 member countries of the Community, operating in the areas of trade and industry. This line of credit granted by the Bank of Africa group meets the financial needs faced by players in trade and industry in the 15 member countries of ECOWAS.

The Central Bank of West African States (Bceao) injected 5000 billion FCFA of liquidity into the interbank market of UEMOA, at the beginning of November. At the end of this umpteenth auction backed by an interest rate set at 2%, the Bceao made operational 3 refinancing windows, namely the weekly window, the monthly window and the stimulus bond window.

The managers of the company Oragroup SA announced the data relating to the activity of the bank in the third quarter of 2021. The net result of the company Oragroup SA, parent company of the Orabank banking group rose from 5.093 billion FCFA as of September 30, 2020 to 14.646 billion FCFA as of September 30, 2021, an increase of 9.440 billion FCFA in absolute value. Thus, it was noted a jump of 188% of the net result of Oragroup SA

In the third quarter of 2021, the net income of NSIA Banque Côte d'Ivoire was up sharply by 203.23%. The managers of this banking establishment based in Abidjan, a member of the NSIA Banque financial group, announce that the net result has increased from 4.855 billion FCFA as of September 30, 2020 to 14.722 billion FCFA as of September 30, 2021, an increase of 9.868 billion FCFA in ultimate value.

BGFIBank sponsored the signing of a partnership agreement between the polyclinic and the Gustave Roussy hospital (one of the world leaders in cancer treatment) and the presentation of a new retinal surgery and refractive surgery unit, the first in the gender in sub-Saharan Africa. This tripartite agreement will help develop local access to the best care for patients in Côte d'Ivoire and throughout West Africa.

The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) sign a cooperation agreement. It was within the framework of the strategy of mobilizing financial partners that Dr. Ngueto Tiraina YAMBAYE, Director General of FAGACE and the Chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of BADEA, Dr. Fahad Abdullah Aldossari materialized this partnership. The agreement will allow a strong complementarity of intervention at the level of these countries in order to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial initiatives in Africa.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) sign a $250 million financing facility. This facility should allow Afreximbank to finance the Covid-19 response program in the countries in which the two organizations operate. It will also have to strengthen the capacity of the Cairo-based institution to provide trade finance resources at a critical time for the development of exports and the industrialization of the continent.

Findev Canada announces a loan of 20 million USD in favor of the Trade and Development Bank. This funding is intended to support inter-regional and intra-regional trade in this part of the continent. It builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 in which the two parties committed to work together to support sustainable economic growth in the region served by TDB through various channels, including through trade and project financing.

Known for his pragmatism, his high sense of collaboration, Mathieu Mandeng has been appointed new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Standard Chartered Bank Côte d'Ivoire. His appointment as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Standard Chartered Bank Côte d'Ivoire testifies to the charisma of the man and his career as a hard worker.

Health insurance will be compulsory for everyone from January 2022. This is stated in article 17 of law n ° 2020-37 of February 03, 2021 on the protection of the health of people in the Republic of Benin. Health insurance will be implemented by the Insurance project for the Reinforcement of Human Capital (ARCH) managed by the National Agency for Social Protection (ANPS), a structure under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance.

Financial crimes

Orishas Finance organized a webinar on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 on the system for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML / FTP) and compliance measures. Thus, with its partner Dow Jones, the fintech based in Abidjan exposed to reinsurers, insurers and brokers in the WAEMU and CEMAC zone, the mechanisms to succeed in its risk-based approach in an AML-CFTP framework. The panelists addressed in turn the fundamentals of the new CIMA AML-CFT Regulations, the deviations from international regulations (FATF) as well as the challenges of mastering data and solutions to succeed in its approach based on the risks.

Switzerland leaves the top 10 of the least corrupt countries. In the Global Risk Profile ranking, the “white collar crime” index of the least corrupt countries puts Switzerland ⁱⁿ 12th place. These white-collar crimes are measured through a set of data related to banking secrecy, sanctions issued in cases tried, transparency vis-à-vis beneficial owners and international cooperation to combat these crimes. Of course, Switzerland, given the importance of financial services rendered on a global scale, is more exposed to this risk.

Mauritius continues to show its ability to effectively fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. After leaving the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list, the country officially leaves the UK's list of high-risk third countries.

The Ivorian government launched, a few months ago, a vast anti-corruption operation in the public service. The part concerning the police and gendarmes who extort motorists, starts. The first cases have been tried since Friday, November 5 by the military court in Abidjan. About forty files are on the table of the magistrates of the military tribunal responsible for trying unscrupulous police and gendarmes.

In broad daylight, robbers operated in the town of Treichville. They robbed the chairman of the board of directors of the LCAG cooperative in Guitry, Koné Seydou, a member of the Association of PCAs of cocoa coffee cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire (ASPCA-CC). Two in number, heavily armed robbers took away by force the sum of 100 million FCFA belonging to the PCA of the LCAG cooperative.

Regional growth

A new partnership has been signed between CDC Group, Finnfund, Norfund, and New Forests, a global investment manager focused on sustainable landscapes. The three structures have come together to develop investment strategies designed to develop and transform the sustainable forestry sector in sub-Saharan Africa. This partnership now aims to raise up to $500 million over the next three to five years in the fight against climate change. ‎