Foreign exchange market

The signs of a vigorous recovery in the US economy, particularly in terms of employment and activity in services in March, did not have much effect on the currencies. Faced with a weakened dollar, the European currency regained strength. The dollar index, which compares the greenback to other major currencies, slipped a few percentage points. After gaining 3.5% since the start of the year against a basket of benchmark currencies, the dollar has clearly marked time.

Money Market

The Treasury and External Finance Department (DTFE) of Morocco carried out an operation to issue Treasury bonds by auction. More than 1 billion dirhams (MMDH) was served out of a total of 6.6 billion dirhams. During this operation, warrants with a maturity of 2 years were subscribed for 1 billion dirhams at the rate of 1.729%, specifies the DTFE. The settlement date is set for April 12.

Stock market

Since hitting bottom on March 23, 2020, global stocks have rebounded 75%. They are now 16% above their peak before the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase of 75%. Optimism is in order regarding oil prices, hence a preference for stocks in the energy sector.

clues

Following the quarterly review of the stock market indices, the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) proceeded to modify the composition of the BRVM 10 index. The exit of the composite index from the top of a bevel descending, both in daily and weekly data, argue in favor of the imminence of a large bullish impulse. The new composition is as follows: SONATEL SN – SNTS; ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED TG – ETIT; ONATEL BF – ONTBF; ECOBANK CI – ECOC; BICI CI – BICC; SOCIETE IVOIRIENNE DE BANQUE CI – SIBC; BANK OF AFRICA BN – BOAB; SOCIETE GENERALE CI – SGBC; CFAO MOTORS CI – CFAC; BANK OF AFRICA BF – BOABF.

On the rates market, the 10-year T-Bond fell 6 basis points to 1.65%, after peaking around 1.74% last week. The 30-year rate fell to 2.31% (-4 bps) against 1.64% at the start of the year.

The unemployment rate fell from 6.2% in February to 6% in March. The ISM services index in March in the United States, published on Monday, reached a record level, posting 63.7 in March against 55.3 in February and 59 expected by economists.

The dollar index calculated by the ICE, which measures its evolution against a basket composed of the euro, the pound sterling, the yen, the Canadian dollar, the Swiss franc and the Swedish krona, fell by 0, 79% at 92.29 points.

Stock market

The Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), organizes the celebration of excellence on the Regional Financial Market (MFR) of UEMOA. The BRVM Awards will be held on Saturday April 10, 2021 in Abidjan. Placed under the sign of sustainable finance, the BRVM Awards aim to unite all the players in the regional market, to highlight the stock market dynamism of the sub-region, to increase the visibility of the MFR, and to promote excellence. and good practices. 8 categories have been selected to decide between the actors of the MFR according to quantitative and qualitative selection criteria.

Raw materials

At the end of the 15th ministerial meeting of OPEC members, the ministers opted for a gradual increase in oil production so as to maintain price stability. The adjustments should not exceed 500,000 barrels per day (Mbd).

For now, oil prices continue to fall despite better economic prospects. Analysts at ANZ Bank said optimism over the global economic outlook boosted sentiment in the crude oil market. However, a possible increase in US fuel stocks and talks with Iran weighed. US crude inventories fell, while gasoline inventories rose.

Ten new climate-smart agriculture pilot projects are launched in seven West African countries. These are: Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. With a total cost of €2.3 million, these projects will be implemented over a period of 20 months. The objective of the selected pilot projects is to finance the implementation and capitalization of innovative local agricultural solutions with high potential for replication and/or scaling up for the West African region relating to adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

In Côte d'Ivoire, fair trade actors in France and various organizations accuse multinational chocolate companies of engaging in an "indecent showdown" with cocoa producers. They call for "a massive outburst to denounce this intolerable situation" and demand "remunerative prices for producers".

In addition, the various missions of the cotton-cashew council have borne fruit. Cotton cultivation has just been reintroduced in the Dabakala region. After criss-crossing several villages, emissaries from the cotton-cashew council are working to get the farmers to reintroduce this crop in this area which they deem favorable and suitable. Thus, the areas of Bidiala, Kanieguema and Sorolo, located in the sub-prefecture of Tindenin Bamarasso, are reconnecting with cotton fields.

In Gabon, the NGO Brainforest organized a round table on April 2 in Libreville to mobilize technical and financial partners to support actions in the cocoa sector. This meeting is part of the "cocoa under shade" project, designed and implemented by the NGO. Placed on the theme "The cocoa sector in Gabon: challenges and prospects", the round table aims to reconcile economic development and zero deforestation for local communities.

Bank and insurance

For the past year, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) recorded a net result of 69.238 billion FCFA. The total balance sheet rose to 20.961 billion FCFA against 17.711 billion in 2019, an increase of 18%. BCEAO activity has increased in several areas despite the coronavirus crisis.

The BCEAO National Directorate for Senegal and the leaders of credit institutions held their first quarterly meeting for the year 2021 by videoconference. The Senegalese banking system was marked in 2020 by a good performance of the main indicators, with an increase in banking uses of 843 billion FCFA in annual variation to settle at 7,609.3 billion FCFA.

The Banking and Insurance Consultant, Kamal Zine announced that Moroccan banks experienced a slight increase in their net banking products. For the majority of banks, this evolution was between 1% and 2.6%.

The World Bank projects an economic recovery of between 2.3 and 3.4% for sub-Saharan Africa in 2021. It estimates that sub-Saharan Africa has recorded an economic contraction of around 2%. The economic recovery of the region should take place despite the general recession due to the effects of covid-19 on the various sectors of activity.

For its part, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has announced that it will invest more than 300 billion FCFA in favor of WAEMU over the next 5 years. This disbursement concerns the implementation of BOAD's Djoliba 2021-2025 Strategic Plan for five priority sectors: agriculture and food security, renewable energies, basic infrastructure, health, education and housing. social.

As part of the co-financing of the preparation of regional infrastructure projects in public-private partnership (PPP), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and BOAD signed a memorandum of understanding defining a strategic partnership framework, involving at least one member state of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The Memorandum of Understanding, concluded for a period of five years, will help the two institutions and the WAEMU countries to rapidly build a solid pipeline of prepared, bankable and quality regional infrastructure projects, within the framework of the boosting post-Covid-19 infrastructure investment in the region, a statement said.

The AfDB is also supporting the Government of Niger in the implementation of the Project to Strengthen the Resilience of Rural Communities to Food and Nutritional Insecurity in Niger (PRECIS-Niger). The works were launched on Thursday April 1, 2021 with the aim of providing the necessary support to the Government of Niger for the start of the project and to allow all the actors involved, in particular the Project Implementation Unit, to up to date on the content of the project and the applicable procedures.

Islamic bank Jaiz Bank announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020 on Wednesday (April 7). The banking establishment posted an after-tax profit up 19% to 2.90 billion naira (7 .6 million USD) against 2.44 billion naira (6.4 million USD) the previous year.

Governance

The president of the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Emmanuel Kasarhérou announced that the process of transporting the 26 cultural goods to Benin starts in the 4th quarter of ^2021. The exact date will be defined by the next government.

The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez accompanied by the leaders of many companies are on a working visit to Angola and Senegal. The objective is to strengthen the fight against illegal immigration and trade relations with Africa, where Spain feels "underrepresented".

This week, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara made several appointments to form a new government. On the proposal of Prime Minister Patrick Achi, the Head of State has appointed 37 ministers, three ministers of state, four secretaries of state and two ministers attached to the presidency of the Republic, all from the ruling party.

For his part, the President of the Senegalese Republic, Macky Sall announced the holding on April 22 of a Presidential Council on the financing of the Emergency Program for the employment and socio-economic integration of young people. This will be a "new impetus" for employment and the socio-economic integration of young people.

Also, the Minister of Social and Solidarity Economy, Zahra Iyane Thiam Diop, and her colleague of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Amadou Hott, signed the sectoral development policy letter (LPSD) of the sector of microfinance and the social and solidarity economy. This act mainly aims to optimize the quality of the supply of social and solidarity financial services, to strengthen the capacity of economic actors and the structuring of their funding requests.

Financial crimes

The fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism is taking a new turn in Senegal. The first quarterly meeting of the year 2021 between the National Directorate of the BCEAO and the leaders of credit institutions, focused on the strengthening of internal control mechanisms.

Mauritius found itself on the list of 21 countries considered at risk by the British government. Submitted to Parliament by the British Treasury Department on March 25, this regulation allows Great Britain to decide alone and in complete discretion which countries to penalize.

The Paris Court of Appeal condemned the Latvian bank Rietumu for laundering tax evasion in the France Offshore case. She was fined 20 million euros, a quarter of that pronounced at first instance. His boss at the time, Alexander Pankov, was acquitted for part of the offense and sentenced to two years' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros, against four years' suspended sentence at first instance.

The governor of the Banque du Liban is under pressure in the United Kingdom. While Riad Salamé is already the subject of an investigation in Switzerland for suspicion of aggravated money laundering at the expense of the Banque du Liban, initiatives by lawyers and activists are multiplying to push other European jurisdictions to seize of the case. Several complaints have been filed in the United Kingdom, where a large part of the governor's heritage is located.

Regional growth

The Togolese capital will host an international conference on the future West African currency, the Eco. The international symposium on ECO, initiated by the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Lomé, and its former dean Kako Nubukpo, (recently appointed to UEMOA) has been announced to be held from 26 to 28 next May in Lomé. The event has a double objective: “To reflect on the monetary transition and the urgency of Africa's development, then to define a roadmap to be submitted to the leaders of ECOWAS”.