Foreign exchange market

The Central Bank of Congo (BCC) indicates on its website that the Congolese currency is experiencing a relative appreciation at the start of the week. Its exchange rate has remained stable for more than six months on the market, thanks to the stability pact signed between the Central Bank of Congo and the government.

While the Bank of England (BoE) is concerned about inflation, the British pound rose against the euro on Thursday. UK inflation continued to climb to 2.5% year on year in June, the highest since August 2018, data showed on Wednesday. For its part, the pound is strengthening.

Following the intervention of the Fed boss, the euro stabilized against the dollar on Thursday, after recording significant gains the day before. While the greenback is suffering from the soothing tone adopted by Jerome Powell, President of the American Central Bank (Fed), during a hearing in the House of Representatives, the euro is taking advantage to stabilize.

On both markets, parallel and official, the Algerian dinar remains a weak currency against the main currencies. In the capital Paris, next to Square Port-Saïd, currency traders continue to supply the black market.

Cryptocurrencies

The parliamentarians of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are unanimous: there is an “urgent” need to regulate the use of crypto-currencies in the community space. This resolution was taken at the end of the relocated meeting of four parliamentary committees in Ouagadougou, on crypto-currencies. After several communications on the positive and negative impacts of digital currency on investments in the countries of the region, the parliamentarians called for “urgent” regulation of the cryptocurrency market.

Meanwhile, several central banks are considering the launch of their digital currency. As part of a global effort to meet the growing demand for electronic means of payment and to address the rise of cryptocurrencies, the European Central Bank took a first step on Wednesday towards the launch of a version euro digital. If all goes well, the digital euro could see the light of day around 2025 and be added to citizens' means of payment. The Central Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced that it will launch a digital currency pilot project from next September. The E-cedi digital currency is part of the promotion of digital payment and the provision of financial services in the country.

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Money Market

The UMOA-Titres agency has made public the provisional schedule for the issuance of public securities by States for the third quarter of 2021. According to forecasts, UEMOA member States want 1,075 billion FCFA on the financial market over the period. . According to the provisional quarterly program, it is the seven (7) Member States of the Union which are Benin, Burkina, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo which are requesting funding for the third quarter of 2021 on the market.

The State of Mali, was on the financial market of the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) on July 14, 2021. Through its National Directorate of Treasury and Public Accounting, it raised an amount of 30 billion FCFA in term of its issue of treasury recovery bonds (ODR).

Stock market

At the end of the trading session on Wednesday July 14, 2021, the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) erased its underperformance from the previous day. Crown Siem Côte d'Ivoire, Sicor Côte d'Ivoire and Safca Côte d'Ivoire are the winning trio of the five stocks that recorded the highest price increases. The total value of the transactions amounted to 131.211 million FCFA against 93.334 million FCFA the day before. For its part, the stock market capitalization recorded an increase of 46.383 billion FCFA, going from 4,802.271 billion FCFA on July 13, 2021 to 4,848.654 billion FCFA at the end of the day of July 14, 2021. That of bonds is also up by 3.15 billion to 6774.114 billion FCFA against 6770.964 billion FCFA the day before.

Raw materials

The American Energy Information Agency (EIA) announced on Wednesday that the stock of gasoline has recovered in the face of weaker demand, while that of black gold is in decline. According to this weekly report, crude inventories plunged 7.9 million barrels (MB), to 437.6 MB, for the week ended July 9. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in September clearly reflects this return to the upward trend in prices. Also, a monthly report released on Thursday indicates that OPEC sees global oil demand continuing to accelerate at least until 2022, when a deal is expected between its members and their allies to raise their levels. of production. For 2022, OPEC anticipates an additional increase of 3.3 mb/d, to some 99.86 million barrels each day, the 100 million mark even being crossed during the second half. This boom is expected to be fueled by non-OECD countries, with China and India exceeding their pre-Covid consumption levels, whether for transport fuels or industrial needs (petrochemicals).

Companies

The independent company RightCom has launched a tour in the eight countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union. An opportunity for the company to present to the heads of financial institutions, its customer service software called RightDesk. RightDesk is a RightCom solution that offers managers of financial institutions a quick way to comply with circular note No. 002-2020/CBC relating to the processing of complaints from customers of institutions subject to the control of the WAEMU Banking Commission.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the leading development institution focused on the private sector in emerging countries has just committed an investment which aims primarily to support companies based in Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt and other countries. other African countries engaged in job-creating sectors. It announced on Monday July 12 that it had invested 25 billion USD in the pan-African fund Vantage Mezzanine IV.

Banks and Insurance

About sixty Bank agents benefited from capacity building on the protection of personal data and compliance with the law on the protection of personal data. The graduation ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Association of Professionals of Banks and Financial Institutions of Côte d'Ivoire (APBEF-CI) on Wednesday July 14, 2021.

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Until then executive director, Miriam Olusanya is now the managing director of the Nigerian bank Guaranty Trust Bank. The appointment was announced on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. Miriam Olusanya will be the first woman to lead the bank since its inception in 1990.

Insurers, bankers, auditors and other business executives gathered on the occasion of the 3rd solemn return of the Ivorian Network of Risk Management and Insurance in Business, RIMRAE. Placed under the theme '' faced with the emergence of strategic risks, what is the role of the risk manager as a key player in the corporate governance system? '', this 3rd solemn return of the Ivorian Network of Risk Management and Assurances en Entreprise aims to make RIMRAE and its missions known to the general public and organizations. It marks the start of its activities for the 2021 financial year.

In Côte d'Ivoire, only 3 out of 100 people are insured. And late payment of claims is one of the main reasons for this low penetration rate. This trend could soon change with the technological offer of CinetPay. This Ivorian fintech offers insurance companies to quickly collect premiums and settle claims by mobile money and bank cards. The solution is also a response to the risks associated with the conveyance of funds due to the method of payment. And will put an end to the long procedures faced by policyholders and late payments, in connection with forgetting to renew their subscription and especially on time.

Governance

S&P Global Ratings has assigned Côte d'Ivoire long and short-term sovereign credit ratings in foreign and local currencies "BB-/B" as of July 6, 2021. S&P's opinion is based on forecasts of 6% growth in Ivorian GDP in 2021, then 6.5% in the 2022-2024 interval. The outlook is stable denoting the balance between expectations of strong economic growth, supported by improved policymaking supporting lower twin deficits in coming years and, on the other hand, the risk of budgetary slippage and persistent socio-political tensions.

Financial crimes

The promotion of good governance is at the heart of the government's actions for an effective fight against corruption. At the ceremony marking the 5th edition of Africa Anti-Corruption Day, the government reaffirms its determination to fight corruption. The Minister for the Promotion of Good Governance, Capacity Building and the Fight against Corruption, Epiphane Zoro Bi Ballo indicated that this vision must be perceptible through the pursuit of reforms, especially in terms of impunity, consolidation of good governance, public finance management.

From now on, the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism requires the use of new technologies. For Maxime Heckel, an active player in money laundering in Luxembourg, the use of artificial intelligence has become essential for establishments seeking to reduce their costs. In fact, it is always a matter of knowing your customers well and the purpose of their transactions. And this mainly applies to the identification and filtering of new profiles that arise.

Regional growth

The magnitude of the demand for housing in the entire WAEMU space has become a headache. Thus, the commission initiated this project with a view to strengthening the sub-regional approach and providing appropriate solutions to the problems. The Housing Center of Excellence was created to share urban data, programs and policies implemented at the level of each country. This center was launched on July 8 with the aim of creating an analytical framework for the housing sector in a forward-looking vision. The Housing Center of Excellence for the sub-region is an institution for research-action and the development of new skills.

At the 20th International Development Association Replenishment (IDA-20) Advocacy Meeting, African Heads of State called for a strong twentieth IDA20 replenishment to support economic transformation efforts. They have taken firm resolve to accelerate economic recovery from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, step up investment in human capital and step up their job creation efforts. This replenishment aims to support a strong recovery following the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and to help the African continent to continue its economic transformation.