Middle Eastern and African market data, analysis and forecasts from Business Monitor International, the trusted source for business information and intelligence on global emerging markets.
Middle East & Africa Monitor provides political risk analysis, economic forecasts and business information for trade & industry across the Middle Eastern and African economies of the East Med, The Gulf, North Africa, Southern Africa, East & Central Africa and West Africa. Middle East & Africa Monitor is available as six printed, regional, monthly newsletters. Subscribers also receive password access to a searchable 24-month archive of Middle East & Africa Monitor articles and data online plus the ability to download PDFs of current and back issues of Middle East & Africa Monitor.
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Economy / Congo, Dem. Rep.
In a major reshuffle announced on state radio in late February, President Joseph Kabila confirmed plans to change personnel 20 top posts and trim the size of the cabinet from 54 to 43. The most important change took place at the Finance Ministry where ruling party member Matata Ponyo replaces outgoing head Athanase Matenda. Among the posts eliminated in the reshuffle is of that...
2010-02-26Economy / Congo, Dem. Rep.
Inflation in the DRC has continued to fall in recent months, reaching 47.6% y-o-y in the second week of February 2010. Although such rapid price growth is still cause for concern,...
2010-02-26Economy / Uganda
Private consumption has long been the backbone of the Ugandan economy, and was one of the major factors preventing it from falling into a deeper downturn at a time of globally contracting...
2010-02-25Economy / Egypt
Egypt's Mohammed ElBaradei has said that he will form a 'national association for change' before the 2010 parliamentary and 2011 presidential elections. The announcement was made after a round of talks with opposition leaders and civil society leaders on February 23. ElBaradei, the former head of the UN's atomic watchdog, has also said that he might bid for presidency, in what...
2010-03-02Economy / Israel
In late February, a delegation of senior Israeli officials met with Chinese officials in Beijing in an attempt to persuade China to take a tougher stance on Iran. Against the backdrop...
2010-03-02Economy / Israel
Over the past five years, Israel has turned out trade deficits in the 2-4% of GDP range, yet has still managed to post current account surpluses of 1-5% of GDP. We expect similar...
2010-03-02Economy / Libya
On January 31, Muammar Qadhafi was thwarted in his bid to stay on as chairman of the African Union (AU) for another year. Instead, the AU elected the president of Malawi. The Libyan leader's controversial chairmanship provoked the scorn of many African leaders over his unilateral interventions in the domestic political affairs of several African countries as well as his attempt...
2010-02-26Economy / Morocco
Recent months have seen renewed efforts by the international community to get talks over the future of Western Sahara back on track. The government and the pro-independence Polisario...
2010-02-26Economy / Tunisia
The European Parliament (EP) has postponed a decision to grant Tunisia 'advanced partner status' with the EU owing to concerns about the country's human rights record and press freedom....
2010-02-26Economy / Angola
In spite of a rise in the food component of the price basket, overall inflation fell to 13.83% y-o-y in January (from 13.99% the previous month). Easing price pressures were also reflected in the sequential rate of inflation, which fell from 2.1 % m-o-m in December 2009 to just 0.8% in January. Our average inflation target for 2010 is 12.0%, which is slightly below the government...
2010-03-02Political Risk / Angola
We see Angola's latest constitutional rewrite as a confirmation of a national trend towards centralising executive power. As such, we expect the new constitution to help entrench...
2010-03-02Economy / Angola
US based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for the release of political activist in Cabinda who were arrested for alleged crimes against state security. According to...
2010-03-02Political Risk / Iraq
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is well positioned to retain his position following national parliamentary elections that will take place on March 7. Although his State of Law coalition is unlikely to secure a majority of seats in the next parliament, it could well end up as the largest bloc, thus putting Maliki in a commanding position when the post-election horse trading begins....
2010-03-05Political Risk / Oman
The Ministry of Manpower announced an extension of the December 2009 amnesty for illegal foreign workers until end-March. The decision will allow an estimated 125,000-200,000 (out...
2010-02-26Economy / United Arab Emirates
We estimate that last year, the current account balance dropped into negative territory for the first time since 1998, to the tune of US$1.7bn (0.8% of GDP). Higher oil prices in...
2010-02-26Economy / Gabon
In a sign of rising social tensions in Gabon, local police clashed with university students demanding a federal scholarship allowance. According to the leaders of the demonstration, students have been waiting for their grants to be disbursed since the beginning of January 2009. The government had agreed to pay each beneficiary of the grant CFA66,000 (US$140) per month, but has...
2010-03-03Political Risk / Gabon
Although the move towards a unified opposition is still in its early stages, we believe the newly formed National Union party could become a counterweight to the dominance of the...
2010-03-03Economy / Gabon
We are expecting to see upturn in domestic price pressures in 2010, with year-end inflation projected at 3.7%. This follows a year of a rapid disinflation as a result of the downward...
2010-03-03
