Page 9 - DMEA Week 01 2021

DMEA POLICY & SECURITY DMEA

Morocco, China sign deal to implement BRI

AFRICA THE Moroccan government and its Chinese easier trade and cooperation.
counterpart signed a mutual agreement on the The agreement aims to revive the historic Silk
joint implementation plan for China’s Belt and Road on land and sea by establishing a trade and
Road Initiative (BRI), Moroccan Foreign Affairs infrastructure bridge linking Asia to Europe and
Minister Nasser Bourita said in a statement. Africa.
The agreement aims to promote access to The deal will open the door for expansion of
Chinese funding provided by the Belt and Road its commodities in Africa through the Moroccan
Initiative (BRI) for large-scale projects, trade gate. It also seeks to boost cooperation in differ-
facilitation, the establishment of joint ventures ent fields, including trade, investment, military,
in various fields such as industrial parks and security, culture, education, and tourism.
energy, including renewable energies, facilities. Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of China’s National
It also covers cooperation in technological and Development and Reform Commission
technical cooperation, as well as vocational (NDRC) said the mutual benefit of the initiative
training. would strengthen cooperation between the two
Both countries signed a memorandum of countries.
understanding (MoU) on the ambitious initia- In 2020, the bilateral trade between China
tive in 2017. Launched in 2013 by President Xi and Morocco rose 2% y/y to $ 4.76bn and is
Jinping, the BRI is both a set of sea and rail links expected to hit $ 6bn this year, according to
between China and a number of countries for NDRC’s estimates.™

FINANCE & INVESTMENT

Angola still not setting

deadline for Sonangol IPO

AFRICA ANGOLA’S government is gearing up for the takes to adjust the company’s attractiveness [in
partial privatisation of the national oil company light of] market conditions so that it is prepared
(NOC) Sonangol but has not yet set a target date, to be privatised on the national and international
according to Edson Pongolola, the director of the stock exchanges.”
firm’s planning and control department. Additionally, he said that Luanda might
Speaking in late December, Pongolola con- not sell 30% of Sonangol all at once but might
firmed that Luanda was still preparing to unload float shares in several smaller tranches instead.
30% of the NOC’s equity through an initial pub- The IPO “should not necessarily start with 30%
lic offering (IPO) of stock and might begin the because it is a complex exercise, but it could
process before the end of 2022, in line with pre- start with privatisations at lower percentages,
vious statements. depending on the attractiveness of the pro-
He also stressed, though, that the government posals” received from potential investors, he
would not schedule the IPO until it was certain explained.
that the company was a sufficiently attractive Pongolola did not say exactly how much the
prospect. Angolan government hoped to collect from the
“Sonangol’s privatisation exercise does not sale. According to previous reports, Sonangol’s
[have to] end in 2022,” he said in statements president Sebastiao Gaspar Martins has sug-
broadcast by Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA). gested that the IPO may generate proceeds of
The sale process may “extend for as long as it around €5-7bn ($5.65-7.92bn).™

Week 01 06•January•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9