Spotlight | Morocco
"M6" set to become electricity magnate

The New Guard
Morocco, Guinea, Zimbabwe and Libya

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

MoroccoMakhzen keeping tabs on Obaid Amrane's rising star.

GuineaMamadou Diallo, from the embassy to the World Bank.

ZimbabweJohn Paradza, a key player in Mnangagwe's battle for the youth vote.

LibyeKhalid Chaouki, former Italian MP growing his Tripoli business network.

Tunisia
Mongi Marzouk wants to scupper CPG's PPP desalination project in Gabès

The energy and mines minister, who is against public-private partnerships, wants to cancel plans to build the plant which is supposed to supply water to the phosphate processing complex in Gabès. He risks incurring the wrath of the international financial institutions, however.

Kenya
Engie eyes geothermal market to north of Nairobi

The French giant Engie, which currently has a limited presence on the continent despite its size, is seeking to break into the Kenyan market.

Morocco
Masen's new solar power projects fail to attract developers

Private sector electricity producers reacted with a mixture of perplexity and suspicion to the call from renewable energy agency Masen [...]

Morocco
High voltage row between ONEE and Masen on electricity prices

Relations between national electricity and water office ONEE and sustainable energy agency Masen have become electric to say the least! [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
DLA Piper revises "13-09" renewables law for Rabbah

Ten years after it was adopted, the 13-09 law on "renewable" private sector electricity production is to be radically revised. The reform, which was been drawn up with the help of law firm DLA Piper, could open up a breach [.

Morocco
Masen runs late on renewable projects in Zambia

Renewable energy agency Masen's plans to become a developer of green electricity projects throughout Africa are proving slow to take [...]

Morocco
EDF wins Midelt CSP contract, ACWA's photovoltaic bid is rejected

The big Noor Midelt solar power project, which was launched in 2015, has once again blown a fuse. According to [...]

Morocco
Sanlam to take 25% stake in Khalladi wind farm via Saham

The 120 MW Khalladi wind farm, which is due into service in mid-2018, will soon count Saham Assurances among its [...]

Morocco
Doubts over EDF-Masdar bid delay Noor Midelt contract award

Renewable energy agency MASEN is faced with a major solar headache. According to our information, the agency is struggling to [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
Abderrahim Hafidi attempts a risky merger at the ONEE

Abderrahim Hafidi, who was appointed to replace Ali Fassi-Fihri as head of national electricity and drinking water utility ONEE in April, will need to give concrete form this year to the merger between the organisation's electricity (ONE) and water (ONEP) [.

Morocco
Engie and Nareva obtain Dakhla desalination plant contract unopposed

French energy giant Engie and Nareva, energy subsidiary of Mohammed VI's personal holding company Al Mada, did not have too [...]

Morocco
EDF just fails to clinch giant Noor Midelt solar plant contract

The storm clouds are gathering over the giant Noor Midelt 800 MW solar power plant project. According to our information, [...]

Morocco
EDF EN and Mitsui renegotiate terms for Taza wind farm project

The Franco-Japanese consortium constituted by EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN) and Mitsui, which was chosen to build a 150 MW [...]

Spotlight | Tunisia
Chinese photovoltaic firms on the attack

Chinese groups, which have access to state financing and low-cost technology, could emerge as the winners of last May's call for firms looking to be pre-selected for the construction of eight photovoltaic power plants, together able to produce up to [.

Spotlight | Morocco
Ali Fassi-Fihri takes on Al Mada electricity brief

After having been sacked in October following a "royal rage" over delays on ONEE (national electricity and drinking water office) projects in Al Hoceima (MC 1252), former ONEE boss Ali Fassi-Fihri has made a quick return to favour with… Mohammed [.

Morocco
MASEN in seduction mode with Brussels elite

During a recent visit to European institutions in Brussels, the [...]

Morocco
Abdelmoumni comes to CAM's rescue

Transparency Maroc secretary general Fouad Adbelmoumni, who launched an appeal on July 4 to suspend the boycott which has been [...]

Morocco
Khalid Oudghiri builds himself an empire of spare parts

Khalid Oudghiri, who was head of Attijariwafa Bank (owned by [...]

Morocco
Voltalia is Veolia's joker for Dakhla desalination plant contract

French utilities giant Veolia has teamed up with tiny French company Voltalia to bid for the contract for the huge [...]

Morocco
The ONEE prepares for MASEN and Nareva grid plug-in

The national electricity and drinking water office, the ONEE, is [...]

Morocco
Mawazine festival fears becoming next boycott target

After Sidi Ali, Centrale Danone and Afriquia, the Mawazine festival [...]

Morocco
Hatim Ismaili becomes head of SPIE Maroc

SPIE Maroc, which was taken over by French energy giant [...]

Morocco
Masen takes a fresh look at its accounting capacities

The Moroccan Solar Energy Agency (Masen) is finding it difficult [...]

Mauritania
Banda peters out under World Bank watch

At one point the Mauritanian government had made clear assurances that it would make the development of Banda gas (merely [...]

Morocco
Nareva, Enel and Siemens short of wind

The wind is blowing against Morocco's ambitious Integrated Wind Power Programme (PEI)! According to our information, Nareva, a subsidiary of [...]

Morocco
Engie will light up Casablanca's Grand Theatre

France's Engie has landed a fine contract thanks to its [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
Dakhla desalination plant attracts industry big boys

Agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch's "Moroccan Sahara" showpiece project, the wind-powered desalination project, which will provide irrigation for 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Dakhla Oued-Eddahab region, is attracting the leading national and international groups in the field.

Morocco
Green light for Pharma 5 plant in Abidjan

Nine months late, Pharma 5 is preparing to lay the first stone of its pharmaceuticals plant in Abidjan. According to [...]

Morocco
Engie on track for Rabat-Sale tramway extension contract

Following Mohammed VI's official send-off for the 7-km extension of [...]

Morocco
ECC and LNG Value to help ONEE with gas contracts

The huge Gas to Power project, which is intended to free Morocco from its dependence on Algerian gas by developing [...]

Morocco
Schneider Electric moves into Casablanca Finance City

French electrical equipment giant Schneider Electric has finally succumbed to [...]

Morocco
Attijari Invest backs Mehdi Ghorfi in biomass venture

Mehdi Ghorfi-led investment fund, PGS Invest, is to get backing [...]

Morocco
Abdellatif Berrada tails "M6" everywhere in Africa

Abdellatif Berrada, who has made a speciality of providing technical support for Morocco's social projects in Africa, is now trying [...]

Morocco
Ahmed Nakkouch bounces back with Aziz Akhannouch

Three months after having handed over to Aymane Taud as head of Nareva, the energy subsidiary of royal holding company [...]

Africa
EleQtra, a discreet investor builds its nest on the continent

The mid-June signing of a partnership with French energy group Engie for the construction of a 50 MW wind farm [...]

Morocco
Mohamed Krisni investigated by royal auditors

The sacking in early May of Mohamed Krisni, chief executive of Attijariwafa Bank Cameroon subsidiary Societe Commercial de Banque (SCB), [...]

Morocco
Attijariwafa Bank to set up in Bangui and Kinshasa

After a lull of several years, Attijariwafa Bank, which is owned by royal holding company SNI, has resumed its expansion [...]

Morocco
SOMED sells its hotels to Khalil Tizniti

SOMED, the holding company owned by the Moroccan state, royal holding company SNI and Emirati interests (including the reigning Abu [...]

Morocco
The ONEE pulls out all the stops for Nareva in the Sahara

The ONEE (Office National de l’Electricite et de l’Eau Potable) [...]

Madagascar
King of Morocco introduces his loyalists to Madagascan businessmen

King Mohammed VI of Morocco took some thirty Moroccan captains [...]

Morocco
Gaertringen plays journalist for Quaesta Capital

The launch of a €100 million fund for Morocco, which [...]

Morocco
GE sets up services venture

GE (General Electric) has set up a new structure in [...]

Morocco
Sassou Nguesso Jr in row with Tractafric

A spat over a Mercedes car nearly upset the good [...]

Madagascar
Tractebel to study electricity grid modernisation

The World Bank (WB) has designated the winner of its [...]

Burkina Faso
Zoumana Traore updates the mines registry

Named director of the mining registry at Burkina Faso’s mines ministry in late May (AMI 369), Zoumana Traore has already [...]

Zambia
World Bank offers cash for clean-up operations

The World Bank’s directors are to be asked on Dec. [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
Why and how "M6" took back control of COP22

Just a month before the opening of the COP22 climate conference on November 7 in Marrakesh, Mohammed VI ("M6") has taken direct charge of preparations for the conference which, until now, had been left in the hands of the government.

Spotlight | Morocco
Enertika has found the right power connections

Spanish energy efficiency specialist Enertika is being helped to win Moroccan public service contracts by a high-powered duo made up of an authentic local aristocrat and an engineer with good connections among municipal authorities.Enertika, which has not been active long [.

Morocco
Amara puts Gas to Power into Italian

Minister of Energy Abdelkader Amara is seeking to promote his ambitious Gas to Power plan, which is aimed at reducing [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
The ONEE looks for lawyers to wean it from Algerian gas

Seven of the world's biggest law firms are battling for the job of assisting the ONEE (Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable) to realise its gas-to-power project. The winner, who will be designated over the next few months, [.

Document | Morocco
Majidi hires former Sarkozy pollster Giacometti

Pierre Giacometti, the one-time "opinion" adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy who was recently charged over his role in the opinion polls [...]

Morocco
EDF and Mitsui see light at the end of the tunnel in Taza

EDF énergies nouvelles (EDF EN) and Mitsui hope to start construction work this year at the Taza wind farm site, [...]

Morocco
The ONEE prepares its network for Nareva and the others

The ONEE (Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable) [...]

Morocco
Fund sells off $24 million of Glencore shares in Sahrawi offshore

Opposed to its operations in Western Sahara, Norway’s KLP fund has withdrawn its trust from Glencore and is threatening to suspend other investments, too.

Morocco
Ali Fassi-Fihri returns to the sun

Ali Fassi-Firhi, head of national electricity and water office ONEE, [...]

Morocco
Ali Fassi-Fihri in active mode at ONEE

Ali Fassi-Fihri is proceeding energetically with rationalization of the national electricity and water office ONEE. He has just commissioned BearingPoint [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
Terrab, Bouhemou and Bakkoury play musical chairs

Mohammed VI is preparing to carry out a major reshuffle of his top economic management team. The operation will affect the OCP (Office Chérifien des Phophates) and the solar energy agency MASEN but could also be extended to other public [.

Morocco
Spain goes on the offensive on renewable energy

Spain’s Glual has just opened an offshoot in Casablanca, Glual [...]

Spotlight | Morocco
Funding puzzle for ONEE's wind farms

How does Morocco's Office National de l'Electricite et de l'Eau Potable (ONEE), which has just received 5 billion dirhams in emergency aid from the government, intend to finance construction of five wind farms due to generate 850 MW at a [.

Morocco
Mohamed VI picks lighter diet

With the street finally beginning to grumble in Morocco, royal circles are doing their utmost to shield king Mohammed VI. [...]