The OCP Group, Morocco’s phosphate giant is joining hands with Germany’s Budenheim and Belgium’s Prayon to launch a new production plant for purified phosphoric acid. A statement from OCP said that the new project is being launched through their subsidiary Euro Maroc Phosphore (EMAPHOS), a joint venture with Moroccan and Belgian partners, located in Casablanca, a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean. The new venture is expected to consolidate the global leadership in the production of purified phosphoric acid and also strengthen the status of the Group of global producers of specialty phosphate products. The new plant will lead to doubling of the annual production capacity of EMAPHOS from 140,000 total phosphorus (TP) 205 per year to 280,000 TP 205 per year in the 4th quarter of 2022.
After completing the basic engineering studies in March 2020, the project is under detailed assessment. The construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2021.
MIGA issues guarantees to wholly-owned subsidiary of South Africa’s FirstRand Group (South Africa)
A wholly-owned subsidiary of South Africa’s First Rand Group has received a guarantee of up to $235 million, for a period of up to 15 years from MIGA, a member of the World Bank Group. The facility will cover the subsidiaries’ mandatory reserves held as per regulatory requirements in its countries of presence. About 60 percent of the support provided by the MIGA guarantees will be directed to low-income IDA countries like Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, and Zambia. Twelve percent is earmarked for Mozambique, a country recently affected by conflict.
The MIGA guarantees is expected to unlock funding and liquidity, and support the economies of the host countries, which are under severe stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the commodities markets.
The economic outlook of Africa remains bleak due to the COVID-19 crisis with the economic growth projected to contract in all of the host countries. Except for Ghana and Mozambique, five of the seven host economies are estimated to enter negative growth in 2020. The economic situation is exposing the banks to increased pressure to optimize capital allocation and reduce risk exposures.
Speaking about the support MIGA Executive Vice President Hiroshi Matano observed that MIGA support for First Rand Bank that is helping the seven countries to face the challenges from the global pandemic will help them to build resilience within the countries through the continued supply of credit.
The MIGA’s support reduces the risk-weighting of the subsidiaries’ mandatory minimum reserves on First Rand’s balance sheet enabling it to use the freed-up capital to sustain the lending activities of its subsidiaries. It also includes assistance to the subsidiaries through the implementation of FirstRand’s updated Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) and other policies related to MIGA’s Performance Standards.
