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The Pan-African Economy in Brief: Saturday, July 13, 2019

COTE D’IVOIRE:
The CCC will stabilize the level of the cocoa harvest at 2 million tonnes per year:
In Côte d'Ivoire, the Cocoa Coffee Council (CCC) will maintain the level of cocoa production at 2 million tonnes, Yves Koné ,General Manager of the regulator, told Bloomberg. This plan should limit any excessive increase in production that would undermine the initiative to improve producers' incomes currently under discussion with Ghana. It should come into force from the 2020/2021 campaign. According to Mr. Koné, the organization has already suspended seedling distribution programs and will slow the development of plantations in new areas. In addition, says the manager, improved systems will be introduced to facilitate registration of producers and their domains...


ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwe pledges to return $196 million owed to airlines:
196 million US dollars: this is the total amount resulting from the sale of airline tickets, currently blocked in Zimbabwe. At the end of the meeting on Tuesday 9 July 2019 in Harare between Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Alexandre du Juniac, Chief Executive Officer of IATA (International Air Transport Association), the two parties agreed to quickly find a "mutually acceptable and feasible solution" for the repatriation of these funds which are holding back the activities of airlines. This first meeting, considered "very fruitful and encouraging" by Alexandre du Juniac, will be followed by "further joint meetings between IATA and the Government of Zimbabwe to immediately finalize the definition of a framework for the return of airline revenues and to implement it while preventing the accumulation of additional debts", explains IATA...


MOZAMBIQUE:
Syrah raises $38.5 million for the Balama project:
Syrah Resources has finalized this week a financing of 55.8 million Australian dollars (38.5 million US dollars) for its Balama graphite project in Mozambique. The funds were raised through an entitlement offer, part of a larger capital raising of AUD 111.6 million announced last month. The ASX-listed company plans to use the financing to boost production at its Balama mine. In this regard, it intends to make the mine the world leader in the production of high-purity graphite...