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Interview

OBG talks to Richard Attias, Executive Chairman, Richard Attias & Associates; and Founder, New York Forum Africa
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Interview:Richard Attias What are the most common opportunities and risks connected with foreign direct investments into sub-Saharan economies? RICHARD ATTIAS: Driven by strong demographic growth and the rise of a middle-income class, Africa is a continent under construction. Thus, businesses flourish abundantly, and many opportunities are to be seized in key sectors like infrastructure development,…
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OBG talks to Henri-Claude Oyima, Director and Chairman, BGFI Bank
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Interview:Henri-Claude Oyima How can interest rates be lowered to aid funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? HENRI-CLAUDE OYIMA: To fix the interest rate attributed to companies, including SMEs, banks base their evaluation on two criteria: the cost to access their own resources and the risk linked to project financing. Unfortunately, both of these factors remain rather high in…
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OBG talks to Pierre Moussa, President, CEMAC Commission
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Interview:Pierre Moussa How effective has the implementation of free movement within the region been? PIERRE MOUSSA: Integration started a long time ago. The Treaty of Brazzaville was signed almost 50 years ago, creating the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa, and in 1994 CEMAC was created. The objective now is to accelerate the integration process and make the community’s actions…
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OBG talks to Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO, Olam International
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Interview:Sunny Verghese What are the biggest challenges to vertical integration in Africa’s agricultural sector? SUNNY VERGHESE: Farmers face several challenges in the upstream part of the value chain, including lack of credit and knowledge, logistics constraints and adequate access to markets. The lack of credit to smallholders has resulted in long periods of underinvestment in farms. However,…
Interview

OBG talks to Yves Fernand Manfoumbi, Director-General of the Budget
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Interview:Yves Fernand Manfoumbi What sort of budgetary reforms have been put in place to improve fiscal indicators? YVES FERNAND MANFOUMBI: To improve our management of public finances, the government has put in place several tools for budgetary reform. We have also adopted the Law on Finances and Budget Execution (LOLFEB), the elaboration of the medium-term spending framework at both the…
Interview

OBG talks to Léon Nzouba, Minister of Health
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Interview:Léon Nzouba How much of the low-income population is covered by the current health system? LEON NZOUBA: The health and social protection systems Gabon has implemented are considered to be rather innovative within the sub-region. Low-income earners were the first targeted population in the enrolment process. Today, 80% of their medical expenses are covered by the National Health Insurance…
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OBG talks to Madeleine Berre, Partner and GM, Deloitte Legal and Tax; and Nicolas Balesme, Partner and GM, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
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Interview:Madeleine Berre, Nicolas Balesme To what extent can the recent tax incentives strengthen local businesses’ competitiveness? MADELEINE BERRE: The Finance Law 2013 has incorporated a number of new fiscal measures to strengthen the competitiveness of local businesses, including a drop in the corporate tax rate to 30% from 35%, except for the oil sector; larger tax exemptions…
Interview

OBG talks to Jim Dutton, Director-General, National Agency for Public Works
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Interview:Jim Dutton How is the government facilitating public-private partnerships (PPP) and foreign investment? JIM DUTTON: PPPs are key elements for the national development plan going forward. We have worked to establish, in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Budget, a funding model for the next 15 years that will involve significant private sector participation.…
Interview

OBG talks to Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba, President, National Agency for Digital Infrastructure and Frequencies (ANINF)
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Interview:Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba How can local consumers benefit from the African Coast to Europe (ACE) cable? ALEX BONGO ONDIMBA: Despite the recent growth in access to telecommunications services, especially in the mobile phone segment, Gabon suffers from excessively high internet costs. This is partly due to the lack of broadband infrastructure; however, the ACE cable will help address…
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OBG talks to Régis Immongault Tatagani, Minister of Industry and Mining
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Interview:Régis Immongault Tatagani What steps are needed to increase the manufacturing sector’s participation in the economy? REGIS IMMONGAULT TATAGANI: The first element needed to initiate a successful industrialisation process is a thorough strategy. To that end, the focus has been on diversification of the local economy, hence diminishing an overreliance on the oil industry. Sectors…