GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE AND USE AFRICA BUSINESS+

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. OBJET
The website (hereinafter referred to as the “Site”) is an online media platform for professionals (hereinafter referred to as “Users”), providing general and sector-specific editorial content on strategic economic information for investors, economic decision-makers, and policymakers.

These general terms and conditions aim to define the terms and conditions of use of the Site and the services offered on the Site (hereinafter referred to as the “Services”), as well as to define the rights and obligations of the parties in this context. These general terms and conditions are accessible at any time through a direct link at the bottom of the Site.

They may be supplemented, if applicable, by quotes as defined in the “Subscription to Africa Business+ Subscription” article, or by specific sales conditions for certain subscriptions, which complement these general terms and conditions and, in the event of a contradiction, take precedence over them.

These Terms and Conditions of Use supersede any other general conditions, including the Subscriber’s possible general purchasing conditions, even if attached to a signed purchase order by the Company.

The Site is free to modify the Terms and Conditions of Use at any time without prior notice or notification. The most recent version of the Terms and Conditions of Use is permanently available on the Site via the URL link at the bottom of each page of the Site.

2. SITE OPERATOR AND SERVICE PROVIDER – CONTACT

The Site and the Services are operated by AFRICA MEDIA GROUP – SCA with a capital of 9 551 003€ – with its registered office at 57 bis, rue d’Auteuil – 75016 Paris 16, (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”).

The Company can be contacted at the following coordinates :
Address: AFRICA MEDIA GROUP, 57 bis, rue d’Auteuil – 75016 Paris 16
Phone : +33 1 87 64 06 30
Email : service.client@africabusinessplus.com

3. ACCESS TO THE SITE AND SERVICES

A. The Site and Services are accessible to :

Any individual with full legal capacity to enter into these general terms and conditions. An individual without full legal capacity may only access the Site and Services with the consent of their legal representative.

Any legal entity acting through an individual with the legal capacity to enter into contracts on behalf of and for the account of the legal entity.

B. Site and Services reserved for professionals:

The Site and Services are exclusively intended for professionals, defined as individuals or legal entities using the Site or Services for their own needs within the scope of their professional activities.

For example, any person whose primary activity involves monitoring economic and financial news will be considered a professional under these terms and conditions.
The Site and Services are not intended for individuals.

C. Access Conditions to the Site and Services :

The Site is accessible to any internet user (hereinafter referred to as the “Visitor”) who wishes to browse it, without prior registration.

However, subscribing to a subscription (hereinafter referred to as the “Subscription”) requires the internet user to register on the Site and create an Account.
The term “Users,” for the purposes of these general terms and conditions, includes both the Visitors of the Site and individuals who have subscribed to a Subscription (hereinafter referred to as the “Subscribers”).

4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. All Users are bound by these general terms and conditions without restriction or reservation.

B. For Visitors, simply accessing the Site implies their acceptance of these general terms and conditions.

C. Regarding Users who wish to access the Services, their acceptance of these general terms and conditions is indicated by checking a box during their registration process. Any explicit or implicit validation of a Quote also constitutes full acceptance of these general terms and conditions, in their current version on the date of the relevant Quote.

D. Acceptance of these general terms and conditions can only be full and complete. Any acceptance with reservations is considered null and void. Users who do not wish to be bound by these general terms and conditions should refrain from accessing the Site or using the Services.

5. REGISTRATION ON THE SITE

A. Subscribing to a Subscription requires the User to register on the Site by completing the designated form. The User must provide all information marked as mandatory. Any incomplete registration will not be validated.

B. Registration automatically leads to the opening of an account in the User’s name (hereinafter referred to as the “Account”), granting them access to a personal space (hereinafter referred to as the “Personal Space”). The Personal Space allows the User to manage their use of the Services in a manner and through technical means that the Company deems most appropriate for providing said Services.

C. The User guarantees that all information provided in the registration form is accurate, up-to-date, sincere, and free from any misleading character.

D. The User undertakes to update this information in their Personal Space in the event of any changes, ensuring that it always meets the aforementioned criteria.

E. The User is informed and accepts that the information entered for the purpose of creating or updating their Account serves as proof of their identity. The information entered by the User becomes binding upon validation.

F. The User can access their Personal Space at any time after identifying themselves using their login credentials and password.

G. The User agrees to personally use the Services and not allow any third party to use them on their behalf or for their account, under penalty of liability.

H. The User is also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their login credentials and password. If they notice that their Account has been used without their knowledge, they must immediately contact the Company using the contact information provided in Article 2 of these terms and conditions. The User acknowledges that the Company has the right to take appropriate measures in such cases.

6. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The User has access to the following Services, in a form and with the functionalities and technical means that the Company deems most appropriate.

The Company offers two types of Subscriptions to Users, namely (a) the AB+ Corporate Subscription with named licenses and (b) the AB+ Corporate Subscription with collective licenses. Both types of Subscriptions provide access to the following content: access to Articles on the Site and the delivery of an exclusive daily Newsletter. The mentioned content is provided purely for informational purposes and may be modified at any time by the Company, in a form and using the technical means that it deems most appropriate.

(a) Named licenses are intended for the exclusive use of Subscribers under whose name they are subscribed and to whom they are addressed. Subscribers are required to provide a named email address for accessing publications and online services. The email address of the Subscription beneficiaries must correspond to the type of address used by the subscribed legal entity (e.g., firstname.lastname@company.com). The use of a personal email address or a generic email address is not allowed.

(b) Collective licenses are designed for a group of readers who belong to the same legal entity but are not individually identified. For accessing publications and online services, Subscribers are provided with a collective email address (e.g., documentation@company.com).

7. SUBSCRIPTION TO AFRICA BUSINESS+ SUBSCRIPTION

An individual with the legal capacity to enter into contracts on behalf of a legal entity may contact the Company using the following contact information to request the issuance of a Quote based on the selected options (hereinafter referred to as the “Quote”):

•  By postal mail: AFRICA MEDIA GROUP, Subscription Department, 57 bis, rue d’Auteuil – 75016 Paris 16, France.
• By email: vip-subscription@africabusinessplus.com

The Company will provide a Quote specifying the organizational scope, including the employees who will be eligible for the Subscription, the options involved, and the Subscription price. The Quote is subject to the express written approval of the requesting party.

Unless stated otherwise in the Quote, it is valid for one month. If the Quote is not validated by both parties within this period, it will no longer be valid.

The Applicant, or any other individual with the legal capacity to enter into contracts on behalf of a legal entity, must duly complete the Quote, including the designation of a permanent employee of the legal entity as the Subscription Manager (hereinafter referred to as the “Subscription Manager”), and sign it, along with any necessary stamps, before returning it to the Company using the contact information provided in Article 2, either by mail or electronically.

The validation of the Quote constitutes the formation of the Subscription contract between the Company and the Subscriber.

8. USAGE TERMS

Unless otherwise stated and within the limits indicated in the Quote, any permanent employee within the organizational scope specified in the Quote can become a beneficiary of the Subscription (hereinafter referred to as the “Subscription Beneficiary”).

In accordance with the Subscription terms specified in the Quote, Subscription Beneficiaries access the Services through their Account or IP address.

When access to the Services requires the creation of an Account, Subscription Beneficiaries will use their credentials for each login to the Services.

The credentials are intended to reserve access to the Services for the beneficiaries and to protect the integrity and availability of the Services.

The Subscription Beneficiaries’ credentials are personal and confidential. They can only be changed upon request by a Subscriber or at the initiative of the Company, provided that the Subscriber is informed in advance.

The Subscriber is fully responsible for the use of the credentials by the Subscription Beneficiaries and is responsible for safeguarding the access codes provided to them.

The Subscriber shall ensure that no unauthorized person has access to the Services, except as authorized by the Company.

In general, the Subscriber undertakes to take all necessary security measures to keep their credentials confidential and not to disclose them in any form. The Subscriber expressly acknowledges that any use of the Services with their login credentials will be deemed to have been carried out by them.

The email address of the Subscription Beneficiaries must comply with the type of address of the subscribing legal entity (e.g., name.surname@company.com).

Subscription Beneficiaries are automatically bound by these terms and conditions.

In the event that access to the Services is granted through the Subscriber’s IP address, and if a third party gains unauthorized access to the Services due to the use of the same IP address, the Company reserves the right to immediately suspend the Subscription. In such a situation, the Company undertakes to promptly offer the Subscriber an alternative solution to ensure their continued access to the Subscription.

9. FINANCIAL TERMS

The paid Services are exclusively accessible through a Subscription.

In exchange for the Services, the Subscriber shall pay the price indicated in the Quote (hereinafter referred to as the “Price”).

The Price indicated is exclusive of taxes, regardless of the Subscriber’s place of residence or registered office.

If applicable, the VAT rate in effect on the day the Quote is issued is provided for informational purposes.

It should be noted that any discount or promotion granted by the Company to the Subscriber and specified in the Quote is only applicable for the initial Subscription period specified in the Quote and will not apply to the Subscription upon automatic renewal.

A. Payment terms

Unless otherwise specified in the Quote, the Price of the Subscription is payable upon receipt of the issued invoice, by bank transfer to the Company’s bank account, by credit card, or by check made payable to the Company and sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

In the case of payment by check, the Subscription will only be effective upon successful clearance of the check. Any check must be sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
The Subscriber warrants to the Company that they have the necessary authorizations to use the chosen method of payment.

B. Duration, Cancellation

Unless otherwise specified in the Quote, the Subscription begins on the day of its subscription, subject to payment of the Price, for a period of 12 (twelve) months, from the same date (hereinafter referred to as the “Initial Period”).

The Subscription then automatically renews for successive periods of the same duration as the Initial Period (hereinafter referred to, together with the Initial Period, as the “Periods”), from the same date, unless terminated by the Company or the Subscriber no later than 30 (thirty) days before the end of the current Subscription Period.

The cancellation of the Subscription by the Subscriber shall be made by email to the contact details mentioned in Article 2.

In the event of early termination of the Subscription, the User remains responsible for paying the full Price.
Cancellation of the Subscription does not result in unsubscribing from the Site. Users will still be able to access certain limited content.

C. Price revision

The Price of the Subscription referred to in Article 7, which does not take into account any exceptional discounts or promotions granted for the initial duration of the Subscription, may be revised by the Company at any time, at its sole discretion. The Company is not obligated to provide prior notification of such revision.

The Subscriber will be informed of any tariff modification relating to the Services referred to in Article 6, which exceeds 4% (four percent) of the Subscription amount, excluding discounts or promotions, by the Company through any relevant written means.

The new price will apply upon the renewal of the Subscription following its entry into force.

D. Invoicing

The Services are subject to invoices for Subscription Periods, which are communicated to the Subscription Manager through any relevant means.

E. Payment Delays and Incidents

Payment Delay: In accordance with Article L 441-6 of the French Commercial Code, late payment penalties at an annual rate of 20% and a fixed indemnity of €40 are due if payment is not made on the day following the payment due date indicated on the invoice. Failure to meet payment deadlines will result in the suspension of services until the situation is regularized. If a previous order showed a payment default or delay, the seller may refuse to complete the sale unless satisfactory guarantees or immediate payment are provided. No discount for early payment is granted. This transaction is subject to French law. Any dispute between the parties regarding invoicing, payments, or the execution of services falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Paris.

F. Right of Withdrawal
The Subscriber has a right of withdrawal within a period of 14 (fourteen) days from the validation of the Quote.

The Subscriber may exercise this right by sending a completed form, as provided in the Annex hereto, or any other unambiguous statement expressing their intention to withdraw, to the Company at the contact details mentioned in the header of these terms and conditions, before the expiration of the aforementioned period.

In the event of exercise of the right of withdrawal, the Company will reimburse the Subscriber for all payments received from them without undue delay and in any event no later than 14 (fourteen) days from the day on which the Company was informed of the Subscriber’s decision to withdraw. The reimbursement will be made using the same means of payment as the one used for the initial transaction, unless the Subscriber expressly agrees to a different means. In any case, this reimbursement will not incur any fees for the Subscriber.

If the Subscriber has requested that the Services commence before the expiration of the withdrawal period by checking the corresponding box in the Quote, they will not be able to exercise their right of withdrawal within the specified period. In this case, the Subscriber will be liable to the Company for the full price of the Subscription.

G. Offers

The Company reserves the right, at its sole discretion and on terms it deems appropriate, to offer promotional offers or discounts on the Price.

10. COMPANY DATA

The User expressly acknowledges and agrees that:

• The data collected on the Site and the Company’s computer systems shall be deemed as evidence of the operations carried out under these terms and conditions.
• Such data constitutes the sole admissible mode of proof between the parties.

11. USER’S OBLIGATIONS

Without prejudice to other obligations set forth herein, the User undertakes to comply with the following obligations:

The User agrees to indemnify the Company for any damages it may suffer and to pay any expenses, charges, and/or convictions it may incur as a result.

A. The User acknowledges having reviewed on the Site the characteristics and constraints, including technical ones, of all the Services. The User is solely responsible for their use of the Services.

B. The User undertakes to use the Services strictly for personal purposes. Consequently, they shall not assign, grant, or transfer, in any way, any or all of their rights or obligations under these terms and conditions to a third party.

C. The User agrees to provide the Company with all necessary information for the proper execution of the Services.

D. The User acknowledges that the Services provide them with an additional, non-alternative solution to stay informed about African Corporate and Project Finance operations, and that this solution cannot replace other means available to the User to achieve the same objective.

E. The User must take the necessary measures to independently backup the information in their Personal Space that they deem necessary.

F. The User is informed and agrees that the implementation of the Services requires an internet connection, and the quality of the Services directly depends on this connection, for which the User is solely responsible.

G. The User guarantees the Company against any complaints, claims, actions, and/or demands that the Company may be subject to as a result of the User’s violation of any of their obligations or warranties under these general conditions.

12. USAGE RIGHTS AND PROHIBITED BEHAVIORS

The Site grants the User the right to access, use, and view the Site’s Content under the following conditions.

It is expressly stated that the Account and the Access Codes provided by the Site are strictly personal, individual, confidential, and non-transferable, particularly to ensure the relevance and personalization of the Content.

The User hereby agrees to create only one Account, to use it exclusively for personal purposes, and never to allow a third party to use it on their behalf or for their account, as doing so would incur their own liability. Lending, sharing, transferring, or selling Access Codes is prohibited and will not be recognized by the Site.

In the event that the Site detects abnormal activity on the Account (especially in relation to unusually high usage of the Content), the Site has the right to suspend or terminate the Account or Subscription and immediately and permanently deny access, either in part or in whole, to the Site.

In general, and without this list being considered exhaustive, Users undertake to :

• Download the Site’s Content onto one’s device strictly for personal, non-commercial, and time-limited use.
• Print or use the downloaded Content only if the data thus created is strictly for personal use, excluding any reproduction or use on paper or electronic media for professional or commercial purposes, or for mass distribution, whether free or paid, such as (but not limited to) invitations, emailings, mailing lists, games and contests, promotions, prospecting, or mass solicitation, or for the creation or enrichment of files or databases.
•  Refrain from subjecting the Site to manual or automated query series that could allow the reconstruction of all or part of the Content, including the References, or for any prohibited use as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
• Do not retain downloaded Content for more than forty-eight (48) hours and destroy it after this period.
• Do not copy or distribute any part of the Content on another website or internal company network, except in the specific cases and conditions described here (quoting an article with a reciprocal URL link).
• Do not reproduce or summarize the Content for the purpose of press review or panorama, thematic or sectoral monitoring, or the creation of a database or an organized systematic classification or presentation, without the express prior written consent of Africa Business+.
• Do not create a press review or panorama, thematic or sectoral monitoring, or a database or an organized systematic classification or presentation based on the Site’s Content, or on images or photographs indicated as belonging to a third-party provider, nor reuse this Content for any medium outside the strict framework of private copying permitted by law.
• Do not reproduce, summarize, alter, modify, move, remove, replace, or redistribute, without the prior written authorization of the Site or CFC (French Center for Copyright Exploitation: www.cfcopies.com), the editorial content of the Content (article text, titles, and subheadings), and/or the reproductions (illustrations, photos), and/or summaries, titles, and subheadings, newsletters, printable versions, magazines, or special editions on any medium, and/or the Sheets, and/or the name, logo, trademark of AFRICA BUSINESS+, and/or the Holders, and/or any other information relating to the rights of the Site and/or the Holders over the Content.
• Do not extract or reuse, sell, exchange, rent, or transfer, even for private purposes, a substantial or non-substantial part of the Content of the articles, References, and archives created by the Site without the prior written authorization of the Site.
• Implement, at their own initiative, suitable control systems based on technological advancements to prevent any “hacking” of the Content, particularly to prevent unlawful or unauthorized use of any Content in any manner or form, contrary to these Terms and Conditions.
• Do not bypass, remove, modify, disable, destroy, or circumvent Content protections.
• Do not use robots, indexing robots, or other automated methods to access/extract/reuse/manipulate the Content in any way.
• Do not engage in any form of web scraping, exploration, data collection, or data extraction related to the Content.
• Strictly ensure the personal use of the individual and nominative access codes assigned to them, take proactive measures to maintain the confidentiality of these codes, promptly modify their Access Codes themselves if necessary, and immediately inform the Site by any means without delay upon becoming aware of or suspecting any unauthorized use of their codes. Violation of these mandatory provisions and, more generally, failure to comply with reasonable use (“fair use”) will subject the User, as well as any individuals involved, to criminal and civil penalties as prescribed by law.

It is strictly prohibited for Users to use the Site for the following purposes:

•  Engaging in illegal, fraudulent, or activities that infringe upon the rights or safety of third parties.
• Disrupting public order or violating laws and regulations in force.
• Intruding into the computer system of a third party or engaging in any activity that may harm, control, interfere with, or intercept all or part of a third party’s computer system, violate its integrity, or compromise its security.
• Sending unsolicited emails and/or engaging in commercial prospecting or solicitation.
• Manipulating to improve the ranking of a third-party website.
• Assisting or inciting, in any form or manner, one or more of the acts and activities described above.
• Generally engaging in any practices that divert the Services from their intended purpose.
  The following actions are also strictly prohibited: (i) any behavior that interrupts, suspends, slows down, or prevents the continuity of the Services, (ii) any intrusion or attempted intrusion into the Company’s systems, (iii) any misappropriation of the Site’s system resources, (iv) any actions that impose a disproportionate burden on its infrastructure, (v) any breaches of security and authentication measures, (vi) any acts that infringe upon the financial, commercial, or moral rights and interests of the Company or the users of its Site, and finally, more generally, (vii) any violation of these terms and conditions.

It is strictly prohibited to monetize, sell, or grant access, in whole or in part, to the Services or the Site, as well as to the information hosted and/or shared therein.

13. SANCTIONS FOR BREACHES – CANCELLATION

In the event of a breach of any provision of these general conditions or, more generally, a violation of applicable laws and regulations by a User, the Company reserves the right to take appropriate measures, including:

• Suspending access to the Services for the User responsible for the breach or violation, or who participated in it, without prejudice to the full payment of the Price as provided in the Quote.
• Publishing on the Site, for the relevant Users, any informative message deemed necessary by the Company.
• Notifying any relevant authority.
• Initiating any legal action.
• Cancelling the User’s access to all or part of the Services, fifteen (15) days after the User receives a notice of default that has remained ineffective, sent by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, indicating the intention to enforce this clause, without prejudice to any damages. This termination automatically leads to the deletion of the User’s Account, without prejudice to any other consequences that may arise under these general conditions and the full payment of the Price as provided in the Quote.

14. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The publication AFRICA BUSINESS+ is the exclusive property of the company AFRICA MEDIA GROUP FRANCE. All of their content is protected by French and international laws on copyright and intellectual property. Subscribing to an individual subscription (hereinafter referred to as “Subscriptions”) or a multi-user License (hereinafter referred to as “Licenses”) does not involve any transfer of ownership rights of any kind to the benefit of the Client (the term “Client” refers to any user or administrator of a Subscription or License).

More generally, the systems, software, structures, infrastructures, databases, and content of any kind (texts, images, visuals, music, logos, trademarks, databases, etc.) operated by the Company within the Site or transmitted to the User by any means are protected by all applicable intellectual property rights or rights of database producers. Any disassembly, decompilation, decryption, extraction, reuse, copying, and, more generally, any acts of reproduction, representation, distribution, and use of any of these elements, in whole or in part, without the prior written authorization of the Company, are strictly prohibited and may be subject to legal action.

15. COMMERCIAL REFERENCES

The Subscriber expressly authorizes the Company to mention and, if necessary, use the reproduction of their brand or logo as commercial references, particularly during events or occasions, in their commercial documents, and on their website, in any form.

16. MODIFICATIONS

The Company reserves the right to modify these general terms and conditions at any time.

The User will be informed of these modifications through any appropriate means.

Users who do not accept the modified general terms and conditions must unsubscribe from the Services.

Any User who continues to use the Services after the modified general terms and conditions come into effect is deemed to have accepted these modifications.

17. LANGUAGE

In the event of a translation of these general terms and conditions into one or more languages, the French language shall prevail in case of contradiction or dispute regarding the meaning of a term or provision.

18. APPLICABLE LAW AND JURISDICTION

These general terms and conditions are governed by French law.

In the event of any dispute regarding the validity, interpretation, and/or performance of these general terms and conditions, the parties agree that the courts of Paris shall have exclusive jurisdiction, unless there are contrary mandatory procedural rules.

19. EFFECTIVE DATE

These general terms and conditions came into effect on June 1, 2023