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Friday, September 30 2022

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Spotlight

NIGER

Bazoum struggles to emancipate himself from predecessor Issoufou

CONGO

Sassou deftly pairs inner circle with cabinet members

The president's cabinet reshuffle has done little to rock the boat of his prime minister Anatole Collinet Makosso or of his own entourage. Only his finance minister, Rigobert Foger Andely, has had to say goodbye. [...]

SUDAN

Minni Minawi reconnects with Doha

French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu (left) with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on 16 July 2022 in Abidjan. © Issouf Sanogo/AFP

Inner circles

AFRICA FRANCE Defence

Steep Africa learning curve for new armed forces minister Lecornu

EGYPT Infrastructures

Colas and Orascom bid for €1.7bn Alexandria subway facelift

Egypt has launched a call for tenders for the modernisation of a subway line in the country's second city, and French and Egyptian giants Colas and Orascom are finalising their bids. [...]

MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Mining

Rio Tinto plays Maputo off against Antananarivo Free

SOUTH AFRICA MOZAMBIQUE Energy

South Africa looks to Maputo for its medium-term gas needs

Senegalese President Macky Sall. © Dieylani Seydi / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom/MaxPPP

SENEGAL Defence

Macky Sall looks to think tank CHEDS for guidance on internal security

In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the centre for defence and security studies is hoping to establish itself as a key player in defining the president's domestic security policy. [...]

SOUTH AFRICA FRANCE

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou in Pretoria to follow up on Africa-France summit

France's secretary of state for development, the Francophonie and international partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, will be making an official visit to South Africa from 6 to 8 October. [...]

BURUNDI

Verdicts imminent in Burundi property seizure cases

Two businessmen are suing the Burundian state at the East African Court of Justice. One alleges that it nationalised his factory without offering any compensation, while the other is claiming millions of dollars from the government for seizing his property illegally. [...]

En bref

DRC

Electoral commission head grapples with question of diaspora vote

EAST AFRICA |FRANCE

New East Africa head at French foreign ministry

LIBYA |Finance

EU Court of Justice lifts sanctions on LAICO

The Continent

AFRICA BENIN KENYA SENEGAL SOMALIA Finance Politics Diplomacy 28/09/2022

The New Guard: Senegal, Benin, Kenya, Somalia

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics. This week: Papa Amadou Sarr (Senegal), Schwan Badirou Gafari (Benin), Linet Chepkorir (Kenya), Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi (Somalia). [...]

Spotlight

AFRICA Energy 27/09/2022

TotalEnergies and ENI barter African assets to enter Qatari gas market

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné and QatarEnergy CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi at the signing of the partnership agreement for the North Field East project in Doha, Qatar, on 12 June 2022. © Imad Creidi/Reuters

AFRICA Politics Diplomacy 27/09/2022

Palace intrigues: Emmanuel Macron, Nana Akufo-Addo, Laurent Gbagbo, Sylvie Baïpo-Temon

Intrigues big and small... Every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond. This week: Macron's trip to the Suez Canal Museum; Ghana's Akufo-Addo heading to the Sorbonne; Laurent Gbagbo's bank accounts unblocked; CAR's Sylvie Baïpo-Temon turns consular officer. [...]

All articles on Africa

Eastern Africa and the Horn

Kenyan president William Ruto speaks during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on 21 September 2022, in New York. © Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images via AFP

Spotlight

KENYA Politics Diplomacy 29/09/2022

From Washington to the Horn, Ruto's new diplomatic strategy

News In Brief

FRANCE |KENYA 16/09/2022

Top French auditor helps Nairobi tackle corruption

AFRICA |UNITED NATIONS 15/09/2022

African high up agenda of France's Security Council presidency

SUDAN 14/09/2022

Foreign ministry appoints new Africa expert

AFRICA Politics 29/09/2022

Ructions over appointment of new AU legal counsel Free

With Guy-Fleury Ntwari tipped to be the bloc's next legal counsel, the also-rans' backers have made their ire known to the head of the AU Commission. [...]

ETHIOPIA Diplomacy 29/09/2022

Imbroglio over Tigray at UN Security Council

Throughout September, Paris tried in vain to put the conflict in Ethiopia on the agenda of the UN Security Council, which it was chairing. But it was thwarted by African members backed by Beijing and Moscow. [...]

KENYA Politics Diplomacy 28/09/2022

Ruto's rapprochement with UAE takes shape

Newly installed as president of Kenya, William Ruto hasn't wasted any time relaunching a partnership with the UAE, where much of the preparations for his presidential campaign took place. Now several burning issues are back on the table. [...]

All Eastern Africa and the Horn articles

Southern Africa and islands

SOUTH AFRICA Diplomacy 29/09/2022

South Africa resists expanding BRICS bloc

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, 16 September 2022. © Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

NAMIBIA Mining 29/09/2022

Noronex expands foothold in Kalahari copper

Less known than its fellow Australians Rio Tinto and Sandfire Resources, the mining firm Noronex Resources is expanding in the Namibian Kalahari with five new permit applications in the pipeline. By early 2023, the company should have over 70,000 hectares to explore in this disputed copper region. [...]

News In Brief

NAMIBIA 29/09/2022

TotalEnergies and Shell step on the gas in Orange Basin

ZIMBABWE 28/09/2022

Setback over dead Zimbabwe minister nearly derails $200m von Pezold lawsuit

MOZAMBIQUE 23/09/2022

Serdar Karliev expands his mineral sand interests

SOUTH AFRICA Energy 28/09/2022

PetroSA and oil ministry feel industry pressure over South Africa petroleum bill

With the adoption of a new oil law still far off, companies are losing patience - and missing no opportunity to take the state oil company and energy ministry to task over the project. [...]

SOUTH AFRICA BRAZIL Diplomacy 27/09/2022

Brazil names new Cape Town consul to appease South Africa after Bolsonaro gaffe

President Bolsonaro's attempt last year to appoint a political ally as ambassador to Pretoria went badly wrong and led to turbulent relations between the two countries. The appointment of a new Brazilian consul in Cape Town aims to further ease the tension. [...]

SOUTH AFRICA FRANCE Diplomacy 27/09/2022

Who is on the shortlist to be France's next ambassador to South Africa?

Since mid-September, the French foreign ministry has been studying applications from those in the running to be France's next ambassador to South Africa, following current ambassador Aurélien Lechevallier's appointment as head of the Direction générale de la mondialisation (DGM). The ministry has drawn up a shortlist of three candidates. [...]

All Southern Africa and islands articles

West Africa

GHANA Energy 29/09/2022

Shell and GNPC blame Tema LNG delays on war in Ukraine

Ghanaian workers walk at the construction site of Tema Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal Project in Tema, Ghana, on 5 January 2021. © Xu Zheng / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom/MaxPPP

IVORY COAST Finance 29/09/2022

Corruption probe engulfs more banks

An investigation into money laundering involving the Société Générale Côte d'Ivoire, has spread to three other banks in Ivory Coast which are all thought to have been the victim of similar fraudulent schemes. [...]

News In Brief

SENEGAL 28/09/2022

Arms broker Petit Boubé in Dakar to negotiate deal with gendarmes

IVORY COAST 27/09/2022

Ivory Coast gives up on second Abidjan metro line

NIGERIA 26/09/2022

Nigeria wins round in battle against P&ID shareholder

CHINA IVORY COAST Infrastructures 28/09/2022

China's CHEC to build Akwaba motorway interchange in Abidjan

China Harbour Engineering Company, which has been present in Ivory Coast since 2015, has just pocketed a new contract estimated at 26bn CFA francs (€39m) in Abidjan. [...]

GUINEA Diplomacy 28/09/2022

Guinea foreign minister pursues other goals while in US

Morissanda Kouyaté recently travelled to New York and Washington for the United Nations General Assembly. The foreign minister made the most of his trip to boost Conakry's ties with a number of Gulf countries and improve its fraught relationship with the Biden administration. [...]

GUINEA Mining 27/09/2022

Robert Friedland's discreet meetings with Guinea coup leader Doumbouya

Robert Friedland addresses the delegates at the African Mining Indaba 2022 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2022. © Shelley Christians/Reuters

All West Africa articles

Central Africa

DRC Energy Commodity traders 29/09/2022

Oil giant ADNOC deploys supertankers to boost trade in Africa

The Emirati firm has since 2018 been strengthening and diversifying its oil trading business, including by poaching staff from TotalEnergies. Since the invasion of Ukraine, it has been making inroads in Africa by dispatching supertankers to countries with no storage capacity of their own. It also hopes to bag some long-term contracts, notably in the DRC. [...]

DRC Infrastructures 29/09/2022

Qatar Airways Group fine-tunes its plans for Congolese airports

The Qatari state-owned airline and Felix Tshisekedi's government are putting the finishing touches to a contract for the renovation and management of three airports in the DRC. [...]

News In Brief

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 29/09/2022

Fuel shortages persist in Bangui

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC |FRANCE 27/09/2022

Rwandan army and MINUSCA in the running to take over M'Poko base

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 23/09/2022

Wagner's phantom reinforcements

CHAD Energy 28/09/2022

ExxonMobil and oil minister near agreement on departure bonus

Chad's Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Djerassem Le Bemadjiel (left) pays his respect as he passes the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, at the Palace of Westminster, London, on 18 September 2022. © PA Images / Alamy

Spotlight

CONGO Defence Diplomacy 28/09/2022

Washington and Paris perturbed by Wagner's Congo foray

A wharf of the Port of Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo on 16 December 2019. © Samir Tounsi/ AFP

DRC Diplomacy 28/09/2022

Rabbi Moyal gives Tshisekedi and his team plenty to feast on at New York dinner

A key player in the agreement between Israeli tycoon Dan Gertler and Kinshasa, Rabbi Moyal invited Félix Tshisekedi and his associates out to dine on 22 September in New York. [...]

All Central Africa articles

North Africa

TUNISIA Politics 29/09/2022

EU envisages removing Ben Ali clan from sanctions blacklist

Discussions are underway regarding the possibility of lifting sanctions on members of the Ben Ali clan, which could make it even more difficult to recover assets from Tunisia's former presidential family. [...]

EGYPT Infrastructures Energy 28/09/2022

Egypt and Ethiopia in race to sell electricity to Sudan

Egypt is pitted against Ethiopia in the race to sell electricity to neighbouring Sudan, which is plagued by recurrent power cuts and must respond to growing consumption. [...]

News In Brief

NORTH AFRICA |GERMANY |TUNISIA 26/09/2022

Tunisian intelligence specialist appointed Military Attaché in Berlin

LIBYA 22/09/2022

New Libyan defence attaché Gibril Shtiwi Mohamed finds his feet in Paris

TUNISIA 21/09/2022

Pentagon strengthens ties with the army despite the diplomatic crisis

TUNISIA Politics 28/09/2022

Surprise clash erupts between Kais Saied and his provisional magistrates high council

The Higher Council of the Magistrature plans to appoint judges dismissed by Kais Saied as court presidents. This would qualify them to become members of the future new Constitutional Court, something which Saied wants to avoid at all costs. [...]

EGYPT SOUTH SUDAN Infrastructures 27/09/2022

Egyptian moves on White Nile waters divide South Sudanese leaders

Fears over the environmental impact of the dredging of a White Nile tributary by Egypt prompted Silva Kiir in July to put a stop to the project, which has raised fears that it may increase the flow of the Nile downstream. Meanwhile the battle with Ethiopia for the control of these waters rages on. [...]

ALGERIA Business 27/09/2022

Issad Rebrab back in hotseat

CEO of Algerian conglomerate Cevital Issad Rebrab speaks during the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum on November 27, 2017, in Abidjan, ahead of the African Union - European Union summit. © Issouf Sanogo/AFP

All North Africa articles

On Twitter

See all tweets from Africa Intelligence

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 30/09

The Libyan African Investment Company (LAICO) has obtained the lifting of sanctions against it at Court of Justice of the European Union (#CJUE). https://t.co/xPtDgiJtyr

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 30/09

Thierry Peyroux has replaced diplomat Marion Lapierre as head of the East Africa department #France's foreign ministry. @francediplo https://t.co/h0Lbth9Bdm

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 30/09

The recent visit of #Darfur governor Suleiman Arko Minawi to #Qatar is at odds with the growing influence of the #UAE in #Sudan. It shows that the emirate has not given up on regaining its influence in the region https://t.co/6M8m61P9HJ

See all tweets from Africa Intelligence

Read also

KENYA Politics 26/09/2022

Ruto forges delicate balance between politicians and technocrats

The new Kenyan president's administration is having trouble finding enough experts to put his programme into action but also needs to meet the demands of his political allies. [...]

NORTH AFRICA ALGERIA Infrastructures 26/09/2022

China's CRCC in Algiers' bad books over East-West motorway delays

The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) is at odds with the Algerian authorities over the delivery of the road linking Bejaia to the East-West motorway. With many hurdles hampering the works, the road may well end up taking several more years to complete. [...]

GABON Finance 26/09/2022

Dismissed in Libreville in its dispute with Orabank, Titane Constructions turns to the CCJA

For two years, the company Titane Constructions has been seeking compensation after the public auction of a piece of land valued at nearly €20m by the bank Orabank. The matter has been referred to the Ohada Common Court of Justice and Arbitration. [...]

CHAD Politics 23/09/2022

Shadowy presidential advisers implicated in Mahamat Zene Chérif's resignation

The noisy departure of foreign minister Mahamat Zene Chérif has publicly exposed the internecine rivalries between four of Mahamat Idriss Déby's advisers. [...]

Former Chadian foreign minister Mahamat Zene Chérif.

GUINEA Diplomacy 23/09/2022

Doumbouya tightens his diplomatic belt

The leader of the transition recently tasked his foreign minister with reviewing the performance of Guinea's diplomatic representatives abroad, his aim being to improve the efficiency of the country's embassies. [...]

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The all-powerful Niger Delta leaders at the heart of the country's oil and political crises

Transition in Guinea: what's next after the coup?

Africa in the Russia-Ukraine war

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Friday, September 30 2022

Bazoum struggles to emancipate himself from predecessor Issoufou

Sassou deftly pairs inner circle with cabinet members

Minni Minawi reconnects with Doha

Steep Africa learning curve for new armed forces minister Lecornu

Colas and Orascom bid for €1.7bn Alexandria subway facelift

Rio Tinto plays Maputo off against Antananarivo Free

South Africa looks to Maputo for its medium-term gas needs

Macky Sall looks to think tank CHEDS for guidance on internal security

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou in Pretoria to follow up on Africa-France summit

Verdicts imminent in Burundi property seizure cases

Electoral commission head grapples with question of diaspora vote

New East Africa head at French foreign ministry

EU Court of Justice lifts sanctions on LAICO

In Focus

Senator Morozov, Moscow's go-to PR rep in Africa for Putin, Russian business and the FSB

The all-powerful Niger Delta leaders at the heart of the country's oil and political crises

Dobékréo, the battle-hardened general dispatched to softly crush secessionists

Senator Morozov, Moscow's go-to PR rep in Africa for Putin, Russian business and the FSB

The all-powerful Niger Delta leaders at the heart of the country's oil and political crises

Dobékréo, the battle-hardened general dispatched to softly crush secessionists

The Continent

The New Guard: Senegal, Benin, Kenya, Somalia

TotalEnergies and ENI barter African assets to enter Qatari gas market

Palace intrigues: Emmanuel Macron, Nana Akufo-Addo, Laurent Gbagbo, Sylvie Baïpo-Temon

Free Articles

President and former PM take their battle to the pulpits

Manuel Domingos Augusto makes strong MPLA comeback

How key ANC body steers South Africa's foreign policy

President and former PM take their battle to the pulpits

Manuel Domingos Augusto makes strong MPLA comeback

How key ANC body steers South Africa's foreign policy

Eastern Africa and the Horn

From Washington to the Horn, Ruto's new diplomatic strategy

Top French auditor helps Nairobi tackle corruption

African high up agenda of France's Security Council presidency

Foreign ministry appoints new Africa expert

Ructions over appointment of new AU legal counsel Free

Imbroglio over Tigray at UN Security Council

Ruto's rapprochement with UAE takes shape

Southern Africa and islands

South Africa resists expanding BRICS bloc

Noronex expands foothold in Kalahari copper

TotalEnergies and Shell step on the gas in Orange Basin

Setback over dead Zimbabwe minister nearly derails $200m von Pezold lawsuit

Serdar Karliev expands his mineral sand interests

PetroSA and oil ministry feel industry pressure over South Africa petroleum bill

Brazil names new Cape Town consul to appease South Africa after Bolsonaro gaffe

Who is on the shortlist to be France's next ambassador to South Africa?

West Africa

Shell and GNPC blame Tema LNG delays on war in Ukraine

Corruption probe engulfs more banks

Arms broker Petit Boubé in Dakar to negotiate deal with gendarmes

Ivory Coast gives up on second Abidjan metro line

Nigeria wins round in battle against P&ID shareholder

China's CHEC to build Akwaba motorway interchange in Abidjan

Guinea foreign minister pursues other goals while in US

Robert Friedland's discreet meetings with Guinea coup leader Doumbouya

Central Africa

Oil giant ADNOC deploys supertankers to boost trade in Africa

Qatar Airways Group fine-tunes its plans for Congolese airports

Fuel shortages persist in Bangui

Rwandan army and MINUSCA in the running to take over M'Poko base

Wagner's phantom reinforcements

ExxonMobil and oil minister near agreement on departure bonus

Washington and Paris perturbed by Wagner's Congo foray

Rabbi Moyal gives Tshisekedi and his team plenty to feast on at New York dinner

North Africa

EU envisages removing Ben Ali clan from sanctions blacklist

Egypt and Ethiopia in race to sell electricity to Sudan

Tunisian intelligence specialist appointed Military Attaché in Berlin

New Libyan defence attaché Gibril Shtiwi Mohamed finds his feet in Paris

Pentagon strengthens ties with the army despite the diplomatic crisis

Surprise clash erupts between Kais Saied and his provisional magistrates high council

Egyptian moves on White Nile waters divide South Sudanese leaders