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Friday, July 1 2022

Spotlight

Diplomatic cat and mouse from New York to Paris over Rwanda's alleged support for M23 rebels

Western capitals and the United Nations remain wary of dealing with the evidence that they say they have concerning Rwanda's support for the rebel M23 movement, much to the displeasure of Kinshasa. [...]

WEST AFRICA

ECOWAS leaders at loggerheads over successor to Akufo-Addo

CONGO Finance

Rothschild lends Brazzaville helping hand with its debts Free

The advisory bank is supporting the Congolese government in the refinancing of its debts with a variety of traders, totalling over a billion dollars. [...]

Inner circles

EAST AFRICA UNITED STATES Defence

AFRICOM head Townsend pulls every political and military string to counter growing Chinese influence

SOMALIA

Hassan Sheikh and MbZ lay ground for future cooperation

Mustafa Sanalla, head of National Oil Corp (NOC). © Christian Bruna/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

LIBYA Energy

Dabaiba and Haftar in secret negotiations to replace NOC boss Mustafa Sanalla

SOUTH AFRICA

Race for ANC deputy presidency hots up ahead of national conference

Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, from France, coordinator of the international Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (Farm) initiative. © Belén Delgado/EFE/Newscom/MaxPPP

FRANCE Commodity traders

FARM coordinator in Addis to work with AU on food security

MADAGASCAR

Habibo poised to take over Star Madagascar's Coca-Cola licence

Brasseries Star Madagascar will no longer be bottling or distributing Coca-Cola drinks in the country. The US giant is in talks with two potential replacements. [...]

EGYPT CHAD

Chad opposition figure Tom Erdimi still detained in Cairo

The fate of Tom Erdimi is a source of concern to parts of the Zaghawa community in N'Djamena. [...]

GUINEA

Conakry poised to accept Ibn Chambas as mediator?

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CAR communications minister on whirlwind charm offensive in Paris

TUNISIA |Infrastructures

Transport ministry hits the buffers in hunt for railway funds

The Continent

A laboratory in Cape Town. South Africa is one of six African countries designated by the WHO to invest in messenger RNA. © Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua News Agency/Newscom/MaxPPP

Spotlight

AFRICA Business 30/06/2022

BioNTech and Moderna go head-to-head to produce mRNA vaccines in Africa

AFRICA Politics Business 29/06/2022

The New Guard: Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics. This week: Ousseynou Ly (Senegal), Jacques Jonathan Nyemb (Cameroon), Edmund Akoto Bamfo (Ghana) and Bassam Rady (Egypt). [...]

All articles on Africa

Eastern Africa and the Horn

EAST AFRICA FRANCE Diplomacy 30/06/2022

Macron set to appoint new ambassadors throughout Africa

Several French embassies in Africa will change ambassadors this year, including Nairobi and Kampala in East Africa and Maputo and Pretoria in southern Africa. [...]

KENYA Finance 30/06/2022

KCB Bank looks to bounce back after painful change of leadership

Kenya's largest bank in terms of financial assets is hoping for a new lease of life following the departure of its CEO. But the issue of annual bonuses has caused ructions in-house, where there is much debate about the difficulties being experienced by KCB internationally. [...]

News In Brief

ETHIOPIA 30/06/2022

TPLF suffers significant defection among its Afar allies

EGYPT |ETHIOPIA 20/06/2022

Responsibility for GERD bounced back to Sameh Shoukry

KENYA 17/06/2022

Turkey's Atesci to build ammunition factory for Kenyan army

ETHIOPIA Politics 29/06/2022

Abiy cornered due to inter-ethnic violence in the West

The alliance between the head of government and the Amhara political elite is hanging by a thread. The massacre in Tole and the explosion of ethnic violence between the Amhara and Oromo in the west of the country have made life difficult for Abiy Ahmed Ali in Addis Ababa. [...]

ETHIOPIA NIGERIA Diplomacy 29/06/2022

Obasanjo's softly-softly approach to Tigray mediation causes frustration all round Free

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. © Christian Thompson/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

ETHIOPIA Politics 28/06/2022

Abiy loses control of conflict in Oromia

Inter-ethnic violence between Amharas and Oromos is increasing, particularly in the Wollega districts. The clashes involve a growing number of actors, who blame one another for massacres. [...]

All Eastern Africa and the Horn articles

Southern Africa and islands

ANGOLA Mining 30/06/2022

Geoangol spearheads Luanda's mining strategy

Now controlled by the state-owned diamond company Endiama, the geological analysis laboratory is to help the Luanda authorities build up data on the country's mineral resources with a view to attracting investors. [...]

SOUTH AFRICA Energy 29/06/2022

Will the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station shut down in 2024?

Mist over Nuclear power station, Koeberg, Western Cape, South Africa. © Jay Correia Caboz/Alamy

News In Brief

SOUTH AFRICA 30/06/2022

MPs still working remotely six months after National Assembly fire

SOUTH AFRICA 21/06/2022

Eco Atlantic picks up speed on drilling Block 2B

MADAGASCAR 20/06/2022

Andry Rajoelina on the hunt for a new PR agency

SOUTH AFRICA Energy Politics 28/06/2022

Zondo report catches up with Ramaphosa over failed nuclear dossier

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. © Thomas Lohnes/Pool/EPA

ZIMBABWE Diplomacy 28/06/2022

Southern neighbours band together for Charumbira's Pan-African Parliament chair bid

Zimbabwean chief Fortune Charumbira, vice-chair of the African Union's Pan-African Parliament. © Marius Bosch/Reuters

ZAMBIA Mining 28/06/2022

Air Force flies in to support Hichilema's mining strategy

In addition to the economic and legislative reforms he is putting in place to attract foreign investors to Zambia, head of State Hakainde Hichilema might also be able to count on security support from above. [...]

All Southern Africa and islands articles

West Africa

FRANCE GUINEA Defence 30/06/2022

Junta adviser Abdoulaye Diallo in Paris to monitor progress on military contracts

The adviser to the president's secretary-general travelled to Paris shortly after the Eurosatory arms fair to assess how the event had gone and ascertain what progress was being made in negotiations to equip the Guinean army. [...]

Spotlight

LIBERIA Infrastructures Mining Politics Business 29/06/2022

George Weah takes on Mittal over the future of the country's iron mines, railways

Liberian President George Weah. © Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters

News In Brief

GUINEA 30/06/2022

Mines minister not invited to latest Simandou meeting

UNITED STATES |MALI 30/06/2022

MINUSMA in firing line of US Congress

TOGO 29/06/2022

Miners eye up Togo as the new uranium frontier

WEST AFRICA Defence 29/06/2022

EU wants four African navies to fight piracy together

The European Union plans to use the European Peace Facility to provide operational support to four West African navies, which are to take on a regional leadership role to counter the persistent threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. [...]

IVORY COAST Commodity traders Business 28/06/2022

Adama Bictogo under investigation in France in Soeximex case

The new president of Ivory Coast's national assembly Adama Bictogo © Sia Kambou/AFP

WEST AFRICA ISRAEL Defence Business 28/06/2022

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon undertook discreet African tour

Tsahal's former Chief of Staff and former Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya'alon. © Tomer Neuberg/Xinhua/Jini

All West Africa articles

Central Africa

EQUATORIAL GUINEA Energy Politics 30/06/2022

Malabo's lawyers study next step in ill-gotten gains affair

The private mansion at 42 avenue Foch, in Paris. © Alain Delpey/MaxPPP

DRC Energy Mining 29/06/2022

Despite Tony Blair's insistence, GIP finally says no to the Grand Inga project

The US-based Global Infrastructures Partners, owned by Nigerian businessman Adebayo Ogunlesi, has finally decided not to get involved in the scheme to build vast dams on the mighty Congo river. [...]

News In Brief

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 30/06/2022

Ex-CAR defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth back in the fray

CENTRAL AFRICA |GABON 29/06/2022

Francophonie secretary of state Zacharopoulou to visit Libreville

CHAD 28/06/2022

Paris to give €15m to Chad

CAMEROON Energy Commodity traders 28/06/2022

Vitol's reduced delivery spooks energy minister

Benefiting from a very tight market, oil traders feel free to call the shots in Cameroon, where they are never sanctioned. Only part of the oil ordered by the ministry of petroleum's last call for tenders has been delivered. [...]

CHAD Energy Politics 27/06/2022

Kaka names another southerner to key oil position

After the eviction of the president's personal secretary, Idriss Youssouf Boy, oil minister Djerassem Le Bemadjiel now has free rein to appoint his own people. [...]

CONGO Politics 24/06/2022

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso sows confusion among business owners over compliance checks

In a letter to the chairman of Congo's employers' association, Unicongo, the minister of international cooperation and public private partnerships caused a great deal of confusion regarding the imported goods certification process, forcing Fylla de Saint-Eudes, the minister of industry, to offer clarification. [...]

All Central Africa articles

North Africa

LIBYA TUNISIA Business 30/06/2022

Security equipment dealer Jean Ruiz arrested in Tunis on way to Tripoli

Tunisian investigators suspect the French national Jean Ruiz of trying to bring communication jammers manufactured by the Chinese firm Hytera into Libya, and perhaps even Tunisia, without authorisation. [...]

TUNISIA Infrastructures 30/06/2022

Tunis seeks backers for struggling PPP infrastructure projects

In addition to existing projects such as the Sfax tramway and desalination plants, the Tunisian government has several longer-term ecological and energy-based ideas in the pipeline. These include a phosphate pipeline facility and the development of green hydrogen. Now it needs to work out the financing. [...]

News In Brief

TUNISIA 29/06/2022

German President tries to re-establish contact between Kais Saied and G7 countries

NORTH AFRICA 28/06/2022

After Lebanon, PPP specialist Ziad-Alexandre Hayek looks to Tunis

EGYPT 24/06/2022

Navy postpones Alexandria trade fair indefinitely

EGYPT Infrastructures Energy 29/06/2022

Sissi steps up efforts to secure Sinai pipelines, at the heart of EU-Egypt-Israel gas deal

Egyptian gas terminals are a recurring target for an Islamic State branch in Sinai. After the EU signed in June an MoU to receive Israeli gas liquefied in Egypt, confronted with the boycott of Russian gas, the protection of these infrastructures has become a major issue for Cairo. [...]

MOROCCO Business 29/06/2022

French businessman Yazid Sabeg caught up in Samanah Country Club's hellish paradise

Yazid Sabeg, then Commissioner for Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Rennes, France, on March 21, 2009. © Pierrick Sauvage/AbacaPress/Alamy

MOROCCO Politics 28/06/2022

Himma launches part two of national broadcasting's big shake-up

SNRT will soon complete its takeover of the cash-strapped 2M and Medi 1 TV channels in a move that gives Mohammed VI's adviser, Fouad Ali El Himma, a means to distance his rival, the king's private secretary Mounir El Majidi, from the sector. [...]

All North Africa articles

On Twitter

See all tweets from Africa Intelligence

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 01/07

Western capitals and the #UnitedNations remain wary of dealing with the evidence that they say they have concerning #Rwanda's support for the rebel movement M23, much to the displeasure of Kinshasa. #DRC https://t.co/5itOGR2vbB

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 01/07

#Tunisia has just set out the goals of its national railway strategy and a lot of funding still needs to be found. #railways https://t.co/g2cDkYLSsg

Africa Intelligence
@Africa_In_EN . 01/07

Last week, the Somali and Emirati presidents agreed on a number of issues that had been left unresolved since the 2018 falling out between the two countries. #Somalia #UAE https://t.co/9a5LLg0xUG

See all tweets from Africa Intelligence

Read also

FRANCE Commodity traders 28/06/2022

France discusses its FARM food security plan with major agricultural commodities traders

France recently brought together the largest international traders to support its initiative towards the countries most dependent on agricultural imports. But NGOs fear that the FARM Task Force overlooks longer-term agricultural issues in Africa. [...]

LIBYA Infrastructures 27/06/2022

Libya Holdings faces major Turkish competition over operation Misrata port

Libya Holdings, founded by Ahmed Mostafa Ben Halim, is in negotiations with the Misrata Free Zone to operate part of its port, yet its offers have so far been rejected. [...]

KENYA Politics 24/06/2022

Ruto campaign in damage control mode after running mate's gaffes

Deputy President William Ruto's campaign team is exasperated by the failure of his running mate, Rigathi Gachagua, to toe the official line. Communications advisers in the Kenya Kwanza coalition have had to deal with a string of polemics sparked by Gachagua's speeches and by comments on social media by some of Ruto's more vocal allies. [...]

Presidential candidate William Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua (on left). © Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

AFRICA TURKEY Commodity traders 24/06/2022

Turkish traders play key role in delivering Russian and Ukrainian wheat to Africa

Istanbul traders and food companies are increasingly serving as intermediaries between Russia and the agricultural trading giants, particularly to supply North and East Africa with grain, flour and sunflower oil. [...]

KENYA Defence Business 23/06/2022

Cerbair bags security contract with Kenyan intelligence service Free

Anti-drone specialist Cerbair has won a contract to protect a dozen Kenyan National Intelligence Service (NIS) sites. The deal was clinched thanks to telecoms consultant Laurent Catinot. [...]

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Eskom's fate caught up in the clash between Ramaphosa and Mantashe

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Sisi's African offensive

Simandou, Nimba and Zogota: the long and difficult road to the start of iron ore production

Friday, July 1 2022

Diplomatic cat and mouse from New York to Paris over Rwanda's alleged support for M23 rebels

ECOWAS leaders at loggerheads over successor to Akufo-Addo

Rothschild lends Brazzaville helping hand with its debts Free

AFRICOM head Townsend pulls every political and military string to counter growing Chinese influence

Hassan Sheikh and MbZ lay ground for future cooperation

Dabaiba and Haftar in secret negotiations to replace NOC boss Mustafa Sanalla

Race for ANC deputy presidency hots up ahead of national conference

FARM coordinator in Addis to work with AU on food security

Habibo poised to take over Star Madagascar's Coca-Cola licence

Chad opposition figure Tom Erdimi still detained in Cairo

Conakry poised to accept Ibn Chambas as mediator?

CAR communications minister on whirlwind charm offensive in Paris

Transport ministry hits the buffers in hunt for railway funds

In Focus

Eskom's fate caught up in the clash between Ramaphosa and Mantashe

Shillings, prayers and votes: democracy in a very religious country

How religion and politics provide Moscow with a path to influence

Eskom's fate caught up in the clash between Ramaphosa and Mantashe

Shillings, prayers and votes: democracy in a very religious country

How religion and politics provide Moscow with a path to influence

The Continent

BioNTech and Moderna go head-to-head to produce mRNA vaccines in Africa

The New Guard: Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt

Free Articles

Cerbair bags security contract with Kenyan intelligence service

Erdogan dispatches diplomats to Addis Ababa ahead of high-profile visit

Musical chairs at top of Perenco

Cerbair bags security contract with Kenyan intelligence service

Erdogan dispatches diplomats to Addis Ababa ahead of high-profile visit

Musical chairs at top of Perenco

Eastern Africa and the Horn

Macron set to appoint new ambassadors throughout Africa

KCB Bank looks to bounce back after painful change of leadership

TPLF suffers significant defection among its Afar allies

Responsibility for GERD bounced back to Sameh Shoukry

Turkey's Atesci to build ammunition factory for Kenyan army

Abiy cornered due to inter-ethnic violence in the West

Obasanjo's softly-softly approach to Tigray mediation causes frustration all round Free

Abiy loses control of conflict in Oromia

Southern Africa and islands

Geoangol spearheads Luanda's mining strategy

Will the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station shut down in 2024?

MPs still working remotely six months after National Assembly fire

Eco Atlantic picks up speed on drilling Block 2B

Andry Rajoelina on the hunt for a new PR agency

Zondo report catches up with Ramaphosa over failed nuclear dossier

Southern neighbours band together for Charumbira's Pan-African Parliament chair bid

Air Force flies in to support Hichilema's mining strategy

West Africa

Junta adviser Abdoulaye Diallo in Paris to monitor progress on military contracts

George Weah takes on Mittal over the future of the country's iron mines, railways

Mines minister not invited to latest Simandou meeting

MINUSMA in firing line of US Congress

Miners eye up Togo as the new uranium frontier

EU wants four African navies to fight piracy together

Adama Bictogo under investigation in France in Soeximex case

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon undertook discreet African tour

Central Africa

Malabo's lawyers study next step in ill-gotten gains affair

Despite Tony Blair's insistence, GIP finally says no to the Grand Inga project

Ex-CAR defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth back in the fray

Francophonie secretary of state Zacharopoulou to visit Libreville

Paris to give €15m to Chad

Vitol's reduced delivery spooks energy minister

Kaka names another southerner to key oil position

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso sows confusion among business owners over compliance checks

North Africa

Security equipment dealer Jean Ruiz arrested in Tunis on way to Tripoli

Tunis seeks backers for struggling PPP infrastructure projects

German President tries to re-establish contact between Kais Saied and G7 countries

After Lebanon, PPP specialist Ziad-Alexandre Hayek looks to Tunis

Navy postpones Alexandria trade fair indefinitely

Sissi steps up efforts to secure Sinai pipelines, at the heart of EU-Egypt-Israel gas deal

French businessman Yazid Sabeg caught up in Samanah Country Club's hellish paradise