Intrigues big and small – every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.
The French energy and telecoms giant is struggling to maintain its subcontracting work with oil companies in Africa. It has been directly accused of responsibility for the deadly fire on the Becuna platform in Gabon in March and faces other problems elsewhere in the wider region.
NSO, the erstwhile Israeli cyber champion, is now a shadow of its former self after being blacklisted by the US and EU over its Pegasus phone spyware. Some of its executives have set up another firm, which offers social media and dark web surveillance services, and are trying to gain a foothold in Africa.
Guinea's courts have gone back on their initial decision to allow Ibrahima Kassory Fofana to seek medical treatment abroad. This turnaround comes as General Doumbouya has ordered that the former prime minster be brought to trial for misappropriation of public funds before 15 January.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has promised MPs he will look into their claims that mining activities conducted by France's Eramet are harming the environment. It's an issue that divides the ruling party.
Mali is the only country in the West African Economic and Monetary Union that does not have a programme with the International Monetary Fund. It has been negotiating in recent weeks with the financial institution, which quietly dispatched a mission to Bamako in mid-December.
Investigators are probing whether the sale of a luxury villa in the chic Tunisian seaside town of Sidi Bou Said was used to finance a smear campaign against Kaïs Saïed. The inquiry was sparked by allegations of money-laundering involving Youssef Zarrouk and Quantum Investment Bank boss Mohamed Idriss Ghodbane.
The chief of staff has tightened his grip on the Algerian army in recent years, partly through various appointments. But he still has to deal with the choices made by the president's office and with senior army figures who do not owe their positions to him.
A new legal case is likely to be made involving Farhat Omar Bengdara, on top of two previous suits. This one is based on the ruling of the Tripoli Court of Appeal, which determined in October that the head of the NOC held Emirati nationality.
The candidacy of former minister of tourism and antiquities Khaled al-Anani for the post of director general of the UN body has benefited from the Gabonese candidate's withdrawal following lobbying at the highest level of state.