The strongman of eastern Libya is forging closer ties with the junta in Niamey with the approval of Moscow. The rapprochement is paving the way for an unprecedented alliance along the desert border between Niger and Libya, which migrants cross on their way to Europe.
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Diplomacy 
Despite CEMAC's green light last year, Cameroonian brewers are continuing to contest the purchase, believing it would give Castel too dominant a position in the country's beer market.
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Business On 19 January, the Canadian mining firm Loncor Gold was surprised to learn that it had been singled out by Paul Mabolia Yenga, the boss of the mining cadastre office CAMI.
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Mining 
Alassane Ouattara is expected to appoint Arthur Augustin Pascale Ahoussi, deputy director general of the Treasury, to replace his former boss Konan Jacques Assahore.
The French embassy in Senegal will welcome a new deputy defence attaché in early February.
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Defence 
The deputy president's efforts to shake up a pillar of Kenya's economy are directly inspired by the work of Joseph Kieyah, an academic whom ex-president Uhuru Kenyatta tasked with breathing new life into the sector in 2016 and who is now back in the picture.
Fenty Beauty's cosmetics will soon be sold in French-speaking Africa for the first time. But the brand has been struggling to make its mark on the continent, and ironically that is partly down to its main backer, the luxury giant LVMH.
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Business 
Rabat is stepping up diplomatic initiatives to strengthen ties with Niger, with Morocco's minister of Islamic affairs Ahmed Toufiq sending a delegation of religious representatives to Niamey to mark the month of Ramadan.
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Diplomacy 