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Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Mohamed Bazoum, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Faure Gnassingbé, Moïse Katumbi

Intrigues big and small... Every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Congo Sassou purchases self-promotion in Paris

Niger/Burkina Faso Bazoum orders Colonel Damiba to dress in civilian clothes

Togo Gnassingbé plans to build new ministerial district in Lomé

DR Congo Moïse Katumbi's discreet lobbying in Paris

Central African Republic
Touadéra sets ambitious goals to revamp university sector

The Central African Republic president, an academic himself, has secured Saudi funding to renovate the University of Bangui and has formed a partnership with a Turkish university. This is all part of plans to build a new and improved tertiary education sector in the country.

Central Africa, DRC
EAC still looking for funding for regional force in eastern DR Congo

East African Community (EAC) member countries are looking for new contributors to a special fund set up to finance a regional force intended to pacify eastern DR Congo. The amounts raised so far have been relatively small.

Mali
UN launches strategic review of Mali peacekeeping mission in volatile context

The United Nations is due to begin a strategic review of its MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in Mali in the first half of October.

Gabon, Gambia, Ghana
Stena Drilling on a roll in Gulf of Guinea

The drilling company has won a swathe of contracts across the continent in recent months, confirming its place as one of the go-to suppliers in the sector.

Kenya
Ruto builds agricultural diplomacy, leveraging AfDB's Adesina and ADB's Dangote

The contours of William Ruto's foreign policy, an area largely left out of his election campaign, are beginning to take shape. The Kenyan president is broadening his official and unofficial networks and putting a particular focus on agriculture.

Djibouti
First lady loses key ally in sovereign fund

Neima Hassan Omar, who last year served as interim director of the Fonds souverain de Djibouti, Sovereign (SDF) has been sacked as its financial director.

South Africa
Frontrunner Cyril Ramaphosa draws up his final "top six" shortlist for ANC congress

The South African leader and president of the African National Congress, who looks likely to be re-elected at the ANC's elective conference in December, has already picked his favoured candidates for the party's top jobs.

Namibia
Lithium: Xinfeng Investments has narrow escape in Windhoek

The Chinese company Xinfeng Investments, which is involved in lithium exploration in the Erongo coastal region, has won its court case against the director of the Namibian business authorities. The latter had accused it of fraud in the acquisition of a new licence.

Australia, Morocco, Western Sahara
OCP resumes Western Sahara phosphate exports to Australia

Faced with supply difficulties linked to Russia's war on Ukraine, the Australian fertiliser producer Incitec Pivot has restarted its imports of phosphates from the Boucraa mine in the Sahara, operated by OCP. It had stopped sourcing there in 2016, after protest from Scandinavian shareholders.

Tunisia
Tunisia leaves a growing number of embassies empty

There are currently 21 vacant positions in the Tunisian diplomatic corps, most recently, Ambassador Moez Sinaoui, who left Rome mid-September when his posting expired.