On the contemporary African art market, a flood of previously unknown works by the late Ivorian Bruly Bouabré has aroused suspicion. Africa Intelligence investigated this industry of fake works purported to be by this internationally renowned artist.
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Business 
The DRC's public debt has risen from $5.6bn to $10bn since Felix Tshisekedi came to power four years ago. The number of new projects has increased sharply, while budget arrears have continued to accomulate.
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Finance DRC sent its mines minister and a Tshisekedi adviser to Japan seeking partners to bolster Congolese mining exploration.
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Mining 
The Ivorian army is close to placing a firm order for some 50 Chinese infantry fighting vehicles to boost its capacity to deal with the insurrection threat posed by armed groups. Arms dealers Gaby Peretz and Ben Moctar have quietly gone to work in Abidjan in an effort to take advantage of the demand for new equipment.
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Defence Reduced to 300 soldiers last autumn, the EU training mission remains present in Bamako, though all operations have ceased and the relationship between Mali and the EU has become spectacularly rocky. Madrid is firmly lobbying to maintain the mission.
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Diplomacy 
The minister, a key ally of President William Ruto, is seeking to boost his sphere of influence within the Kenyan government by getting the upper hand on security issues. The chief of police is far from pleased.
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Politics In a case involving allegedly misappropriated funds from the wealth management fund being investigated in several jurisdictions, it has emerged that Russian-Swiss investor Aleksei Korotaev recently attempted to capture assets from these Helin International accounts, despite being scrutinised by US investigators.
Prime Minister Christian Ntsay met last Friday with all foreign diplomats in Antananarivo to reassure them regarding the staging of the country's next presidential election. But doubt lingers and the international community is still tense due to the election's so far poor organisation.
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Diplomacy 
The Cybersecurity and Defense Intelligence Systems conference will be held in Egypt in May. Several firms with ties to local armed forces are organising the event, funded by the ministry of communications and information technology.
Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in February, Nabil Ammar had the help of Chief of Protocol Naoufel Hdia and President Saied's in-laws.
Moroccan investment fund Ithmar Capital joined the EU's transparency register in December 2022 with its sights set on climate policy.
