Congo, Turkey
Summa goes on offensive in Brazzaville

Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Alassane Ouattara, Nasser Bourita

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

CongoSassou to holiday in Turkey

Ivory CoastAlassane Ouattara's three palaces in Abdijan.

Moroco/FranceRabat angry over twinning of Ivry-sur-Seine with district of Mijek

Congo
Sassou receives a fillip from Turkish billionaire Ali Metin Kazanci as he bids for re-election

As Denis Sassou NGuesso seeks a fourth term as president, Aksa Enerji, a firm owned by a Turkish oligarch close to Ankara's ruling party, is speeding up its plans to increase electricity supply to Pointe-Noire, a city that has traditionally been hostile to the Congolese leader.

DRC
Turkey's Summa keen for business in Kinshasa

The Turkish group Summa is in talks with the Congolese authorities over an opportunity to take over the N'Djili international airport upgrades in what would be its first move in the country.

Congo, Ivory Coast
New lease of life for Marc Sendanki, discreet ex-middleman for Gunvor in West Africa

These days, Marc Honda Sendanki is giving the Russian firm Litasco the benefit of his extensive networks in the region.

Brazil, Congo, France, Turkey
Congo's ailing construction sector on international drip feed

Only the very few projects that are backed by foreign loans have survived the Covid-19 pandemic. Congo's worn-out government has simply stopped paying all other construction firms.

DRC
Maxime Gandzion goes into consulting in Kinshasa

Already established in Brazzaville, MG Consulting, the firm founded by the businessman Maxime Gandzion, recently opened an outpost in Kinshasa. [...]

Congo
How Antoinette Sassou Nguesso avoided humiliation

It should have been at Congo's embassy at the United Nations in New York on the fringes of the general [...]

Chad
To upstage Doha, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi shower Idriss Deby with funds

The new focus of rivalries between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on the one hand and Qatar and Turkey on the other, Chad is exploiting the situation to up the ante. So far, Riyadh is in the ascendant.

Benin
Claudine Talon gives up on Assinie

The businesswoman Claudine Talon, who is married to Patrice Talon, [...]

Africa, Turkey
Selim Bora, the businessman with the ear of the presidents

Appreciated in African capitals as a check on China's expansionist drive, the kind of Turkish ‘soft-power' wielded by the Summa boss is gaining ground.

Congo
Yoann Gandzion expands the activities of his Afrique Pesage subsidiary

In March, the 34-year-old Yoann Gandzion, who since 2017 has [...]

Congo
‘Kiki' tightens his grip on international contracts

Jean-Jacques Bouya may be a permanent fixture when it comes to Chinese contracts, but the president's son is muscling in on the numerous interests of Turkey and Brazil.