Félix Tshisekedi's diplomacy: great international expectations but with neither troops nor resources

Fortunat Biselele and Theophas Mahuku, the men behind miner Sud South's dizzying rise 

The success of Sud South, which last year signed a lucrative contract with the mining province of Lualaba, is down to its discreet ties with Theophas Mahuku a friend of the Kabila family, and with President Felix Tshisekedi's close adviser, Fortunat Biseleleand.

• DRC - Tshisekedi seeks new chief of staff

• CAR - Wagner gatecrashes EU party

• TUNISIA - Mustapha Ferjani, President Kais Saied's own doctor
  

• FRANCE/MALI - Bamako mayor Adama Sangaré still waiting for Paris visa

• DRC - Dieudonne Tshibangu, Tshisekedi's PR
  

• UGANDA - Daniel Obal, Museveni's poster boy

• SOUTH AFRICA - Siviwe Gwarube, new DA chief whip

• GHANA - Stephen Yeboah, a toolmaker for sustainable artisanal mining

US picks ambassador Mike Hammer's successor in Kinshasa 

After pondering over the matter for several months, the State Department has just selected Mike Hammer's replacement as US ambassador to the DR Congo, Africa Intelligence can reveal.

• DRC - Matthieu Kayoka, Kabila's party diplomatic adviser
  

• MADAGASCAR - Lova Rinel, former adviser to Rajaonarimampianina, majority candidate for France's parliamentary elections
  

• CONGO - Loic Mackosso, Brazzaville's ubiquitous financial adviser
  

• BOTSWANA - From London to Paris, Kaene Disepo the campaigner from Gaborone

EU to revise its sanctions list after European Court ruling 

The EU, which was obliged to take a former Congolese police chief off its sanctions list at the end of April following a ruling from the European Court of Justice, is to update the list.

Sassou organises anti-coup seminar in Oyo 

There were initially supposed to be five heads of state invited to Oyo, the birthplace of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, on the evening of 11 February.

The long wait for US ambassadors in Africa 

It has been nearly a year since US president Joe Biden took office, yet the Senate still has to accept the nomination of over 20 ambassadors on the African continent.

Kinshasa continues to turn deaf ear to Taiwan's requests to repay its debt 

Despite a number of informal meetings, the issue of the debt that Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko's regime ran up with Taiwan in 1991 continues to haunt the presidency of Félix Tshisekedi.

Semlex attempt to sign new passport contract thwarted 

The Belgian group Semlex, which last June lost its monopoly on Congolese passport production, made a last-ditch attempt to return to the country but was rejected at the last moment by the presidency.

The former spy chief and the ex-minister of justice spared legal proceedings 

The case brought by former US army veteran Darryl Lewis against two #DRC senior officials who served under president Joseph Kabila for alleged torture has been closed.

EU court maintains sanctions on Kabila allies Numbi, Mutondo, Shadary and others 

On 15 September, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dashed the hopes of eleven top Congo officials close to former head of state Joseph Kabila by refusing to annul sanctions imposed on them since 2016 by the European Council.

Flurry of ambassadorial appointments brings in new faces at the African Union 

Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Egypt have appointed new ambassadors to the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Libreville and Accra win right to vie for UN Security Council seat 

Although the Congolese president and current African Union chairperson, Félix [...]

Meet Red Banyan, key Israeli ally in the US public relations world 

With Netanyahu back as prime minister in Israel, the lobbying group AIPAC will be his chief advocate in Washington. AIPAC can count on its linchpin Red Banyan, a PR firm with bountiful connections to the pro-Israel lobby.

Ekaterina Kopylova serving as French journalists' Moscow contact 

As the doors to the separatist regions of Donbas begin to open up to European journalists eight years after the start of the conflict, 900km to the north, the former adviser to the Russian ambassador in Paris, is helping the French press corps navigate the mood in Moscow.