Inner circles | DRC
Félix Tshisekedi's diplomacy: great international expectations but with neither troops nor resources

DRC
Serge Tshibangu, President Tshisekedi's sole representative at Trump's inauguration

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi will be represented at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony by Serge Tshibangu, the head of state's former high representative.

DRC
Moïse Katumbi's football club claiming €11m from the government

TP Mazembe, the Lubumbashi club, are supposed to have all their travel costs covered by the Ministry of Finance. But since the 2021-2022 season, none of their travel has been reimbursed.

DRC
Belgian ambassador's low-profile meeting with Joseph Kabila

On her first official visit to the country in late November, Belgium's ambassador to the DRC, Roxane de Bilderling, travelled to Lubumbashi and met with former president Joseph Kabila.

DRC
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.

Africa
Félix Tshisekedi, Faustin Archange Touadéra, Kais Saied, Adama Sangaré

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

The New Guard
DR Congo, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

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

DRC
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.

The New Guard
DRC, Madagascar, Congo, Botswana

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

DRCMatthieu Kayoka, Kabila's party diplomatic adviser

MadagascarLova Rinel, former adviser to Rajaonarimampianina, majority candidate for France's parliamentary elections

CongoLoic Mackosso, Brazzaville's ubiquitous financial adviser

BotswanaFrom London to Paris, Kaene Disepo the campaigner from Gaborone

DRC
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.

Congo
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.

Africa, United States
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.

DRC
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.

DRC
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.

DRC
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.

DRC
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.

Africa
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.

Gabon, Ghana
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.