Spotlight | Congo
Sassou reshuffles his legal task force

Congo
Paris court orders SNPC to pay thousands to Natixis and Commisimpex

French lawyer Jean-Georges Betto was unable to prevent another defeat for Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC) against Commisimpex in a Paris court last month.

Congo
'Ill-gotten gains': Sassou clan braces for fresh charges

The Congolese so-called 'ill-gotten gains' case will gather pace in the next months. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso is irked that his granddaughter, Yacine Queenie Bongo, has been summoned by the French courts, who may follow suit with his son, Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, in late August.

Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Teodorin Obiang, Philemon Yang

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

CongoSassou seeks strategy for 'ill-gotten gains' affair

Equatorial GuineaTeodorin Obiang's jam-packed business trip to China

CameroonEx-PM Philemon Yang honoured by ECCAS

Congo
Congo forests on agenda of NGO meeting at Elysée Palace

On the sidelines of this week's Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, France's Elysée Palace is due on Thursday to host a meeting with conservation NGOs about the forests of the Congo Basin.

Congo
Investigators explore arson lead in Vaucresson fire

The French police have footage showing an individual breaking into the Congolese ambassador's former residence, which is at the heart of a legal dispute between Congo and Commisimpex, just before a devastating fire broke out.The residence, although in a state of relative disrepair, was sold at auction to Commisimpex for €1,915,000.

Congo
Brazzaville manages to keep Trump Tower condo out of Commisimpex's clutches

Commisimpex case: Mohsen Hojeij's company's offensive against the state of Congo draws to a halt in the USA. The courts cancelled the request to seize a flat in NYC, considering that the link with the Republic of Congo had not been established.

Congo
President's grandchildren get new lawyer in ill-gotten gains case

Two of the Congolese president's grandchildren - Omar Denis Junior Bongo and Yacine Bongo - now have a new lawyer representing them in the ill-gotten gains case.

Congo
Congo provides fresh testimony to French judiciary in Commisimpex case

The Republic of the Congo has submitted to the investigative magistrate in charge of investigating potential rigging of the arbitration pitting Congo against creditor Commisimpex the testimony of a former finance minister who was in office in the early 1990s.

Congo, France
Congo leader's Falcon 7X remains trapped in legal tussle with Commisimpex

The legal tussle between the Congo state and the Lebanese firm Commisimpex over Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso's seized Falcon 7X continues after a French court on 29 March rejected an appeal from Congo to suspend the aircraft's sale.

Congo
Paris Appeal Court rejects Commisimpex claim on French aid to Congo-Brazzaville

On 23 February 2023, the Paris Appeal Court rejected a claim from construction company Commisimpex that it had the legal right to seize aid paid to the Republic of the Congo by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Congo
Congo's lawyers vie over Commisimpex case

Simone Bernard-Dupré has been told that she will no longer be representing Congo in the presidential Falcon seizure affair. The decision was taken by the Congolese task force overseeing the case in France.

Equatorial Guinea, France
Paris attempts to break deadlock in Malabo over luxury mansion

France's top Africa diplomat Christophe Bigot has just returned from a short trip to Malabo, where he met Teodoro Obiang Nguema in the hope of resolving the ongoing dispute over a Paris building currently occupied by the embassy of Equatorial Guinea which has been seized by the French state.

Congo
Sassou's Falcon jet finally to be sold off in Commisimpex case

To the great displeasure of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Republic of Congo's Falcon 7X jet will be sold at auction with a starting price of €15m.

Spotlight | Congo, France
French financial prosecution service to investigate corruption suspicions in Commisimpex affair

The French financial prosecution service has instructed an examining magistrate to investigate the 2013 arbitration ruling ordering the Republic of the Congo to pay €1.5bn to Commisimpex, a construction company owned by Lebanese businessman Mohsen Hojeij.

Spotlight | Gabon
Pascaline Bongo and Omar Denis Jr Bongo are latest to be charged in 'ill-gotten gains' case

The Paris court of law has just charged four of Omar Bongo's children, including Omar Denis Jr Bongo, grandson of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, and his half-sister Pascaline Bongo, in the so-called 'ill-gotten gains' case.