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ENI, the most Congolese of majors. © Montage Studio Pachamama // eni.com // Ludovic Marin/AFP // ingobadescalzi.com // Exmar Group/YouTube // Lukasz Szwaj-ArtKio/Shutterstock

In Focus | Congo
From Milan to Pointe-Noire, the secrets of the powerful 'ENI family'

Subscribers only By Clotilde Ravel

Published on 17.07.2023 at 04:40 GMT 8 min read Lire en français

Nicknamed "the most African of majors", the Italian energy company ENI has made the Congo a central hub where big contracts and family affairs flourish, fortified by close ties to President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. The group is set to invest several billions of dollars in a liquefied natural gas export project, with the blessings of the Congolese and Italian governments, brought closer by the gas giant.

The CEO of ENI, Claudio Descalzi, doesn't make a habit of appearing in public with his wife, Marie-Madeleine Ingoba. But he agreed to make an exception in the Congo on 25 April, for the launch ceremony inaugurating the construction of the country's first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, south of Pointe-Noire. Marie-Madeleine Ingoba, nicknamed "Mado", cut an elegant and charismatic figure: with her peach-coloured suit and her eyes hidden behind large, tinted sunglasses, she stood out from the

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