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Congo
The power games at play behind Denis Sassou-Nguesso's new hydrocarbons adviser

By Clotilde Ravel
Reading time 2 min
Denis Sassou-Nguesso in Oyo, Congo, 25 July 2022.
Denis Sassou-Nguesso in Oyo, Congo, 25 July 2022. © Handout/Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP

The promotion of Stev Onanga to presidential adviser, at a time of tension with his immediate boss, is a fresh indication of the head of state's capacity to exploit internal strife as a means of exercising his authority.

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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.

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Itoua sets about reforming the unreformable hydrocarbons ministry

Under pressure from international financial institutions, Congolese hydrocarbons minister Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua has begun reorganising his administration. This represents a logistical challenge for an ageing institution that is overpopulated with advisers, directors and attachés, but it should not cause a radical change in the balance of power in the sector, which is largely decided outside the ministry.

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Congo's Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua in Vienna, Austria, on 5 October 2022.

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Headlines

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Cadmium-laden fertiliser in a field near Poitiers, France, April 2026.
Congo Swiss trader Mercuria struggles with Marine XI licence Libya, Niger Niamey speeds up rapprochement with Tripoli

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20% OFF your subscription

Special offer: Only 0d and 7h to take advantage of it

Consult our offers

This offer is open to all new subscribers and runs until 10/07/2026

Headlines

New Sudanese Armed Forces Chief of Staff Yasser al-Atta in Khartoum, Sudan, June 2019.
Inner Circle | Sudan New army head Yasser al-Atta names longstanding loyalists to key roles Africa CAF general secretary appointment descends into confusion
Left to right: president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaâ; president of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe; and its acting general secretary, Samson Adamu, in Salé, Morocco, in April 2026.
Ethiopia Allied Gold launches last-ditch influence campaign to secure Zijin Gold asset sale Madagascar Relations between junta and SADC go south Cameroon US firm Wave Mobile Money proceeds with caution Guinea France's Egis and Canada's CPCS thrown into uncertainty over Simandou Africa Backed by the AfDB and Nairobi, insurer ATIDI pursues quest for capital Nigeria Abuja makes mad dash to arm Air Force Morocco OCP Group scrambles to meet new EU cadmium standards
Cadmium-laden fertiliser in a field near Poitiers, France, April 2026.
Congo Swiss trader Mercuria struggles with Marine XI licence Libya, Niger Niamey speeds up rapprochement with Tripoli

Related topics to this article

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