Ivory Coast
Ouattara's bid for third term deepens his diplomatic isolation

West Africa
Brussels sceptical of Bola Ahmed Tinubu backing free trade agreement

Nigeria's position on the free trade Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and West African states is 'unlikely to change', according to the EU ambassador to Abuja Samuela Isopi.

Palace Intrigues
Alassane Ouattara and Macky Sall, Anatole Collinet Makosso, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

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

Senegal Ouattara and Sall's unlikely double get-together

Congo PM Makosso joins the Academy of Overseas Sciences

Sudan al-Burhan's discreet lobbying at Arab League summit

Ivory Coast
French appeal court upholds seizure of Guillaume Soro's life insurance policy

France's highest court of appeal ruled on 1 February that charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought against the Ivorian opposition leader Guillaume Soro are legally valid.

Ivory Coast
Florence Atse Achi in the running for Adzopé mayor?

Florence Atse Achi, wife of Ivory Coast PM Patrick Achi, is expected to stand for the RHDP (the presidential party) to be mayor of the town of Adzopé, the Achi stronghold.

Guinea Bissau, Senegal
Imbroglio over AGC allows CNOOC to shelve drilling plans

CNOOC is still waiting for Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to settle the matter of resource distribution on their joint maritime zone, where it operates the AGC Profond block. Until a solution is found, the Chinese major does not want to start its drilling programme on the licence.

West Africa
ECOWAS to hold summit on 4 December

The heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet on 4 December in Abuja, which hosts the headquarters of the regional organisation, for their annual ordinary summit.

West Africa
Why the next ECOWAS summit will be held in Abuja

Although he has been president of the Economic Community of West African States since July, Umaro Sissoco Embaló will not host the next summit of the regional organisation in Guinea-Bissau.

European Union, France, Mali
Paris secretly prepared to slap sanctions on military junta

As relations between Bamako and Paris continue to sour, France wants the EU to slap sanctions on several Malian officials seen to be rocking the boat ahead of next year's presidential poll. Meanwhile, ECOWAS is considering similar punitive measures.

West Africa
West Africa on lobbying spree to recover developed countries' share of IMF SDRs

With France's active support, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is on a mission to obtain some of the special drawing rights (SDR) funds attributed to developed countries to offset the impact of Covid-19.

Ivory Coast
French economy minister Le Maire heads to Abidjan

As we understand, the French minister for the economy and [...]

West Africa
BPC, HPS and OpenWay in running to harmonise UEMOA mobile money systems

To gain better control over the development of mobile money, the Central Bank of West African States is planning to make digital financial services compatible in its eight member states.

Ivory Coast
International francophone body pays high-tension pre-election visit to Abidjan

Désiré Nyaruhirira, special adviser to the secretary general of the international organisation of francophone countries, the IOF, is due to meet PDCI candidate Henri Konan Bédié and representatives of the RHDP on Friday 30 October, just a few hours before the first round of voting in the presidential elections.

Spotlight | Africa
African activists take leaf out of Obama/Macron campaign handbook

The days when Alpha Condé and Laurent Gbagbo would adopt the ideas of the French Parti Socialiste (PS) seem a distant memory. These days, French-speaking Africa is drawing inspiration from Barack Obama's 2008 campaign strategy, imitated and developed further by [.

Spotlight | Ivory Coast
Bédié, Gbagbo, Ouattara… Spectre of 2010 hangs over 2020 presidential election

The aerial choreography over Ivory Coast promises to be interesting on 22 December. The A330 of the French president Emmanuel Macron is due to take off from Bouaké at the end of the day (WAN 813) and may well cross [.

Spotlight | France
Friendship, security & business: Macron's brimming Africa agenda

It took less than a month after Emmanuel Macron's election as French president for all the pieces of his African jigsaw puzzle to fall into place The new tenant in the Elysee Palace has no lack of connections and friends [.

Spotlight | Africa
African presidents reach for the sky

African heads of state clearly see owning their own aircraft as a symbol of sovereignty and power. But all aircraft, just like presidents, obviously can't claim the same standing. Quattara the champion - When it comes to aviation trophies, Ivory [.