Commodity traders

Ivory Coast
On a visit to Brussels, Conseil Café Cacao revives battle with EU

Ivorian cocoa industry leaders have met European officials to demand recognition of their traceability system and an increase in the subsidy for sustainable cocoa. If it's not granted, they are threatening to continue blocking forward sales.

The New Guard
Kenya, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Angola

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence spotlights a new generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

KenyaBina Maseno mixes politics and aesthetics

DRCStéphanie Mbombo, from mining to climate finance

EthiopiaGezahegn Mamo pushes pure Ethiopian coffee

AngolaJean-Claude Nzita, spokesman for Cabinda's independence movement

Algeria, Libya
Cevital dabbles in business with Libya

Food processing firm Cevital is taking advantage of exemptions granted by Algiers to export sugar to Libya again.

Kenya
Ruto associate caught up in sugar contract probe

Kenya's anti-corruption agency is investigating how a company already implicated in a previous sugar scandal was able to land a lucrative new contract.

Ethiopia
Dutch Flower suspends operations after farm burnt in Amhara unrest

Unrest in Ethiopia's Amhara region spilled over into a flower farm in which Dutch Flower Group is a stakeholder and left much of the plantation burnt out. The Dutch giant has suspended operations there until it gets assurances from the state that its interests will be properly protected.

Burkina Faso
Business booming for local fuel trader Salfo Souleymane Ilboudo

The loyal acquaintance of Inoussa Kanazoé has made the most of the void left by the global trading giants and support from the coup leaders to become one of the country's biggest fuel suppliers and a major player in the wider West African region.

Spotlight | Congo
Françoise Joly bestows her favours on Bayegan at expense of Masono

The Turkish oil trader Bayegan has worked its way into the good books of Sassou's international affairs adviser, whereas its rival Masono appears to have fallen out of favour.

DRC
Sonahydroc has trouble selling stock bought from Trafigura

Of the 20,000 tonnes of hydrocarbons received under a contract with Trafigura, Sonahydroc has delivered only 6,000 tonnes to service stations over the past two months.

Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger
Chad all but deprived of trade routes after Niger coup

Imports bound for Chad have been blocked in Benin since Niger's borders were shut after the recent coup there. This means Chad has lost a fourth major trade route - after conflict in Libya and in Sudan stopped the flow of goods - and it is now planning to boost its Cameroonian channel.