"BERNARD KOUCHNER" - All our articles

LIBYA Diplomacy 27/05/2022

Madrid gets involved in attempt to disarm militias

Just a few days after a meeting organised by the Swiss HD Centre, Spain and the Toledo International Center for Peace held a seminar on the possible future disarmament and reintegration into civil society of Libyan militia and their members. [...]

FRANCE RWANDA Diplomacy 09/06/2021

Nicolas Sarkozy's discreet role in Kigali-Paris rapprochement

The former French president played no direct part in the process of normalising relations between France and Rwanda, which was finalised by Emmanuel Macron at the end of May. He nevertheless acted as a knowledgeable and consulted "observer" throughout the negotiation process. [...]

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) with Rwandan head of state Paul Kagame during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. © Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/GOVE/EFE/Newscom/MaxPPP

Focus AFRICA FRANCE Business 21/12/2020

Alexandre Benalla and Kamal Benali fall short of their wheeler-dealer heroes of yore

The businessman-adventurer has long been one of the main characters of the "Françafrique" era. André Guelfi, Pierre Falcone and Vincent Miclet helped to fashion the myth of the deal-maker who could be found in Africa's presidential palaces and the bars of Paris's luxury hotels, setting up multi-million-dollar deals with just a few phone calls. [...]

Bernard Kouchner (left) and Kamal Benali (right) during Alpha Condé's presidential inauguration. © Kamal Benali

CONGO Politics 02/07/2020

Sassou cosies up ever closer to Kagame

On frosty terms with Ali Bongo and going through a rocky patch with Félix Tshisekedi, the Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso has been tightening his ties with his Rwandan opposite number Paul Kagame. Several emissaries are acting as go-betweens. [...]

Paul Kagame et Denis Sassou Nguesso. © Panapress PANAPRESS/MAXPPP

UNITED NATIONS RWANDA Diplomacy 29/06/2020

French prosecutor Aurélia Devos heads to Kigali to lead UN's Kabuga genocide probe

Aurélia Devos, the deputy prosecutor at the Paris High Court, where she heads the crimes against humanity division, will travel to the Rwandan capital within a few weeks to oversee a UN criminal investigation into Félicien Kabuga, the alleged financial mastermind of the 1994 genocide. [...]

French magistrate Aurélia Devos. © France ONU/YouTube

SpotlightAFRICA FRANCE Diplomacy 21/04/2020

French top African diplomatic post to change hands

As Rémi Maréchaux prepares to step down as head of the French foreign affairs ministry's Africa and Indian Ocean section, he is set to be replaced by fellow diplomat Christophe Bigot. [...]

Rémy Maréchaux, head of the French foreign ministry's Africa and Indian Ocean section. © Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rwanda.

FRANCE RWANDA Politics 22/05/2019

What Sarkozy and Kagame said to each other in Paris

According to West Africa Newsletter's information, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy dined with Paul Kagame during the Rwandan president's stay [...]

CONGO FRANCE Politics 27/03/2019

Bernard Kouchner lends Sassou a helping hand

The former French minister Bernard Kouchner has been approached to reform the Congolese health service, just as he was previously in Gabon by Omar Bongo. [...]

FRANCE SENEGAL Diplomacy 13/03/2019

Christophe Bigot to move to Tunis?

In post in Dakar since 2016, France's ambassador Christophe Bigot [...]

GUINEA Politics 22/11/2017

Conde's French friends bolster the PNDES initiative

On 16 and 17 November at the Chesnaie du Roy [...]

Breaking newsWEST AFRICA FRANCE 06/09/2017

Humanitarian pioneer Bernard Kouchner moves into finance

Bernard Kouchner, founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and French foreign minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy, has confirmed his move [...]

Breaking newsAFRICA FRANCE 01/09/2017

French presidency appoints new Sahel special envoy

After having been tipped to become French ambassador in Abidjan before the job went to Gilles Huberson (WAN 756), diplomat [...]

FRANCE IVORY COAST Diplomacy 28/06/2017

Chataigner vs Clavier to replace Georges Serre

The bookmakers at France foreign ministry are giving Jean-Marc Chataigner [...]

GUINEA Politics 25/11/2015

Alpha Conde cultivates networks in Paris

Paris continues to be the preferred hub of recently re-elected Guinea President Alpha Conde, the only French-speaking West African leader [...]

Breaking newsCAMEROON 19/02/2014

French presidency leads Atangana's defence

A decree signed by Paul Biya on February 18 (see the document here) has opened the way to the liberation [...]

MOROCCO Business 26/09/2013

Kouchner’s facelift for Atlantic Radio

Morocco’s Atlantic Radio looks set for a major overhaul in a bid to stop a slide in its audience. According [...]

CONGO Politics 03/07/2013

Yet another forum…

The French-speaking African magazine Forbes Afrique is behind a new Republic of Congo international conference designed to rival Gabon’s New York Forum Africa. [...]

GUINEA Politics 09/01/2013

Blair leads Conde's advisers machine

Guinea's president is counting on foreign rather than local experts to help restore his image and give him some much-needed advice on governance. [...]

Insiders IVORY COAST 04/12/2012

Alassane Ouattara, President and mining supremo

Since coming to power in May 2011, President Alassane Dramane Ouattara has made it a personal point of honour to restore transparency in the extractive industries. He has directly involved himself in management of the sector at the expense of his mines minister, Adama Toungara, and, more generally, the functioning of the mining administration. [...]

IVORY COAST Mining 17/07/2012

Bernard Salome

A strategic counsel for HB Global Advisors Corp., a subsidiary of the Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie since April 15, [...]

Zelensky's Sudan connection - how Ukraine armed itself in Khartoum

Inside Sudan's labyrinthine military-industrial complex

Bernard Kouchner

Madrid gets involved in attempt to disarm militias

Nicolas Sarkozy's discreet role in Kigali-Paris rapprochement