"JOAN TILOUINE" - All our articles

DRC Mining Commodity traders 25/05/2023

Old coltan dispute stirs up trouble for Traxys

The multinational commodities trader is embroiled in a legal fight with one of its former ore suppliers in the DRC over a delivery that was allegedly never made. The case has prompted the authorities to take a closer look at Traxys's activities in the country.

DRC Energy 08/05/2023

Sonahydroc's management fraught with tension over mysterious Omani deal

Relations are strained among the leadership of Sonahydroc, the Congolese state-owned oil company, over a deal struck in late 2022 with an Omani firm for delivery of petroleum products.

In Focus AFRICA Finance 08/05/2023

The African secrets of wealth management firm Helin International

The hunt for the firm's embezzled funds continues. From Dubai to Djibouti, via Kyiv and Dar es Salaam, tens of millions of dollars have passed through suspicious entities. US, Swiss and French investigators are continuing their probes into a complex financial network controlled by Russians.

Alexey Alexandrovitch Korotaev, Anastasiya Abramova, Hedayatollah Bakhtari Musa, Aleksei Korotaev.

SpotlightDRC Defence Mining Diplomacy 02/05/2023

MbZ and Tshisekedi finalise arms and mines deals

Kinshasa and Abu Dhabi are secretly finalising an unprecedented deal that would include major mining projects and may also have a military component.

UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan with RDC's president Felix Tshisekedi in Abu Dhabi, on 19 January 2023.

DRC Politics 28/04/2023

Kinshasa has EAC regional force commander ousted

Breaking news published on 28/04/23 at 10:30 - DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi was unhappy with Maj. Gen. Jeff Nyagah's refusal to have the East African Community Regional Force he commands confront the M23 rebels directly.

SpotlightLIBERIA Mining 25/04/2023

Miners and Washington worried about George Weah's procrastination

Liberian President George Weah still hasn't made a decision regarding renegotiation of ArcelorMittal's railway monopoly, even though a report on the issue was submitted a month ago. That delay is causing concern for mining operators, and Washington.

Liberia's President George Weah in Paris, 12 November 2019.

SpotlightDRC Defence Diplomacy 20/04/2023

EAC regional force alarmed by M23 crisis

During a closed-door meeting, the East African Community's regional force expressed concern about the lack of synergy between the military and political responses to the crisis in eastern DRC. Kinshasa, meanwhile, has made discreet efforts to open channels of communication with the M23 rebels.

General Emmanuel Kaputa, deputy chief of staff from the East African Community (EAC) regional force, answers journalists during the arrival of Burundian troops at Goma airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on 5 March 2023.

SpotlightDRC Energy 19/04/2023

Kinshasa in talks with CNOOC over Dan Gertler's former Lake Albert blocks

The oil blocks on the Congolese side of Lake Albert, long held by Israeli billionaire Gertler, are back on the market. Kinshasa is in confidential talks with the Chinese major CNOOC.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, 22 September 2022.

SpotlightSAO TOME AND PRINCIPE Diplomacy 18/04/2023

PM Patrice Trovoada pulls out all the stops to attract foreign investment

The newly re-elected Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, one of the richest men in Sao Tome and Principe, is pulling out all the stops to attract investors to his archipelago nation. He is seeking to revamp international partnerships, in particular with Angola.

The prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe, Patrice Trovoada.

Inner circles DRC Mining Politics 07/04/2023

Strategists gear up to get Tshisekedi re-elected

The Congolese president's official and shadow advisers are preparing for the presidential election scheduled for December, despite the possibility that it will be postponed. They hope to ward off a potential political crisis and secure another term for the incumbent.

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi

SpotlightDRC Mining 06/04/2023

Abu Dhabi's grand gold and coltan designs in the DRC

Felix Tshisekedi's private office is radically overhauling the Congolese mining sector while putting the finishing touches to an unprecedented partnership with the United Arab Emirates, which has expressed an interest in a dozen mining permits.

United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi.

In Focus DRC RWANDA Defence Diplomacy 13/03/2023

As fight against M23 continues, Kigali and Kinshasa wage war of intelligence

Faced with Kinshasa's accusations of support for the M23 by Kigali, Rwandan intelligence has been documenting collusion between the Congolese army and the FDLR rebel militias for several months. In this battle of narratives, each side is sharing their classified information with Western capitals.

Intelligence reports are also used as weapons of war in the M23 crisis between Rwanda and the DRC.

SpotlightCONGO Politics Business 03/03/2023

Sassou reshuffles his legal task force

Unhappy with how several lawsuits and arbitration proceedings in Paris are going, Brazzaville is bringing in French specialists to boost the task force in charge of defending the interests of the president and the Congolese state.

Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso.

SpotlightDRC Defence Diplomacy 01/03/2023

M23 manoeuvres to destabilise Kinshasa

While clashes continue around the city of Goma, the M23 is implementing its strategy of expansion from a position of strength. The rebel movement is in control of parts of North Kivu province and and aims to consolidate its proto-state.

M23 fighters at Rumangabo camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on 6 January 2023.

SpotlightCONGO GABON Diplomacy 24/02/2023

Bongo and Sassou ready to bury hatchet

The two presidents, who have been on frosty terms for years, hope to use the One Forest Summit in Libreville to set aside their grievances. One of the bones of contention has been the attitude of Sassou's grandson, whom Gabon believes is financing the political opposition from Brazzaville.

Gabonese president Ali Bongo (left) and his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso in 2014.

SpotlightDRC Defence 21/02/2023

Kinshasa calls on armed Chinese drones and Foreign Legion vet to take on M23 rebels

The Congolese army is struggling to contain the M23 rebel group. In seeking to reverse the balance of power, Kinshasa has bought military drones from China and hired private Romanian soldiers operating under the command of a French Foreign Legion veteran.

CASC Rainbow CH-4, an unmanned aerial vehicle in Zhuhai, China, 8 November 2022.

SpotlightAFRICA ISRAEL Diplomacy 09/02/2023

Netanyahu revs up for his return to Africa

Whether in Guinea-Bissau, the DRC or Sudan or at ECOWAS or the African Union, the Israeli prime minister is always looking for chances to highlight the difference between his pro-active diplomacy in Africa and the wait-and-see approach of his predecessor.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

SpotlightDRC Defence Politics Diplomacy 27/01/2023

Tshisekedi weighs his military options against M23

In the conflict with the M23 rebels, the DRC president has to take into account his army's serious weaknesses and as well as the hostility of some in his entourage to Paul Kagame's regime. Although he has left the door open to mediation, he is still quietly planning large-scale military operations.

DRC army tanks on the border with Rwanda.

SpotlightANGOLA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Finance 25/01/2023

Dubai hosts secret accounts of Dos Santos clan and other wealthy Africans

Africa Intelligence can reveal the existence of companies secretly set up in the United Arab Emirates on behalf of the family of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos. The group behind these, wealth management firm Helin International, is under investigation in the United States, France, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Isabel dos Santos (third from left, front row) at President Joao Lourenco's inauguration in 2017 alongside her (now late) husband Sindika Dokolo, her half-sister Welwitschia "Tchize" dos Santos, and her brother Eduardo Breno dos Santos.

SpotlightDRC Politics 20/01/2023

Top adviser Bifort ousted as Tshisekedi purges his inner circle

The arrest of Fortunat Biselele, aka Bifort, and the reshuffle of the president's private office, where he was a pivotal figure, heralds a change of direction for Félix Tshisekedi. Africa Intelligence reveals the story behind the scenes of this political incident and the investigation conducted by the intelligence services.

Lomé's delicate bid for military and diplomatic balance between Moscow and the West

On the trail of Papa Fofana, Mamadi Doumbouya's enigmatic adviser

JOAN TILOUINE

Old coltan dispute stirs up trouble for Traxys

Sonahydroc's management fraught with tension over mysterious Omani deal

The African secrets of wealth management firm Helin International

MbZ and Tshisekedi finalise arms and mines deals

Kinshasa has EAC regional force commander ousted