Manganese

Central African Republic, Gabon
Heads of state Touadéra and Oligui Nguema turn on mining seduction operation in Luanda

The Central African and Gabonese heads of state will seek to promote mining investment opportunities in their respective countries during the US-Africa Business Summit on Monday 23 June.

Gabon
Trump's Africa adviser discusses economy in Libreville

Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, travelled to Libreville, Gabon for the inauguration of Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema. He came with a US delegation to talk blue economy and rail investments.

Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Félix Tshisekedi

Intrigues big and small... Every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

CongoJetsetter Sassou off to Paris and then Moscow

GabonMahamadou Bonkoungou, indispensable backer of Oligui Nguema

DRCEmirati ambassador conducts his diplomacy outside Kinshasa

Gabon
Egyptian-South African team in pole position for Belinga-Mayumba rail contract

A consortium led by South Africa's Thelo Group and including Egypt's EGAAD is poised to win a contract with the Gabonese government to build a 972km railway linking the Bélinga mining site to Mayumba's future deepwater port.

Gabon
Comilog unions revolt over production suspension decision

The decision of Comilog's majority shareholder, France's Eramet group, to suspend manganese production in Ga`bon because of low Chinese demand has worsened the already conflictual relations between management and unions at the company.

Cameroon
Sam Jonah's battery metal plans with Tronic Metals

Prominent Ghanaian mining figure Sam Jonah has become the new chair of Geovic Cameroun just as Tronic Metals, a Canadian company he owns a large share of, is finalising its purchase of Geovic's Nkamouna cobalt project.

Gabon
Czech duo Transcon-Koma struggles to secure airport renovation funds

Czech duo Transcon Electronic Systems and Koma Modular in January signed an MoU with the Gabonese government for an airport renovation project, but the project has stalled due to the firms' funding issues.

Gabon
Perenco, Maurel & Prom and Assala remain sanguine after coup

Since the coup on 30 August, oil operators in the country have continued regardless. They are working to build relations with the new power, whose choices of oil and gas officials have been reassuringly well-known figures.

Burkina Faso
Junta clinches lightning sale of Tambao and Inata mines

The two most coveted permits in Burkina Faso have been snapped up in the space of a few months by the little-known company Afro Turk, following an expedited sale endorsed by Mines Minister Simon-Pierre Boussim.

Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou uses Dakar summit to reassure EITI

Burkina Faso's representatives at the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative's global conference in Dakar made a beeline for its Africa director in the hope that he can soften the tone of a draft report that is scathing of the country's military leaders.

Burkina Faso
EITI unhappy with Ouagadougou's implementation of its rules

Wagner, sale of permits to AfroTurk, requisitioning of gold... Burkina Faso's military junta has been caught up in a series of scandals recently. This is jeopardising the country's membership of the EITI, which investors see as a guarantee of reliability.

Burkina Faso
Traoré appoints his ex-professor Nicolas Kagambéga as mining adviser

A senior official at the mines ministry has been made special adviser to the junta leader, who was his student at the university of Ouagadougou. But his appointment could spark tensions within the mining sector.

Burkina Faso
Traoré's cabinet greenlights mysterious Tambao buyer

An obscure Turkish firm picked up two prized Burkinabe mining permits on 10 March: the Tambao manganese deposit, which has estimated reserves of 55m tonnes, and the Inata gold permit.