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Spotlight

AFRICA

African Union centre stage in Cairo-Abuja scuffle for top WTO post

Nigeria's candidate for the post of World Trade Organization director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. © Reuters

Nigeria and Egypt are busy rallying support for their bid to head the World Trade Organization while the African Union should announce its decision by the end of June. [...] (766 words)

Issue dated 23/06/2020 Reading time 4 minutes

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Diplomacy

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Abdel Hamid Mamdouh
African Union
Amina Mohamed
Donald Trump
Eloi Laourou
European Union
Geoffrey Onyeama
Goodluck Jonathan
Ibrahim Gambari
Jesús Seade Kuri
King & Spalding
Muhammadu Buhari
Namira N. Negm
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
OECD
Olusegun Obasanjo
Osama Abdel Khalek
Phil Hogan
Roberto Azevêdo
Tudor Ulianovschi
World Bank
World Trade Organization
Yunov Frederick Agah

Fanta Cissé looks in pole position for the post of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Fanta Cissé's name is being strongly put forward in the Guinea junta's entourage to take the coveted post of head of diplomacy. [...]

LIBERIA UNITED STATES Business 06/09/2021

Liberian ship registry brings ex-Trump adviser on board to woo Washington

After a few months of bad press, the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry hired DLA Piper and David Peyman, a specialist in maritime compliance and former Trump adviser, to help boost its lobbying campaign in the US. [...]

David Peyman, counsel in DLA Piper's international trade practice.

NIGERIA Defence Business 30/08/2021

SecPro and Composites Solutions to equip President Buhari's close security guards

The Nigerian presidency is not free of the threat posed by the deteriorating security situation in the country. [...]

The Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) headquarter, in Accra. © Ghana Cocoa Board website

Inner circles

GHANA Commodity traders Business 16/07/2021

The Cocoa Board, the force powering Ghana's economy

Ghana produces, just behind Ivory Coast, almost 45% of the world's cocoa. At the head of this "brown gold" boon is the Ghana Cocoa Board, or "Cocobod", headed since 2017 by Joseph Boahen Aidoo, a loyal supporter of President Nana Akufo-Addo. [...]

NIGERIA Diplomacy 13/05/2021

Buhari casts around for new diplomatic advisor

The Nigerian president has entrusted his chief of staff with selecting his new international relations advisor to replace Yahaya Lawal, who has been posted as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. [...]

SEYCHELLES Finance Business 03/05/2021

Chrystold Chetty, chairman of the Seychelles Revenue Commission, has his work set out for him

Chrystold Chetty, reappointed as chairman of the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) in April, and SRC Commissioner Veronique Herminie are under pressure from the OECD, the European Union and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). [...]

Seychelles Revenue Commission Chairman, Chrystold Chetty.

SEYCHELLES Finance Politics 07/04/2021

Victoria strives to please EU and OECD over tax transparency

Wavel Ramkalawan's government plans to shortly amend legislation covering foreign companies, foundations and trusts to meet the tax policy demands of its foreign partners. [...]

FRANCE EGYPT Business 09/02/2021

Egypt creditor sours Paris-Cairo honeymoon

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has emerged as one of France's top diplomatic allies in Africa. But one of Egypt's creditors is raining on the parade. [...]

EUROPEAN UNION KENYA Diplomacy 22/10/2020

Josep Borrell banks on Kenyatta to facilitate post-Cotonou trade deal

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell is courting the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta in the hope of a speedy agreement to the free trade arrangements that are to replace the Cotonou accords. [...]

Amina Mohamed (left) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (right), candidates for the general management of the WTO. © Reuters/Daniel Irungu/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

Spotlight

AFRICA Diplomacy 30/09/2020

Amina Mohamed and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in final sprint for top WTO post

The WTO will publish its shortlist for the position of director-general of the organisation next week. The two African candidates are pulling out all the stop to win votes. [...]

KENYA Politics 22/09/2020

Kenyatta wants to talk business in Paris

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta's late September visit to Paris will only be announced at the last minute to avoid any disappointment should Covid-19 thwart his plans. If he does make it, business should be the main item on the agenda. [...]

Emmanuel Macron and Uhuru Kenyatta in Naibrobi in April 2019.

Member States have submitted more than 90 candidates for vacant posts on the African Union Commission. © Kennedy Abwao/PANAPRESS/MaxPPP

In Focus

AFRICA Diplomacy 21/09/2020

Former Cameroonian prime minister Philémon Yang leads the AU's oh-so difficult search for new commissioners

Although Moussa Faki looks certain to be re-elected as chairperson of the African Union Commission, his deputy and six commissioners have still to be found among the 90 applicants for the different posts. [...]

MOZAMBIQUE MALAWI Energy Business 29/07/2020

Electricity: Maputo and Lilongwe push for early start to interconnection line

The choice of constructor for the Matambo-Phombeya line, an essential component for the creation of interconnected power grid in southern Africa, could be known by the end of the year. [...]

KENYA Diplomacy 27/07/2020

All diplomatic hands on deck as Kenyatta guns for Amina Mohamed as next WTO chief

Amina Mohamed enjoys the full support of her president's diplomatic arsenal in her bid to see off African and global competition for the top job at the World Trade Organization. [...]

AFRICA Diplomacy 08/07/2020

AU: Abuja, Kigali, Kampala vie to fill African seat on ICJ bench

Through the African Union, the continent is trying to find a mutually agreeable judge to take up a reserved seat at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. [...]

ETHIOPIA Energy Diplomacy 01/07/2020

Abiy Ahmed Ali hands stalled GERD talks over to AU diplomats

With the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to start this month, Egyptian and Ethiopian diplomats are urging the African Union to help them calm the crisis this mega project has sparked. [...]

The site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

EUROPEAN UNION MAURITIUS Finance Business 26/06/2020

Mauritius turns to heavyweight law firm to handle EU allegations

The government of Mauritius has hired the French law firm Bredin Prat to fight its blacklisting by the European Union. [...]

NIGERIA UNITED STATES LEBANON Business 23/06/2020

All-powerful during Jonathan era, magnate Gilbert Chagoury lies low under Buhari

The Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire businessman Gilbert Chagoury has stayed well out of sight since Muhammadu Buhari's arrival in power and for good reason. It was Chagoury who splashed out on PR services in the US for Buhari's rival Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2015 elections. [...]

Spotlight

AFRICA Politics 10/06/2020

Time's up: Nigeria set to end Algeria's lock on top African Union security post

Since the position of African Union commissioner for peace and security was created in 2003, it has been held by an Algerian. But now there's near-unanimous agreement that the job, with expanded responsibilities, should go to another African powerhouse: [...]

NIGERIA Politics 05/06/2020

Buhari's new chief of staff Gambari helps AfDB boss Adesina face up to Trump Free

President Muhammadu Buhari's new chief of staff Ibrahim Gambari could not have arrived at a better time to help the chairman of the African Development Bank with his bid for a second mandate while the United States pushes for an external probe into his handling of the institution. [...]

NIGERIA Energy 12/09/2017

Is Addax Petroleum about to be taken to court in the US?

With its troubles with the Genevan procurer behind it, the Chinese major may now feel the force of the American judicial machine over its activities in Nigeria. [...]

On our other sites

Intelligence Online 09/09/2020

Tillingbourne plays central K&R role in Mogadishu

Somalia kidnap and ransom resolution specialist John Steed, head of the NGO Hostage Support Partnership, had a hand in the [...]

Intelligence Online 24/06/2020

Ankara deploys Turkish lira to push forward in Syria

The Turkish lira is increasingly used by Islamist groups close to Ankara in Syria, under the benign gaze of the MIT and the blind eye of the MASAK, the Turkish financial intelligence service. [...]

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Abdel Hamid Mamdouh
African Union
Amina Mohamed
Donald Trump
Eloi Laourou
European Union
Geoffrey Onyeama
Goodluck Jonathan
Ibrahim Gambari
Jesús Seade Kuri
King & Spalding
Muhammadu Buhari
Namira N. Negm
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
OECD
Olusegun Obasanjo
Osama Abdel Khalek
Phil Hogan
Roberto Azevêdo
Tudor Ulianovschi
World Bank
World Trade Organization
Yunov Frederick Agah

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