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Africa Intelligence brings you exclusive coverage of the major political, economic and diplomatic issues at stake on the African continent, identifying power players on the rise and low-frequency signals on the horizon.
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Heads of state and senior delegations from across Africa will be at the two-day Artificial Intelligence Action Summit next month. Taking part will be the AU Development Agency, which hopes to attract public and private partners in order to maximise potential across the continent.
Just days before President Emmanuel Macron paid a state visit to Morocco last October, a French public broadcaster aired a “documentary” about the country’s king that bore all the hallmarks of a PR job.
The imminent departure of Puneet Talwar, who was posted to Morocco in 2022, will leave Washington in an awkward position given China’s assertive economic policies in the country.
Amid a rapprochement between Houthi rebels and armed groups operating in the Horn, the president of the autonomous Puntland region, Said Deni, is also having to contend with Mogadishu’s plans to appoint a new ambassador in Aden.
The Chinese-Congolese joint venture took advantage of its total tax exemption status to devote certain resources to financing infrastructure projects.
Several Israeli companies are hoping to bag state contracts to help Ivory Coast boost cybersecurity as it prepares for this year’s presidential polls.
The powerful director of the National Intelligence Service, Noordin Haji, has been sent to the Comorian archipelago to convince Azali Assoumani to support Raila Odinga’s bid to chair the African Union Commission.
Intrigues big and small – every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.
Sassou’s confidant has managed to have one of her allies promoted to head of presidential protocol, much to the dismay of intelligence chief Jean-Dominique Okemba. Joly may be ruffling a few feathers, but she still enjoys the confidence of the head of state.
The president’s new chief of staff may lack political clout, but he has a strong business background and enjoys support from powerful government figures. During Tshisekedi’s first term, the leadership of his private office was deemed erratic, and he is keen to buck that trend.
Some 2,900 transactions worth a tidy $1.2bn: Africa Intelligence has been able to consult an internal Central Bank of Congo document which reveals the beneficiaries of country’s debt repayments.
The French energy and telecoms giant is struggling to maintain its subcontracting work with oil companies in Africa. It has been directly accused of responsibility for the deadly fire on the Becuna platform in Gabon in March and faces other problems elsewhere in the wider region.
The barracks housing the French forces stationed in Abidjan are due to be officially handed back to Ivory Coast on 22 January. President Alassane Ouattara is also due to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris this month.
Infuriated by the junta’s attempt to impose an administrator on Cominak, the French group has said it will stop funding the redevelopment plan for this historic mining site, which was operational from 1978 to 2021.
Against a backdrop of soaring prices, the cocoa sector’s giants have managed to claim the majority of production volumes since the start of the season. With a few exceptions, including Ecookim, Kineden and Africa Sourcing, Ivorian traders are struggling.
The adjournment of the tournament follows an urgent vote within the competition’s organising committee on the eve of the draw. Several football associations will welcome the development.
Two years after the conflict in the region, an investigation is assessing the extent of the economic and social damage suffered there. But the committee is keen to avoid any political manipulation of its findings amid heightened tensions between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the local administration.
He presented himself as a genius inventor, a self-made man and a philanthropic investor. Storm clouds have however been gathering over Mwale, the US-Kenyan businessman who vowed to revolutionise healthcare in Africa but whose pharaonic scheme has swallowed up tens of millions of dollars with few tangible results.
The state-owned electricity company Eskom is calling for sharp price increases, which Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is keen to limit. To do that, the minister is hoping to obtain the support of the DA, the ANC’s main government ally, which is calling for the sector’s regulator to remain independent.
The French oil and gas giant, which hopes to resume construction of liquefaction trains in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province this year, has sent a new project manager to Maputo.
Former president Marc Ravalomanana and his wife have both served as mayor of Madagascar’s capital. Now their son Tojo is going for the job. He made good use of his famous surname and his parents’ political connections while on the campaign trail.
Between tensions over key legislation and internal power struggles within the ANC, the stability of South Africa’s government of national unity will be put to the test in the coming months.
Though she only announced it last week, Romy Voos Andrianarisoa, the president’s former chief of staff who was sentenced in the UK for bribery, then freed and expelled from the country, has actually been back home since October.
In the run-up to next month’s election for the African Union role, rival North African countries are busy preparing their campaign arguments. Algeria has sent two ministers across the continent in search of backing.
A new legal case is likely to be made involving Farhat Omar Bengdara, on top of two previous suits. This one is based on the ruling of the Tripoli Court of Appeal, which determined in October that the head of the NOC held Emirati nationality.
The candidacy of former minister of tourism and antiquities Khaled al-Anani for the post of director general of the UN body has benefited from the Gabonese candidate’s withdrawal following lobbying at the highest level of state.
After purchasing two aircraft in August through the Nigerian company Falcon Aerospace, the Gabonese presidency sold its Gulfstream IV, which was stationed in Basel for maintenance, to the Nigerian airline FlyBird at the end of last year.
Since the arrest of a man with a diplomatic bag containing 53kg of gold ingots, there has been no sign of Julien Fanambinana Soananata.
Alassane Ouattara has chosen the French multinational GL Events to operate the giant exhibition centre near Abidjan airport. The company will link up with the Ivorian conglomerate PFO Africa.
Lawyers for deposed president Ali Bongo, his wife and their son are expected to announce on 9 January the appointment of an investigating magistrate in connection with their complaint of ‘arbitrary detention’ and ‘sequestration’.
The Ivorian president will head to France on 15 January for personal reasons on a visit that coincides with his Angolan counterpart João Lourenço’s state visit to Paris.
From Monday to Friday at 04:40 GMT.
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