The opening of the Kazungula Bridge, which connects Zambia to Botswana, has robbed Zimbabwe of its status as a key gateway between the port of Durban and the Copperbelt. Deprived of significant revenue, Harare is preparing its counter-attack with the help of a handful of bankers.
Perenco has strong ties to Cameroon's powers-that-be, but is still waiting for the authorities to approve its acquisition of New Age's share in Etinde. Should it be able to begin work on this permit, it would become the country's top gas producer.
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Energy The latest summit of the Economic Community of Central African States, held on 25 February, once again postponed the planned merger the bloc with two other regional entities.
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Diplomacy 
A defence security meeting in Abidjan scheduled for 13 to 16 March aims to match around 30 French companies with securocrats from Ivory Coast. The event will be headed up by Bpifrance and overseen by Paris.
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Defence Development of Ghana's Pecan offshore field is still uncertain. Aker Energy, which became operator on the field in June 2018, has still to file a development plan for it. Ghana's energy minister has given the company an ultimatum.
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Energy 
Four of Kenya's most important state agencies are still without a boss, as President Ruto and his deputy squabble over who to appoint. They are struggling to dish out the jobs in a way that respects regional interests.
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Politics The African Union's Peace and Security Council meets today to discuss the situation in Somalia, and in particular the bloc's multidimensional transitional mission there. Funding and the timing of the mission's drawdown are set to top the agenda.
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Diplomacy 
US Representative John James used a resolution denouncing joint military exercises by Russia and China in South African waters to single out state-owned telecoms giant Telkom and small monitoring company Vumacam.
A nationalist and nativist EU parliamentary group is working to create ties with the Egyptian government, a key ally in EU immigration policy. After an initial visit late last month, a new delegation will soon travel there again.
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Politics The French drugmaker Sanofi risks losing out on the insulin production business in Algeria because of stringent new regulations. Its managing director in Algiers has met with the minister responsible for the drugs sector to try to break the deadlock.
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Business 
