The Malian junta and the Russian paramilitary company Wagner are close to an agreement that would provide for the deployment of 500 men in about ten localities. France, bitterly opposed to the arrival of Russian mercenaries, is due to hold a defence council on Mali at the Elysée on 22 December.
Miami-based lawyer William Sanchez is now working with a new partner in Washington in his defence of the Congolese state in the Dig Oil case. But it is unclear why, and questions remain as to who exactly hired Sanchez in the first place.
The election of the Fecafoot president, which received a lot of media attention, put unprecedented pressure on the 75 delegates, who are also company directors or senior civil servants, and for whom football is only a secondary activity.
In addition to reshuffling the government, Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is pushing other initiatives to curb the Islamic militant threat in his country. He has urged the National Anti-Gold Fraud Brigade to mobilise and become more effective.
Equatorial Guinea's vice-president is not well pleased. His father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, failed to endorse him as his successor at a ruling party meeting last month. The 2023 presidential election looks set to be turbulent.
Abidjan's costly counter-insurgency operations in the north mean the government lacks the resources to protect its fisheries and offshore oilfields, much to the dismay of Thales and Mitrelli.
Following reports of major governance problems in more than ten of Ivory Coast's embassies, the Ivorian presidency is working on an extensive audit of its diplomatic representations abroad.
The announcement, on 20 December, that Bolloré had entered exclusive negotiations with the Italian-Swiss group MSC for the sale of its African port and logistics business came as a slap in the face for CMA CGM.
The eternally cash-strapped Kenya Power is to undergo yet another management change. The new bosses will be tasked with getting the parastatal electricity distributor back on track in order to pay suppliers.
The Algerian president, who has just granted an emergency loan of $300m to Tunisia, is demanding in return that the country rein in its growing ties with Cairo, which have strengthened since the coup d'etat orchestrated by Kaïs Saïed on 25 July.
The floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) that Morocco is considering buying was one of the subjects discussed at the first meeting between Chinese Ambassador Li Changlin and Moroccan Energy Minister Leila Benali on 13 December.
Through his think-tank, the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), Radwan Masmoudi organised a conference on 21 December on the theme of democracy in Tunisia, with references to the "coup" of Saïed.
