A low-key figure in West African presidential palaces for two decades, Ben Moctar Maouloud has become a key intermediary in Abidjan. The Malian businessman with a wealth of contacts is now involved in all major military contracts.
The Equatorial Guinean vice-minister of justice has just parted ways with lawyer Kevin Grossmann, who since 2021 has been Malabo's lawyer in the matter of the building at 42 Avenue Foch in Paris, seized from the VP Teodorin Obiang Nguema in the "Ill-Gotten Gains" case.
Some members of the Congolese president's inner circle have in recent weeks been pushing for Denis Sassou Nguesso's chief of staff, Florent Ntsiba, to be replaced. Among them is the influential minister of territorial development, Jean-Jacques Bouya.
The Liberian president has asked his ministers and advisers to renegotiate terms and conditions with mining operators who are suspected of not paying their fair dues to the state. At the same time, the government is considering setting up a state-owned mining company.
Elisabeth Moreno, who served as minister for equality between women and men, diversity and equal opportunities under French PM Jean Castex, is preparing to set up an investment fund in the field of education and training.
The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region travelled to Djibouti last week with a large delegation of French business owners and politicians to take stock of contracts financed by the French region.
Having faced criticism for more than a year, Katmerciler's June 2021 contract to supply 118 Hizir II armoured vehicles to the Kenya Defence Forces appears to have hit a dead end.
Competing African energy and hydrocarbons conferences were held a week apart in Cape Town in October. The rival entities, the Hyve Group, which organises Africa Oil Week, and the African Energy Chamber lobbyists who run Africa Energy Week, are in a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy.
The upcoming Kimberley Process plenary session is set to be dominated by the question of whether Russian precious stones should now be classed as "conflict diamonds", and by Botswana's bid to host the organisation's future permanent secretariat.
Tensions between Paris and Rabat are giving lobbyists and middlemen something to work with. However the impact of this work is minimal, while the kingdom's main intermediaries in Paris remain somewhat removed from the Elysée.
The Algerian army's budget is set to double. This new funding is slated for the purchase of new military equipment, in particular materiel manufactured by Russia.
In November, the Grand Egyptian Museum will open its shopping area only. The galleries are not yet completed.
