Horn of Africa
IOG and Kenyatta join forces to prevent Somalian president's re-election

Palace Intrigues
Alassane Ouattara, Ibrahim Traoré, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Hamza Abdi Barre, François Perrodo

Intrigues big and small... Every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara takes a break in Mougins

Burkina Faso Captain Traoré opens dialogue with neighbours

Central African Republic GainJet helps Touadéra fly

Djibouti First visit of Somali PM Hamza Abdi Barre

United Kingdom Perenco boss Perrodo's London rave party

Horn of Africa
UAE and China spar over Horn of Africa ports

Four months after opening the port of Berbera in Somaliland, DP World's chairman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, tasked his teams to conduct a study on Chinese activism in the ports of the Horn of Africa.

Somalia
Weakening of Farmajo and Bihi could open way to resumption of dialogue

The electoral crisis in Somalia and the parliamentary election in Somaliland have weakened the two incumbent presidents, who have fallen back on patriotic rhetoric that leaves little room for a potential rapprochement. However, the situation could work in favour of their opponents, who are more amenable to a resumption of dialogue.

Djibouti
Guelleh seeks makeweight rival for April poll

While he waits for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Djibouti head of state Ismail Omar Guelleh is desperately looking for a challenger so as not to run alone in the 9 April election he counts on delivering him a fifth term in office.

Kenya
Kenyatta's referendum campaign schedule disrupted by rising spectre of the Mungiki

President Uhuru Kenyatta wants to push harder to secure more support for his constitutional reform, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), in his family's tribal homeland, Central Kenya, and Coast Province.

Djibouti
Djibouti's IOG aims to strengthen ties during visit to Paris

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is scheduled to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron late January in Paris to talk about energy sector investments, among other things.

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia
Why Abiy and Issayas back Farmajo's re-election bid

Addis Ababa and Asmara see Somalia's president as an ally in their fight against regionalism in the Horn.