Senegal
Incoming AU chair Macky Sall burnishes his international image

Palace Intrigues
Macky Sall, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Mahamat Idriss Déby, Abdelfattah Al-Sisi, Paul Biya, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Félix Tshisekedi, Umaro Sissoco Embalo

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

Senegal Sall talks with his inner circle

Senegal, Congo, Chad, Egypt, Nigeria Paris summit attendees stay in city's finest hotels

DRC Tshisekedi's birthday Bentley

West Africa Indonesian president turns down ECOWAS summit invite

West Africa
French armed forces minister Lecornu due in Abidjan and Dakar

France's armed forces minister Sébastien Lecornu will travel to Ivory Coast and Senegal in the coming days, though his schedule has yet to be finalised

Guinea
In Conakry, Condé's former ministers living under tight surveillance

As Alpha Condé seeks to return to Guinean politics after his ouster, many of his former ministers are living under harsh restrictions imposed by the country's new government.

India
Narendra Modi's team to look into African Union joining G20

The decision on whether to initiate the process to admit the African Union to the G20 will largely fall to the Indian PM Narendra Modi, who will be overseeing the next summit of the organisation in India in 2023.

Guinea-Bissau, Senegal
Imbroglio over AGC allows CNOOC to shelve drilling plans

CNOOC is still waiting for Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to settle the matter of resource distribution on their joint maritime zone, where it operates the AGC Profond block. Until a solution is found, the Chinese major does not want to start its drilling programme on the licence.

West Africa
ECOWAS to hold summit on 4 December

The heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet on 4 December in Abuja, which hosts the headquarters of the regional organisation, for their annual ordinary summit.

France, Sahel, Saudi Arabia
Paris and Riyadh relaunch strategic dialogue with focus on Sahel

Paris and Riyadh resumed their strategic dialogue in September, with the situation in the Sahel at the heart of their talks.

Palace Intrigues
Emmanuel Macron, George Weah, François Hollande, DSK and Antoine Cesareo

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

France/Niger Macron's discreet dinner with Bazoum

Liberia/USA Weah seeks face-to-face with Harris

France/DRC Hollande on billionaire-sponsored PR trip to see Mukwege

Togo DSK home from home in Lomé

Ivory Coast Cesareo, Houphouët-Boigny-era master builder, passes away

Angola, Senegal
Angolan President Lourenço Macky Sall's guest star at Dakar Forum

Angolan head of state João Lourenço will travel to Dakar on 24 October.

Africa, Japan
Key attendees pull out of TICAD

The Japanese PM will not travel to Tunis for TICAD due to Covid. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his visit and his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, is considering doing the same, as are other leaders.

Mali
MINUSMA's thousand new Chadian peacekeepers to be deployed in the North

While Chad has yet to send an additional 1,000 Blue Helmets to the United Nations mission in Mali, MINUSMA, the latter has just announced the main deployment locations for the country's soldiers.

Africa
AU security commissioner Bankole Adeoye hires heavyweight advisers

The African Union's most sought-after commissioner, Bankole Adeoye, has finally found a way to hire advisers to help him manage a portfolio where crises and coups are piling up dangerously.

Congo
Sassou organises anti-coup seminar in Oyo

There were initially supposed to be five heads of state invited to Oyo, the birthplace of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, on the evening of 11 February.

Africa
Behind the scenes at the election for the African Union's powerful Peace and Security Council

While some countries were assured of winning a seat on the African Union Peace and Security Council, there were several surprises in the run-up to the vote and the election itself on 3 February.

Africa
AU states battle for seats on powerful Peace and Security Council

Member countries are jockeying for a place on the African Union's most influential body.

Africa, Saudi Arabia
Leaving trading to Dubai, Riyadh is hoping to be the Gulf's other mining hub for Africa

On a full-scale push in Africa, Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia is trying to present itself as the key to developing a responsible mining industry on the continent.

Africa
Sierra Leone given free run as Nigeria gives up on UN Security Council seat bid

Nigeria has decided to withdraw its bid for a non-permanent member seat on the UN Security Council for 2024-2025, leaving Sierra Leone alone in the running.

Africa, Japan
Tokyo gets set for its Japan-Africa summit

Japan's foreign affairs minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold a meeting with more than 20 African foreign ministers on 6 and 7 November. The talks, which will take place remotely, should allow Tokyo to give a broad outline of its Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled for the first half of 2022