Vol 63 No 11 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC President enlists crypto for survival strategy 25th May 2022 Touadéra is using Russian guns and virtual money to stay in power while western policies towards him harden Regaining the support of European and multilateral agencies while relying on backing from Russia's Wagner Group is testing President Faustin Archange Touadéra's ingenuity. H...
Vol 63 No 10 | KENYARWANDAUGANDACONGO-KINSHASA Kenya sponsors risky anti-militia plan 12th May 2022 Nairobi has assembled regional states to fight Congolese armed groups, but they include the very countries the groups depend on for aid An agreement by regional governments to form a joint military force to deploy against armed groups in Congo-Kinshasa looks like a diplomatic masterstroke by Kenya, which is coordin...
Vol 63 No 10 | SOUTH AFRICACONGO-KINSHASA Conglomerates race for cobalt 12th May 2022 Two of South Africa's leading mining companies – Anglo American and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) – are scrambling for mining rights in Congo-Kinshasa. They are concen...
Vol 63 No 6 | CONGO-KINSHASA Tshisekedi helps Gertler in fight with US 17th March 2022 An accord with Kinshasa allows the sanctioned businessman to control cash from what Washington officials label as 'opaque and corrupt' deals In a dramatic about-turn, President Félix Tshisekedi is offering to help one of his predecessor's closest business allies currently under United States sanctions for obtaini...
Vol 63 No 6 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICRUSSIA UN clashes with Wagner worsen 8th March 2022 Moscow's surrogates are undermining the international peacekeepers but diplomats hope a new UN mission chief can stabilise the operation The Russian-inspired detention of four French soldiers in February at Bangui airport, and the imminent departure of Mankeur Ndiaye, the Senegalese head of the UN's mission to Centr...
Vol 63 No 6 | CONGO-KINSHASA President Tshisekedi cuts a deal with Dan Gertler 4th March 2022 A pact to take back tainted mining assets could be part of wider damage-limitation by a notorious fixer and his partners A multi-billion dollar corruption scandal over some of the world's most prized copper and cobalt mines is heading towards dénouement, after Congolese authorities signed what...
Vol 63 No 5 | CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Son, like Father 3rd March 2022 One of the larger Africa–focused lobbying outfits, with offices in Abidjan, Kinshasa and Mauritius, is the Paris–based 35° Nord. It is targeting the European Union'...
Vol 63 No 5 | CONGO-KINSHASA Spymaster's arrest heralds purge 24th February 2022 President Tshisekedi's move against his intelligence chief François Beya was about consolidating power, not thwarting a coup plot Three weeks after President Félix Tshisekedi ordered the arrest of his senior security advisor François Beya for plotting a coup, a shroud of silence still surrounds ...
Vol 63 No 4 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Prime Minister quits as funding crisis deepens 15th February 2022 The government is running out of cash – paying the Russians is proving tricky, EU and French aid has stopped, and the IMF and World Bank are sceptical Amid suspicions that Russia is trying to engineer an alliance between its friends in Bangui and leaders of the military junta in Sudan, the problems in President Faustin Archange T...
Vol 63 No 2 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICMALI War dogs' old tricks 20th January 2022 Mali can learn what to expect from Russian mercenaries by looking at their playbook from the Central African Republic As Russian mercenaries deploy to Mali to combat Islamist insurgents, the country can expect to be forced to pay an escalating bill, on top of seeing the operatives take over valuab...
