PREVIEW
For many governments on the continent, lobbyists in the US capital are seen as the fastest route to boost bilateral trade and diplomatic relations
President João Lourenço’s decision to re-hire Washington-based lobbyists Squire Patton Boggs is the most lucrative of several new lobbying deals linking African governments with the K-street lobbyist networks.
The one-year contract is worth US$3.75 million, slightly cheaper than the $4.1m annual retainer that Luanda paid SPB for four years from June 2019 and SPB has a slightly different mandate. The previous deal saw SPB push the government’s anti-corruption case, primarily its asset freezes and prosecutions against members of the Dos Santos family (AC Vol 61 No 3, The fight over the missing billions goes global).
This time SPB has promised to put together ‘a comprehensive program to: (1) assist with developing projects; (2) increase US trade and investment; (3) enhance Angola’s profile in the United States; and (4) provide strategic communications advice’.
As before, the FARA filing states that SPB will sub-contract work on the case to the little-known Erme Capital, which is based in Malta.
Over $4m was redirected by SPB to ERME Capital during the previous contract. ERME Capital is managed by Pedro Pinto Ferreira and Maria Mergner, both friends of Angola’s former vice-president Manuel Vicente. The firm describes itself as a ‘business and investment boutique’ and has a mere $20m of assets under its management.
In Conakry, meanwhile, the Guinean government has hired Republican-linked lobbyists BGR group on a $1.02m annual retainer.
The Trump administration sent a high-ranking delegation to the inauguration of President Mamady Doumbouya in January.
The plans of US miner Ivanhoe Atlantic – endorsed by the Trump administration – to develop its Kon Kweni iron ore deposit as an alternative to China’s Simandou to supply iron ore to the US could strike a major blow in support Washington’s efforts to reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals but it still has a long way to go to raise the required finance (Dispatches, 17/11/25, Simandou finally opens). Its main competitor in Guinea, the world’s biggest iron ore mine at Simandou, started production late last year.
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