Spotlight | Africa
The huge environmental risk of Al-Khayyat billionaires' luxury hotel diplomacy

The two Qatari brothers have turned ultra-luxury resorts into an instrument of influence, leveraging ties to Qatar's emir and the business network surrounding Donald Trump. In the Seychelles, a project negotiated behind closed doors with the country's political elite is emerging as a major threat to one of the world's most fragile ecosystems.

Inner Circle | Africa
Rafael Grossi leverages solid African contacts in bid for UN top job

In the running to replace António Guterres as UN secretary-general, the Argentine diplomat can count on the network of African scientists and statespersons he has built since becoming head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2019.

Spotlight | Equatorial Guinea
Behind the Parisian mansion: a story of ill-gotten gains

The sale of the lavish property in Paris's prestigious 16th arrondissement has plunged France and Equatorial Guinea into turmoil. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue is now brandishing the threat of diplomatic reprisals in the affair, which has drawn in all levels of the French diplomatic service.

Inner Circle | DRC
In the shadow of General 'Omega', the FDLR's last men standing

Pacifique Ntawunguka, despised by the Kagame government, on his tail in eastern Congo, is committed to his movement's founding mission: to survive while waiting for an illusory return to Rwanda. Deeply immersed in the ideology that led to the 1994 genocide, he relies on a small group of commanders, intelligence officers and ideologues.

Spotlight | Cameroon
How state firm SNH foiled national gas strategy

Inner Circle | Benin
The team behind presidential election favourite Romuald Wadagni

Inner Circle | Ethiopia
Abiy Ahmed's security strongmen line up against rebel threats

Inner Circle | South Africa
Presidential hopeful Lamola builds broad base of backers

Appointed foreign affairs minister in June 2024, he has since been handed some of Pretoria's most sensitive missions, including his country's G20 presidency and a bruising diplomatic row with the United States. He has relied on a tight circle of loyal officials to navigate the turbulence.

Spotlight | Namibia
Netumbo's endless chop and change plunges TotalEnergies and Shell into uncertainty

Spotlight | South Africa
Pretoria bets on new strategy to arrest the fall of diamond flagship Alexkor

Inner Circle | Algeria
Abdelmadjid Tebboune's circle of faithful followers

Spotlight | Libya
Major oil companies grapple with confusion over concession contracts