Advised by a tight-knit circle of trusted allies, Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed has borrowed extensively from the central bank. That strategy looks increasingly precarious as the country's economic situation grows ever more fragile and inflation reaches unprecedented levels.
The international cooperation minister Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso has been given the official go-ahead for an inter-ministerial committee to manage foreign investments. His rival, the minister of territorial development Jean-Jacques Bouya, has been kept on the sidelines.
The Australian mining giant, after lengthy negotiations last year with the Congolese state, is waiting impatiently for the signature of a rider to a 2020 convention for the development of the Grand Inga dam. Africa Intelligence can now reveal the details of that document.
Guinea is currently prospecting for attack helicopters to strengthen its border with Mali in the face of potential attacks from Islamist militants. The authorities appear to be in contact with Russia but this option may be discarded for fear of US sanctions.
On 28 March, the Paris appeal court upheld the $14m price tag for Corlay Global's equity investment by Petroci.
Chinese firm Poly Technologies (Poly Tech) has recently contacted Nouakchott in an effort to get discussions over the Mauritanian navy's possible acquisition of patrol vessels going again.
Kenya has mining resources and an industrial set-up conducive to producing semiconductors, the electronic components that are in ever greater demand. One company has already started making them in the country, but most investment in the sector is still concentrated in Asia and Western states.
The Israeli firm Mitrelli has bagged a series of major Angolan state contracts thanks to its boss Haim Taib's close ties with Angolan President João Lourenço's inner circle.
The US subsidiary of Morocco fertiliser giant OCP is bolstering its board of directors as it prepares to request a review of the countervailing duties imposed on it by Washington in 2021.
Alnaft, the national agency for hydrocarbons development, has yet to launch a single call for tenders since the introduction of the new hydrocarbons law in 2019.