Alpha Conde

Guinea
Bpifrance set to finalise Eiffage's €200m hospital contract

The state-owned French investment bank Bpifrance is working on the final details of a €198m contract that construction firm Eiffage won last month to build regional university hospitals in four towns in Guinea.

Guinea
Junta helps Barry Angola to jettison his Emirati bauxite partner

Businessman Thierno Madiou Barry has received support from the Ministry of Mines to oust his partner Butti Mohamed al-Qubaisi, despite the intervention of the Abu Dhabi ambassador. However, the new partners Barry claims to have found - Citibank, CRCC and CECC - have not yet formalised their support for his gigantic mining project.

Algeria
Lobbyist Benabderrahmane's African network stretched from Libreville to Niamey

The Franco-Algerian businessman and lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane is at the heart of a major French legal case involving Qatar and the PSG football team. He was also very active in Africa. A confidential French intelligence report details his lobbying practices, private intelligence-gathering and alleged trafficking in French residence permits.

Guinea
Junta cracks down on illegal gold mining

Mamadi Doumbouya has ordered his troops to put an end to illegal mining in Siguiri, Guinea's main gold producing region. This activity is largely organised by Chinese nationals. The major miners in the area, notably AngloGold Ashanti and Nordgold, had been complaining for several months about the negative impact on their concessions.

Guinea
ECOWAS leaders again push for release of Guinea ministers jailed after coup

ECOWAS leaders have since October been calling for the release of Guinean ministers jailed after president Alpha Condé was overthrown in a military coup. They again addressed the issue at the regional organisation's summit on 4 December in Nigeria.

Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast
Kaboré aides reinvent themselves in Abidjan finance

Vista Bank boss Simon Tiemtoré has invited two men who advised the former Burkinabe president to join him in Ivory Coast's economic capital.

Guinea
Fadi Wazni edges closer to his alumina refinery dream

Guinea : the Franco-Guinean businessman of Lebanese origin Fadi Wazni has received the green light from Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya for his alumina refinery

Central Africa, Central African Republic, Russia
Discreet Touadéra adviser key to arrival of BRICS in Central Africa

Georges Gougouey, a discreet adviser to Central African head of state Faustin-Archange Touadéra, was one of the main figures working behind the scenes on 21 November to set up the headquarters of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in Bangui.

Guinea
Robert Friedland shakes up his Guinea team

On 1 November, the American-Canadian mining tycoon Robert Friedland went ahead with the expected reshuffle of his management team for the project at mount Nimba in Guinea.

Guinea
WCS works on new Simandou strategy

Winning Consortium Simandou has retained Franco-Australian lawyer Christophe Asselineau, indicating a shift of power between the three partners of the consortium that owns blocks 1 and 2 of the massive iron ore deposit in Guinea.

West Africa
BRICS' Russian boss Larisa Zelentsova makes her move in Francophone Africa

Accompanied on her tour by her Africa expert, the president of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa alliance has made the opening of a West Africa headquarters in Senegal official.

Guinea
Rio Tinto and WCS in talks over Simandou

The Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto and Winning Consortium Simandou are finally seeking to coordinate their respective projects at the Simandou iron ore site. These discussions have been made possible by Winning International's newly ascendant position within WCS and a change in the personnel leading the discussions.

Guinea
Guinea foreign minister pursues other goals while in US

Morissanda Kouyaté recently travelled to New York and Washington for the United Nations General Assembly. The foreign minister made the most of his trip to boost Conakry's ties with a number of Gulf countries and improve its fraught relationship with the Biden administration.

Guinea
Doumbouya tightens his diplomatic belt

The leader of the transition recently tasked his foreign minister with reviewing the performance of Guinea's diplomatic representatives abroad, his aim being to improve the efficiency of the country's embassies.

The New Guard
Guinea, Cameroon, Egypt and Zimbabwe

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence reveals the next generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

GuineaMoussa Moise Sylla, the former journalist who earned Doumbouya's trust

CameroonGuy Gweth, catalyst of Francophone economic intelligence

EgyptRami El-Dokany, from the Arab Federation of Capital Markets to the Egyptian Exchange.

ZimbabweJoana Mamombe, a youthful asset for Nelson Chamisa's presidential ambitions.

Guinea, Liberia
Robert Friedland hits pause button in Guinea, Liberia

The US-Canadian mining magnate is grappling with political uncertainty in Monrovia and Conakry. While waiting for things to settle down, he has suspended most of his works and has put hundreds of employees on standby.