Diamonds

Uganda
Museveni cold-shoulders oligarchs facing legal storm

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is very clearly keeping his distance from two top businessmen who have historically been close to the veteran head of state but who now face a sea of legal troubles.

Angola
How the €305m road between Luanda and Lunda Sul province will be financed

The African Trade Insurance Agency has just authorised the granting of a $305m loan, guaranteed by Deutsche Bank, to finance the Angolan road link between Luanda and Lunda Sul province.

Lesotho
Chamber of Mines rebels against new tax regime

The Chamber of Mines is dead set against the new tax regime parliament is about to ratify. It includes a sharp increase in taxes for the mining industry.

Botswana
Eunice Mpoloka to become mining baroness in Gaborone

Eunice Mpoloka has just received approval from the Competition and Consumer Authority in Gaborone to acquire 51% of Hoisting Solutions, one of Botswana's main drilling and construction rental companies.

The New Guard
Gabon, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence spotlights a new generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

GabonCyril Pellen Aubian, from sustainable development to politics

TanzaniaAmar Shanghavi, from trees to carbon

NigeriaOluseun Onigbinde, transparency first

BotswanaPako Sebetlela wants to breathe fresh life into mining sector

Botswana
President Masisi stifles debate on diamond renegotiations

As the government edges closer to clinching a new agreement with diamond giant De Beers and puts the finishing touches on its partnership deal with Belgian trader HB Antwerp, Gaborone has tended to brush off any criticism by attributing it to the opposition behind former president Ian Khama.

Zimbabwe
Uncertainty surrounds future of ERG's platinum stake

Harare is preparing to withdraw the Todal platinum project from the Kazakh Eurasian Resources Group. The most likely scenario is a takeover of the asset by Kuvimba, a holding company that is already struggling to raise funds because of its alleged links to businessman Kuda Tagwirei, who is under US sanctions.

Spotlight | Central African Republic, South Africa
Gupta brothers seek asylum in central Africa

Currently living in exile in Dubai and under threat of being extradited to South Africa, where they are wanted on charges of embezzlement, the Guptas are seeking a safe haven in the centre of the continent.

Botswana
Diamond trader HB Antwerp positions itself in Gaborone as alternative to De Beers

HB Antwerp is in talks with the state-owned Okavango Diamond Co over a diamond trade partnership, which the Belgian trader is hoping to show would be more profitable for the Botswana government than its arrangement with sector giant De Beers.