Iron

The New Guard
Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sudan, Zimbabwe

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

Ivory Coast Cédric Diarra, the PM's special adviser

Guinea Baba Hady Thiam, darling of the multinationals

Sudan Fintech and Abdigani Diriye's free banking services app

Zimbabwe Ndlovu, head of African Risk Capacity

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.

Guinea
Conakry turns to French bank Natixis to finance 'Côtière' power line

Guinea has asked Natixis to submit a financing offer for a project to supply electricity to the northwest of the country, a major bauxite mining area where a range of foreign and domestic mining firms are active.

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, 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.

Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria
Brown Rudnick recruits African energy specialist James Douglass

The law firm has brought in a specialist in financing and energy contracts with ready access to a flourishing network across West and Southern Africa.

Guinea
Beijing triggers new dynamic at Simandou

The creation of Beijing's new iron ore purchasing arm, China Mineral Resources Group, led by Baowu Steel executives, is likely to entail changes for Chinese state firms involved in the two consortiums that own the colossal Guinean deposit.

Guinea
Beijing plugs its "narrative" through Guinean press

As part of its efforts to improve its image on the African continent, China ramped up its media presence in Guinea last month, including pushing its "narrative" on the thorny Taiwan issue.

Zimbabwe
Ziscosteel revival divides Mnangagwa government

Kuvimba Mining House and its German technical partner SMS Group have been chosen to revive Ziscosteel, one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's major industrial projects. Not everyone in government is convinced by this choice.

Guinea
Beny Steinmetz's group tries to appeal in Paris over Simandou iron arbitration

After losing to the Guinean state, which it accuses of expropriation, the Franco-Israeli billionaire's company, Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR), is seeking to overturn the decision of the World Bank arbitration tribunal. It is invoking the out-of-court settlement obtained by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2019.

Gabon
Libreville settles its accounts with pan-African Télésud channel

In July and August, Gabon paid the €650,000 euros it still owed Télésud for promotional work. The pan-African channel, founded in 1998 and now owned by Cameroonian business tycoon Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, has thus settled its accounts with Libreville.

The New Guard
Guinea, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana

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

GuineaDjami Diallo, key to negotiations on the Simandou iron ore project

KenyaOgutu Okudo, oil specialist and Odinga's spin doctor

South AfricaMaropene Ramokgopa, the pro-Ramaphosa leader of the ANC Women's League

GhanaTawiah Agyarko-Kwarteng, social and environmental spokesperson for the cocoa industry