Author: Christine Holzbauer

By Christine Holzbauer, special envoy to Conakry With the presidential election on December 28, 2025, Guinea finds itself at a new crossroads in its history. Four years after the military coup that overthrew President Alpha Condé, General Mamadi Doumbouya swaps his military uniform for a candidate’s suit, with the ambition of turning the transition period into a seven-year term. As an independent candidate, Mamadi Doumbouya, 41 years old, is running under the banner “Building Together.” This former Foreign Legion officer, married to a French woman, is the strong but discreet man of the transitional regime he has led since the…

The five-day African tour that President Emmanuel Macron embarked on Thursday with a State visit to Mauritius, -before heading to South Africa, Gabon, and Angola-, aims to “deeply redefine the relationship between France and the continent. Far from the military issues in the Sahel that France had to leave, the focus is on more balanced...

Although this case should be viewed as separate from the multifaceted legal challenges facing former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, both, however, are major indicators of the French judiciary’s intensified focus on anti-corruption efforts involving powerful figures. The latest developments in the looming trial of a retired French Air Force General and a European civil servant over an alleged influence-peddling scheme for a €100 million diplomatic complex in Mogadishu, Somalia, is less a routine court case and more a testament to the unyielding campaign waged by a single individual: Abshir Aden Ferro. The Franco-Somali businessman and politician has spent nearly…

“African financiers’ enthusiasm for green finance has never been greater!” During the “Proparco Days Leaders for Climate Finance” held in Paris on October 2, Françoise Lombard told Financial Afrik of her satisfaction that green finance is gaining momentum among bankers and investment funds operating in Africa, while paradoxically, announcements of disengagement from major climate financial coalitions have multiplied since the beginning of the year in other parts of the world. Interview by Christine Holzbauer Nearly 200 representatives from financial institutions and banks worldwide came to Paris to participate in the first edition of “Proparco Days” dedicated to climate finance. How…

The next candidate elected to the position of Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will take office at the end of November, after being inaugurated by the 25th General Assembly. However, it is on Monday, October 6th that the 58 member states of the Executive Board will vote to select...