Oil talks stall

After a few days of intense negotiations, talks on exploration rights in Eastern Lopongo stalled on Monday night. The parties decided to adjourn and reconvene the meeting in 10 days, after secretive discussions in Lopongo capital Banda failed to produce a deal between the government and the French-Italian petroleum giant Canistracci Oil.
According to people close the parties, there would be a few roadblocks to prevent an agreement. The fall in oil prices in recent weeks have complicated the financial aspects of the deal: when president Kwanto Sei Bruto first considered Canistracci Oil approaches, crude prices were hovering at $105-$110 per barrel; by Tuesday, Brent prices had dropped below $59. Canistracci Oil offered a deal around current market values, while Lopongo government is insisting for a target price of $85-$90.
A second, thorny issue is represented by the share of revenues for local administrations. Canistracci Oil is calling for an inclusion of Port Durame's authorities in the deal, in order to minimize local opposition to its operations. Kwanto Midevi, minister of economic development, strongly opposes the request, but Mobuto Labomba, governor of the Port Durame province, made clear he would resist any deal not including a share of revenues for its district.
Finally, Canistracci Oil is asking for a some latitude in ensuring its own security procedures, included the deployment of company's security guards. The government would prefer to maintain control of the security forces in the strategic region.
Canistracci's representative will return to Europe for further consultations, but are expected to return to Banda in the second week of November for trying to strike the deal that thus far has remained elusive.

Lopongo government to discuss exploration with French oil giant

A delegation of top managers from the French-Italian oil giant Canistracci Oil will meet Lopongo officials in Banda next week, to discuss exploration rights in the eastern part of the country, according to a spokesman of the company. On Friday, rumors about a move by Canistracci Oil sent the stock up 7% at the Paris Bourse, where the CAC index closed the day up 4.7%.

It is not clear yet what this negotiation implies for the political equilibrium in Lopongo. A few months back, ouvertures by British and American oil interests were rebuffed with a strongly worded statement by president Kwanto Sei Bruto. The president's statement marked a sharp departure from the generically pro-Western stance that Lopongo government held for several years.

According to some analysts, a deal with Canistracci Oil will reaffirm the historical bond between Lopongo and France. The relationship between the two countries became lukewarm a few years back, when president Sei Bruto rejected a French request to host a French Foreign Legion military base on Lopongan soil. Other observers interpret Sei Bruto's move as part of the ongoing, hidden power struggle with the Makeni-dominated political leadership in the East, which may favor the British and American oil interests already established across the border in Nigeria.

Personalities

Kwanto Sei Bruto – president of the Republic of Lopongo since a coup in 1976, leader of the Kenema tribe and the LURID party. Also president of the Supreme Court of Justice and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Kwanto Midevi – cousin of president Sei Bruto, notoriously greedy, inept and corrupted minister for Economic Development and Natural Resources.
Tebuto Disoto – minister of Internal Security and chief of the security forces. Also affiliated with the Kenema tribe and LURID.
Mo Kefai – indecisive leader of the Makeni LAID party, and minister of Social Justice.
Mobuto Labomba – LAID member and governor of the Port Durame district. Former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, removed by president Sei Bruto as considered too ambitious and unreliable, yet very popular and strongly supported by the Makeni tribe.
Ali Mentari – minister of Agriculture and Nutrition, leader of the Islamic party CIULA and the Muslim Koitu tribe in northern Lopongo.
Ovisto Laluche – religious leader of the animist LECCA party, from the Ouidah district.

Armed Forces

The Armed Forces of Lopongo count a few thousand men, and the following units:

• 1 armored squadron


• 3 infantry battalions


• 1 commando/airborne battalion


• 1 artillery battery


• 1 support battalion

The Presidential Guard is about 100 men strong, and it is composed mostly by foreign mercenaries (Angolan and Portuguese for the most part.) The President of the Republic is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

Equipment includes: x 8 PT-76 as MBT, x12 BRDM-2 as IFV, x9 M113 as APC, and AA Gun ZPU-4. Air and Naval forces are limited to a few helicopters and three patrol boats.

Economy and Natural Resources

The economy of Lopongo remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton, bananas, and cocoa production, and regional trade. Growth in real output per capita has come to a standstill in the past six years. By the 2000s economic activity was declining and economic infrastructure had become seriously degraded. Rampant inflation has partially subsided, but remains in double digit. Efforts for an economic recovery failed because of the widespread corruption by public officials, which many feel is the chief cause for recent political uncertainty. Plans to attract more foreign investment have failed, mostly because of the near total government control on infrastructure - telecommunications, water, and electricity, among the most inefficient in the continent.

The country counts one international airport in Banda, and few minor airstrips, no railway system, and an underdeveloped road network (See image below). Lopongo is working with the World Bank to receive financing to build two major roads: from Natitingou to Djougou, and from Bo to Abomey.


Lopongo is supposed to be rich in minerals, although a modern mining has never been established. The country has the potential to become a major producer of gem-quality diamonds, which are supposed to be available in quantity in the mountains areas of Bombali and Sokbano. Nevertheless, Lopongo has historically struggled to manage the exploitation and export of diamonds.
Lopongo might also sit on important oil fields that are already being tapped by Nigeria across the border. Contentious negotiates with oil companies has thus far prevented exploration of the western areas in the Port Durame and Parakou districts.
A key indicator of success will be the effectiveness of government management of its diamond and oil sector.

Although trade unions in Lopongo represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the large informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labor, and the continuing issue of forced labor.

About Us

Welcome to the website of "Qui Lopongo", one of Africa's most respected independent news agencies!

We have been supplying news and exclusive reports from the Republic of Lopongo since 1991; our contributions have been featured in newspapers and magazines around the world on a daily basis. We are now pleased to provide you our online services through "Qui Lopongo" at http://lopongo.blogspot.com/ for even more timely information and in-depth analysis.

We are currently headquartered in Paris, with offices in London, Lagos, and Johannesburg. Thanks to our exceptional network of correspondents in Banda, Duambouti, Port Durame, and in every other major city in Lopongo, we are able to distribute up-to-date information in real time, despite the severe limitations to free reporting enforced by the local government.

"Qui Lopongo" offers a balanced view on all that is going on in Lopongo. If you are a citizen in Lopongo, an expatriate, or have family living in Lopongo; if you are a businessman with interests or projects in Lopongo, if you would like to keep up with all the news that is going on there, you can now get the facts from an online resource with the highest reporting standard!

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Politics

In Lopongo, the Parliament is mostly a consultive body, with weak powers to oversee the executive, and very little autonomy to promote its legislative agenda. Following a national agreement brokered by President Sei Bruto, the 110 seats were split among three leading parties:

• LURID – Lopongo Union for Reform, Independence and Democracy. The Kenema party led by cousins Kwanto Sei Bruto and Kwanto Midevi. It received 60 seats in the parliament;


• LAID – Lopongo Alliance for Independence and Democracy. The Makeni party led, at national level, by Mo Kefai, received 40 seats, campaigning under the banner “Get LAID in power.” The influential leader Mobuto Labomba was appointed governor for the Port Durame district;


• CIULA – Congress for Independence, Union, and Liberty in Africa. Ali Mentari’s Muslim party from the Koitu areas. It was awarded 10 seats in Parliament by the 2006 agreement.
  

There are three are political movements which opposed the brokered agreement of 2006, and were not permitted to participate in the general election:

• LECCA – Lopongo Earth-Chosen Congress for Africa. A religious faction, mostly concentrated in the Ouidah district, led by the animist preacher Ovisto Laluche;


• LUSH – Leninist Union “Sickle and Hammer.” A Marxist-Leninist formation, born from the remnants of the Communist Party outlawed after the 1976 coup;


• LIPPA – Lopongo Independence Party – Popular Alliance. A moderate, pro-Western party of democratic aspirations.

Lose, more extremists Islamic groups also operates, without much following, in the Kandi and Malanville districts.

Government and Administration

Formally a presidential Republic, Lopongo had a difficult transition toward democracy. President Sei Bruto has dominated the political scene since the late 1970s, and he has guarantee the stability of a governing coalition based on the two main tribal groups in Lopongo, the Kenema of the Southwest and the Makeni of the Southeast. In the north, the largely Muslim group of the Koitu has been largely excluded by any political role at national level.

The President of the Republic is also President of the Supreme Court of Justice and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. President Sei Bruto oversees a small cabinet which includes his cousin, the notoriously corrupted Kwanto Midevi, minister for economic development and natural resources, the minister for internal security Tebuto Disoto, and junior cabinet members for foreign affairs, social justice, legal affairs, health, agriculture and nutrition, information, youth and education. Government position are mostly distributed between leaders from the Kenema and the Makeni tribe; the only Muslim Koitu representative being Ali Mentari, minister for agriculture and nutrition.

Lopongo is divided into 11 departments, whose supervisors are appointed by presidential decree among the Bruto’s loyal followers. The departments are (ranked by population):

1. Banda


2. Duambouti


3. Port Durame


4. Ouidah


5. Malanville


6. Shenge


7. Djougou


8. Bo


9. Parakou


10. Natitingou


11. Kandi

Among local authorities, the most prominent is the current governor of the Port Durame district, general Mobutu Labomba, former chief of staff of the armed forces destituted by President Sei Bruto but strongly backed by the Makeni community.

Tribal Groups and Religion

There are three major tribal groups in Lopongo: the Kenema in the Southwest, the Makeni in the Southeast, and the Koitu in the northern part of the country. The Kenema have become the dominant group under the presidency of Kwanto Sei Bruto, but the political and social balance is based on a precarious equilibrium between the two dominant groups.

About 60% the population adheres to indigenous, animist beliefs. Christianity is the second largest religious group, to which 25% of the country's population belongs, mostly in the Makeni Southeast. The remaining 15% of Lopongo population follow Islam, mostly concentrated in the northern districts of Malanville and Kandi.

Geography

Stretched between the Niger River in the northeast and the Atlantic Ocean on the south, Lopongo is a small Sub-Saharan nation bordered by four countries: Nigeria to the east, Chad to the northeast, Burkina Faso and Guinea to the west. The independent and relatively affluent state of Sao Roque, a former Portuguese colony lying across the Gulf of Guinea, is connected to the Lopongan port of Duambouti by regular ferry service.
The country can be divided into four main areas from the south to the north:

• The low-lying, sandy, coastal plain is flat (highest elevation 10 meters). Near the coast, it is marshy and dotted with swamps, lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean; further mainland, the region of lowland plains contains forests, bush and farmland.


• Dense bushy and rain-forested plains dotted with rocky hills mostly cover the central part of the country, whose altitude seldom reaches 400 meters. More farmland is found along the roads from Banda to Djougou, and in the Port Durame district.


• To the west and southwest lie two groups of mountains, the Bombali group south of Duambouti and the Sokbano group south of Djougou. The highest mountain of Lopongo is Mount Sokbano with a height of 986 meters. A valley running northeast to southwest along the Oueme River and the main road between Banda e Djougou splits the two plateaus.


• In the north, in the Kandi e Malanville districts, the sub-Saharan savanna is covered with thorny scrubs and huge baobab trees. Some forests line the banks of river Niger.

Lopongo has a tropical climate, hot and humid for most part of the year. The rainy season occurs between April and June as well as between September and October in the southern regions. The northern region is the driest part of the country, with near-desertic stretches at the border with Chad south of River Niger.
There are three major cities in Lopongo. The political capital is Banda, where the only international airport of the country is located. Two important ports are in Duambouti and Port Durame, respectively the second and third largest cities in the country.
The town of Ouidah, on the southern coast, is the spiritual capital of Lopongo.

Background

Present day LOPONGO, a prominent West African kingdom in the 15th century, became a French Colony in the late 1850s and achieved independence on 1 March 1960, as the Republic of Lopongo. A fragile democracy since its inception, it experienced a Marxist-Leninist government from 1972 to 1976, following a coup that overturned the democratic institutions left in place by France. In 1976, tribal, pro-Western forces took the power and installed Kwanto Sei Bruto as the president of the country. President Sei Bruto has hold the position since, thanks to his grip on the tribal coalition between the groups of the Kenema and the Makeni, the two leading tribes in Lopongo. Under President Bruto, the country has suffered a progressive decline, and it now ranks among the poorest and most corrupted countries in Africa. Attempts to restore a democratic process have been thwarted; in 2006, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of his rule, President Sei Bruto ran for re-election amid widespread voting irregularities, and won a second 25-year mandate that might maintain him in power until 2031.
Lopongo is among the lowest ranked countries on the Human Development Index and ninth lowest on the Human Poverty Index, suffering from endemic corruption and suppression of the press.