Denis
Christel Sassou Nguesso also has stakes in the Congolese subsidiary of a Swiss
Oil exploration and marketing company known as Lynx Energy. In Congo
Brazzaville, Lynx Energy is known as X OIL, formerly Puma. And X OIL is the
second fuel distributing company in the country after the French multinational,
Total, with several fuel retailing stations.
The subsidiary of the Swiss company in Congo doesn’t only do business
with Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso; she equally does business with Maurice
Nguesso. How? Through Maurice Nguesso’s boat
towing and vessels managing company, NGM trading, currently known as NGM Congo.
The boat towing and vessels of Maurice Nguesso’s company plies the Congo River
and transports fuel and other goods between Brazzaville, Betou in the north and
Mbandaka in the DRC. X Oil uses the
services of Maurice Nguesso’s NGM Company to transport oil from Matadi in the
DRC to Brazzaville and also to Mbandaka in the DRC. Besides being into business
deals with Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso and his uncle Maurice, X Oil is also
into business transaction with Mrs. Antoinette Nguesso. The building that
houses the headquarters of X Oil in Congo is owned by the first lady of Congo and
this way, the Swiss based company is certain that all members of the ruling
family have a share in the pie, thus facilitating their operations in the
country. Besides being into fuel distribution, Denis Christel is also into oil exploration.
Willy Etoka & Youcef Abass
However this
time around, Denis Christel operates through a straw man called Willy Etoka.
Through Willy Etoka, Denis Christel controls strings of oil wells in the north
of Congo and the main oil well that he owns one is called Likouala, named after
the region that the well is situated. According to those in the know, the
Likouala oil field was abandoned by Total SA because of apparent low oil yields
and high operational cost. It was taken over in a joint venture with a certain
Youcef Abass, from the United Arab Emirates. Mr Abass himself had an oil
exploration company called Piliatus that had oil exploration license around the
Mossaka basin. The drilling materials for Piliatus were transported from Brazzaville
to Mossaka by NGM Congo. Likouala Oil, officially owned by Willy Etoka
is now called Petroleum SA and not to be confused with the other the Petroleum
owned by Maurice Nguesso, based in Pointe Noire and which specializes in
services on oil rigs. Denis Christel’s tentacles doesn’t end with the above, he
is also in the financial sector. He owns a finance company called La Financier
and once again through a surrogate: Innocent Dimi. He is also into agro-industry and again
through Willy Etoka and his new company is called Huilka, whose new name is Eco
Oil.
Abraham Okoko
In order to
improve his image, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso is equally into philanthropy.
He is the promoter of a foundation known as Perspective D’Avenir. This
foundation is headed by Reverend Father Abraham Okoko. Perspective
D’Avenir doesn’t not only serve to launder his image through his selective
generosity to the people that his father and his family have helped to
impoverish through bad governance , it
is also a front or platform under which he plans to succeed his father by 2012
or 2023 . Although he is among the richest members of the family, Denis
Christel still serves as conduit in return for cash for any investor that want
to meet his father.
Denis Gokana
The other
major actor playing the role of straw man for the family, in particular the
President of the Republic, Denis Sassou Nguesso, is Denis Gokana. He was the
former General Manager of the Societe Nationale des Petrole du Congo, SNPC and
currently he is the special adviser to the President in charge of Hydrocarbons.
Besides the latter function, politically, he is the ruling PCT party’s MP for
Mboundji and member of the Politburo of the same party. In business, he is the
owner of a small, but rising Oil exploration and Exploitation Company called
Africa Gas and Oil Congo, AOGC. His company bought an oil well called Pointe
Indienne off the coast of Pointe Noire and 48 km of pipeline for just $ 150
thousand. After X Oil, AGOC is the third fuel distribution company in Congo.
They have even over taken SNPC distribution that has also started owning fuel
filling stations around the country. It is believed that, the real owner of
AGOC is not Denis Gokana, but President Denis Sassou Nguesso. However, it is
difficult to prove, because, most instructions from the President and other
transactions are carried out orally.
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