A Qatari Breath on Africa: Investments in Progress

Qatar is mobilizing its forces. Sheikh Al Mansour Bin Jabor Bin Jassim Al Thani, a powerful cousin of Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and head of a prosperous conglomerate, is leaving this Wednesday for a strategic African tour. From August 13th to the 29th of the same month, he will be present in ten countries in Central and Southern Africa, promising sensational investment announcements.

Sources insist that Sheikh Al Mansour "will not come empty-handed," a phrase that smacks of the promise of infrastructure, airports, ports, energy, and diversified sectors . His group, Al-Mansour Holding, is a pillar of the Qatari economy, spanning eleven sectors and including around a hundred holding companies.

Hitting the mark with something concrete

This tour is not limited to symbolic gestures. In 2021, for example, Doha already signed agreements with the DRC to modernize the airports in Kinshasa (N'Djili, Ndolo) and Lubumbashi (Luano), as well as to strengthen port infrastructure in Matadi, Kinshasa, and Boma. Qatar also established a major partnership with Rwanda around RwandAir and Bugesera Airport, worth two billion dollars. .

We perceive an obvious intention: to convert Qatar, until now singled out for its sporting maneuvers (PSG, circuits, etc.), into a credible economic partner of the African continent.

Double-edged strategy: diplomacy, business and influence

What's at stake is not just economic. Sheikh Al Mansour's presence in Africa is a clear sign of influence, an extension of Qatar as a strategic player. Already, at the Qatar Economic Forum (May 2025), his group signed a memorandum of understanding for sustainable "green" projects, supported by a multilateral alliance including Chinese and American giants, with an initial investment of 10 billion Qatari riyals.

The African tour is part of this dynamic of expansion towards a global network combining the private sector, diplomacy and soft power.

Africa put to the test by Qatar: opportunities and vigilance

The arrival of a Qatari windfall will give a boost to many African economies: air infrastructure, logistics, transport, skills transfers. But this isn't philanthropy. It's economic diplomacy designed to win, to establish a lasting presence in the continent's strategic equations.

Some voices call for caution: the speed and scale of these announcements must come with transparency and respect for local interests.