Indigo Publications : Powered by Intelligence

La Lettre A goes daily

Having been a weekly for 40 years, on 19 March, the french publication La Lettre A became ‘the agenda-setting daily about power and influence’ in partnership with the specialist media newsletter PresseNews.

Available from 6.30am from Monday to Friday, the daily edition contains exclusive news and insights into the latest developments in the political, corporate and media worlds.

Africa Intelligence goes mobile first!

Launched in June 2017, the new Africa Intelligence website is specially designed to be read on a mobile. Subscribers can now access, anytime and anywhere, exclusive breaking news as well as our Insiders and over 120,000 articles containing a wealth of information on the sensitive issues of the African continent spanning the last 25 years.

Featuring the content of five confidential newsletters - the West Africa Newsletter, the Indian Ocean Newsletter, Maghreb Confidential, Africa Energy Intelligence and Africa Mining Intelligence - the Africa Intelligence website chronicles the activities of men and women in positions of power in Africa and unravels the links between political authorities and business networks.

Intelligence Online gets a facelift

In January 2017, Intelligence Online launched a new-look website and a more contemporary PDF version. With its red and black logo, a more striking visual layout and more user-friendly navigation, Intelligence Online aims to cater as comprehensively as possible to its readers’ needs.

The new Intelligence Online will continue to provide exclusive information on state intelligence, business intelligence and surveillance and interception technologies.

There is also a brand-new section called Major Contracts. Encompassing politics, diplomacy and business, major contracts in the defence, energy, aeronautics and raw materials sectors generate colossal profits as well as bringing into play state sovereignty. This section offers the inside track on the dealmaking, reports on the unfolding negotiations and identifies the key players operating in the wings of these major contracts.

Africa Intelligence given a new look

In February, Africa Intelligence unveiled its new portal and graphic identity, with updated logos, attractive colours, greater user friendliness and smoother navigation. The new portal brought together West Africa Newsletter, The Indian Ocean Newsletter, Maghreb Confidential, Africa Energy Intelligence and Africa Mining Intelligence. The new design completed an ambitious digital transition programme which began with the switch to all-digital publication in April 2013, followed by the launch of a telephone and tablet application in May 2014 and new lay-outs for the confidential newsletters in November 2014.

New functions were introduced, giving readers maximum choice by offering a wider range of modes of access to the information they are looking for.

La Lettre A gets a new graphic identity and a new mobile application

La Lettre A inaugurated a new format for its weekly newsletter on August 28. The new, livelier lay-out was realised by Rampazzo & Associés.

The new format offered improved readability, easier movement between sections and better highlighting of essential information.

It enabled La Lettre A to further its ambition to provide a fresh view of political, economic and media power in France.

The new presentation came with a new mobile app which allowed readers to receive the latest edition of the newsletter every Thursday morning, follow information in real time through alerts and consult La Lettre A’s archives at any time. The app was made available on App Store and Google Play.

Africa Intelligence accessible by mobile

Indigo continued to develop, offering readers of Africa Intelligence the opportunity to consult their content on mobile devices (Android, iOS, Windows Phone).

The mobile application, which was launched in May 2014, allowed readers to consult all articles, special reports and Insiders as soon as they appeared. Also accessible were nearly 20 years of archives, while alerts to ensure readers were able to keep up with the news.

The app was made available on App Store, Google Play and Windows Store.

100% digital

After a long period of preparation, Indigo Publications went 100% digital. The print editions of the publications on Africa Intelligence and Intelligence Online have gone. By way of compensation, the websites have been greatly enriched and improved.

The discreet intermediaries behind the big contrats

Based on the same model as Africa Intelligence’s Insiders, Intelligence Online launched its own Insiders Series devoted to the discreet intermediaries, often former political or business leaders, who can be found at the heart of negotiations on major international contracts. The first to be published were: Dominique de Villepin, Aaron Frenkel, Iskandar Safa, Dick Evans…

African Insiders

Continuing with the development of its digital information services, Indigo Publications launched Insiders Series, a collection of original monographs on the power bases of African leaders active both in business and politics. Insiders Madagascar, Insiders Mining, Insiders Kenya were published in 2012 and Insiders Ivory Coast in 2013. These monographs are included in the subscription to the individual publications and the country channels.

New design for PresseNews

With the help of the well-known press design company, Rampazzo, Indigo Publications launched a new format for the print version of PresseNews and a brand new website. After complex IT changes, the site of the press directory, 4ePouvoir.fr, was launched in June.

PresseNews

In September 2011, Indigo Publications bought PresseNews, a newsletter set up in 1995 to cover all developments in the printed and digital press.

Political entourages

To mark publication of its 1,500th edition, La Lettre A extended its Internet presence through the creation of the companion site, Entourages. The site followed the last presidential election campaign in France until May 2012 and then went on to explain the main issues facing the new government.

West Africa Newsletter

The newsletter of the Franco-African "village", La Lettre du Continent, had been published solely in French. In 2010, an English edition was set up under the name West Africa Newsletter.

Independent press

Indigo Publications was one of the founder members of the Syndicat de la Presse Indépendante d’Information en Ligne (Spiil), which was set up in October 2009. Since then, Maurice Botbol has been president of the organisation which is devoted to the development of the digital press.

French power games

Indigo Publications bought La Lettre A from journalist-entrepreneur Jean-Michel Quatrepoint. This weekly publication, founded in 1978, is aimed at high-level French decision-makers. It analyses the business and political power issues of the moment. At the same time, the group launched the LaLettreA.fr website.

Change of rhythm

At the initiative of its editor, Francis Soler, The Indian Ocean Newsletter, the oldest of Indigo’s newsletters, changed its publication schedule. The printed version, which was weekly, became fortnightly, while the website became more reactive through the publication of alerts to break exclusive news stories.

Business intelligence and lobbying

Having become the publication of reference on business intelligence, Indigo created a collection of biographical profiles in 2004 under the title "Intelligence Online Reports". Unique in its kind, the first publication in the collection presented exclusive profiles of the 100 top decision-makers in the sector in France. A second publication published in 2005 detailed the profiles of the 100 leading corporate lobbyists.

Afrique Expansion

The specialised Paris-based press group, Le Moniteur, sold La Lettre Afrique Expansion to Indigo Publications. The publication was incorporated into La Lettre du Continent.

Intelligence Online's creation

Le Monde du Renseignement and its English edition, Intelligence Newsletter, changed names to take that of the website housing them, Intelligence Online. A new website was also created. It was particularly heavily consulted following the events of September 11 2001 after having been the first to bring to light much information about terrorism and Al-Qaeda.

Africa Mining Intelligence

With mining and energy activity developing strongly in Africa, Indigo decided to set up Africa Mining Intelligence and to devote La Lettre Afrique Energies exclusively to the energy sector under the new title, Africa Energy Intelligence.

Launch of the Magellan project

As the Web developed, Indigo Publications found itself with three data bases which did not communicate between each other: paper subscribers, paper prospects, website subscribers and prospects. Logically, these three systems needed to be unified but there was no software on the market which met the company’s requirements. Indigo Publications, therefore, launched the Magellan project with the aim of creating a single information system incorporating all its data - editorial, marketing and accounting.This project, which was put in the hands of an IT services company, lasted for two years. From 2002 on, Indigo Publications took over the maintenance and development of the system by setting up its own internal IT service.

Africa on the Web

Indigo Publications put on line Africa Intelligence, which was the first professional portal on Africa and which gave access to all the group’s publications on the continent. As with Intelligence Online, launched the previous year, Africa Intelligence was a paying site.

Exclusive biographies

In an effort to diversify its activities, the group launched a collection of biographical profiles under the title "Les hommes de pouvoir". Each publication provided exclusive profiles of 100 real decision-makers in an African country.

First website

In 1995, Indigo Publications became a pioneer in online news when it announced the “first website for strategic decision-making”, Intelligence Online. The site was a paying one from its first day online. This went against conventional wisdom at the time but proved itself to have been a judicious choice later. Online subscription did not exist at the time but a virtual purse system made it possible to buy articles one at a time.

The switch to digital publication

At the start of the 1990s, big data bases were a rarity in Europe, although they were widely used in the United States. Maurice Botbol contacted the new office of Lexis-Nexis in London and asked it to create a system incorporating all Indigo’s publications in both French and English. Agreement was reached in 1993 and the system was set up with archives going back to January 1 1992. In the years which followed, similar agreements were concluded with Factiva, CD-ROM SNI and L’Européenne de Données. This early digitalisation of Indigo’s archives allowed the company to open its first website two years later with access to three years of archives.

Focus on the Maghreb

Until 1990, North African news was covered in La Lettre du Continent. It was decided at this point, however, to create a new publication devoted more specifically to the Maghreb countries. It was called Maghreb Confidentiel in French and Maghreb Confidential in English. Published weekly in a short two page format, the publication was distributed essentially by fax.

Intelligence news

The intelligence services were very active in Africa during the Cold War and Maurice Botbol considered that it was important to know more about how they operated to get a better understanding of events on the continent. Indigo Publications acquired the Paris-based French language publication, Le Monde du Renseignement, and its English edition, Intelligence Newsletter. The publication, which reported on developments in the intelligence services in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the former Soviet Union, became Intelligence Online in 2001.

Francophone Africa

Antoine Glaser founded La Lettre du Continent, a publication devoted to francophone Africa, which, over the years, became the flagship of Indigo Publications. Its aim was to cover the most secret aspects of the Franco-African “village”.

Oil, gas and electricity in Africa

La Lettre Afrique Energies and its English version, Africa Energy and Mining, were launched in 1983 with backing from Antoine Glaser, a journalist specialising in African issues. Its aim was essentially to cover the geostrategic dimension of oil production in Africa. La Lettre Afrique Energies was renamed Africa Energy Intelligence in 2000 at the same time that its sister publication, Africa Mining Intelligence, was launched.

In the beginning, the Indian Ocean

Independent journalist Maurice Botbol founded Indigo Publications in 1981and launched The Indian Ocean Newsletter. This weekly newsletter was published simultaneously in French and English, without advertising and distributed solely to subscribers. The aim was to inform professional readers of the political power struggles, the battles for influence and the economic issues in East Africa, southern Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean.