US-European Lobito Corridor Project Not Aimed at China

 The South China Morning Post published on 23 August 2025 an article titled "'No Geopolitics Involved': Angola Rail Project Not Aimed at Countering China, CEO Says" by Jevans Nyabiage.

The newly appointed chief executive of the Lobito Atlantic Railway that connects the mineral regions of Zambia, the DRC, and Angola says the company has "zero geopolitical considerations."  The railway is a joint venture project backed by European companies.  The United States has pledged $4 billion to the project.  While often portrayed as the US response to China in the region, Chinese companies are expected to use the railway.

Cutting Foreign Aid Is a Costly Mistake

 The Washington Post published on 17 June 2025 a commentary titled "The Retreat from Aid Is a Costly Mistake" by Eduardo Porter.

While the Trump administration has thrown foreign aid into the woodchipper, other Western countries including the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have cut development assistance budgets.  Their cuts have not been as dramatic as the US dismantlement of USAID, but the author explains why these changes are a mistake.   

Western Companies Score Rare Victory over China in Major Angolan Infrastructure Tender

 The International Railway Journal published on 1 August 2022 an article titled "Is the African Infrastructure Investment Landscape Changing?" by Kevin Smith.  

Portuguese and Belgian companies recently won a concession for a major infrastructure project in Angola.  This was an important defeat for competing Chinese companies.  As Western governments provide more financial support for African infrastructure projects, the continent may be witnessing a shift toward greater competition in this sector, which can only benefit Africa.

AFRICOM: Move from Stuttgart to Another European City?

 The Washington Post published on 10 September 2020 a story titled "The Trump Administration Is Considering Moving U.S. Africa Command.  It Won't Be Cheap or Easy" by Dan Lamothe.  

According to the article, the Trump administration is looking at locations in Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the UK for relocating the Africa Command, which is currently co-located with the European Command in Stuttgart.  

While an argument can be made for relocating AFRICOM to an underutilized military base on the east coast of the United States for long-term cost reasons, the proposal to move it from one European city to another makes no sense whatsoever.     

Chinese Companies Export Timber Illegally from Gabon and Congo; US and Europe Buy Finished Product

The Environmental Investigation Agency published on 25 March 2019 a report titled "Toxic Trade: Forest Crime in Gabon and the Republic of Congo and Contamination of the US Market."

The Dejia Group, affiliated companies controlled by the Chinese mogul Xu Gong De, harvest, process, and export mostly to China illegally-sourced okoume trees from the tropical forests of Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The US importer Evergreen Hardwoods purchases veneer produced from these trees that makes its way to the American consumer. The Dejia Group has also placed hundreds of thousands of tons of timber products in European countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Greece.

Ethiopia: Foreign Investors Concerned

The Washington Post published on 2 November 2016 an article titled "Investors Shy Away from Ethiopia in the Wake of Violent Protests" by Paul Schemm.

The article concludes that Ethiopia's industrialization program is at risk of faltering--along with its impressive economic trajectory--as current investors reconsider options and new ones shy away.

See the posting below dated 29 October on the same subject.

Ethiopia's Foreign Relations

Lit Verlag in Germany published in 2015 a book edited by Lukian Prijac titled "Les relations entre l'Ethiopie et les nations etrangeres" or "Foreign Relations with Ethiopia."  The chapters, which are written by a variety of authors, are in French or English.  I wrote the chapters on the United States and China, both in English.

Other relations covered include Armenia, Austria, Israel, Japan, Vatican, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Ottoman Empire, Hungary, and Russia.