"How Qaddafi's downfall would hurt Libya's southern neighbors"

A Libyan rebel soldier carries ammunition as rebel forces prepare for battle in Ajdabiya on March 2, 2011 while pro Moamer Kadhafi soldiers and mercenaries armed with tanks and heavy artillery stormed the nearby city of Brega, 200 kilometres (125 miles) southwest of the main eastern city Benghazi, sparking heavy clashes. MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images.

I'm quoted in an article by Drew Hinshaw, West Africa correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, titled "West Africa Rising." Here are my quotes:

More concerning are the mercenaries among the refugees. Estimates of the number of sub-Saharan African soldiers on Qaddafi's payroll range from 300 to a few thousand.

David Shinn, former Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, is less alarmed.

"The whole mercenary thing is significantly overstated," he says. "I suspect we're talking in the hundreds. They are also dispersed over a fairly wide number of countries, which means that in the case of any single country, the only one that would be particularly concerned would be Chad."

"To me," he adds, "the bigger issue is the workforce."

Quotes in two more Christian Science Monitor articles on Pres. Obama in Africa

I am quoted today in two new pieces in the Christian Science Monitor by Drew Hinshaw. There relevant quote from the piece "Obama in Africa: Big on inspiration, short on specifics" is:

"It was an important speech and it's by far the most comprehensive statement he's made on Africa, but it still leaves a lot to the imagination," David Shinn, former ambassador to Ethiopia, said. "He didn't really give a very good picture as to what the US is going to do in the Congo, or Somalia, or Sudan."

In "Africans reflect on Obama's 'tough love' message" I am quoted as saying the following:

"I think the main thing he wanted to do was to put the Africans on notice that its time to stop complaining about their problems as emanating from outside, and to realize that for the most part, their problems are of their own making now," says David Shinn, former US Ambassador to Ethiopia. "I think it came across loud and clear."

Image: President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama (2nd l.) and their daughter Sasha (l.) take part in a departure ceremony at the airport in Accra Saturday. Jim Young/Reuters. Source: CSM.

"Obama in Africa: Can US rival China's new clout?"

I am quoted in Drew Hinshaw's article in today's Christian Science Monitor on President Obama's trip to Africa. Here are the relevant passages:

For many African governments, China's state-operated Exim Bank, now the world's third largest credit agency, has become a compelling alternative to the World Bank, one that doesn't dwell on humanitarian concerns. ...Exim Bank's loans typically come with gentle 1 to 2 percent interest rates and only one major catch: that the governments contract China's state-owned companies to complete the project. This works well for reform-reluctant leaders, and for China's government, which in many cases directly pays state-owned contractors from state-owned banks, bypassing the host nation altogether. A token amount of the loan reaches the local workforce, or is used to purchase local materials. "But the rest of it will be money that goes from one Chinese bank to another," says former US Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn. "And this has been the pattern across Africa. How can a Western company compete with it?"

And here:

But beyond oil, analysts say American companies are shirking opportunities in Africa. "Except for oil, where investment money goes in no matter what, there hasn't been much Western investment in Africa in recent years," said Mr. Shinn, the ambassador. "This is an area where the United States really needs to make a push, particularly as we start coming out of the economic funk we're in."

The entire article can be accessed here. Photo: July 8. "A street vendor sits in his kiosk selling memoribilia depicting President Obama in Accra, Ghana's capital city. The visit will be Obama's first to sub-Saharan Africa since becoming president in January. Luc Gnago-Re." Source: Washington Post.