Musings From Abroad

Blinken commends Angola’s construction of Lobito rail corridor

Published

11 months ago

January 25, 2024

The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who is currently on an African tour, has commended the progress in the construction of the Lobito Corridor in Angola.

Blinken, during a visit to Angola on Thursday, hailed the project as a rail link key to metals exports from the central African Copper Belt.

The project, which connects the resource-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the port of Lobito in Angola, has received funding from the US in order to get around logistical obstacles in South Africa that have been impeding copper and cobalt exports.

“I had a chance today to see some of the dramatic progress that’s already been made in building out this corridor. It is moving faster and further, I think, than we might have imagined,” Blinken told a news conference, standing alongside Angolan Foreign Minister, Tete Antonio.

He said the United States had taken the initial steps to build out an additional 800 km of rail line and had pledged financing to renovate the current 1,300 km (800 miles) of rail service. According to Blinken, the corridor’s extension would protect vital supply networks for minerals and encourage investment in telecommunications, agriculture, and other sectors.

“We maintain the dream of linking the Atlantic and Indian Ocean through that specific corridor,” Antonio said.
Blinken praised Angolan President Joao Lourenco’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and said he had talked to Lourenco about ways to “move the diplomatic track forward”.

The US is keen to reclaim its waning influence in the continent in order to highlight the significance of Africa and counter any risks China and Russia may pose to US interests in this crucial region.

Blinken’s four-nation tour of Africa has also included stops in Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. This is his final trip. Talking about U.S.-African collaborations in trade, climate change, infrastructure, health, and security was the trip’s declared goal.

Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

17 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

4 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.