Obama Gets "Into" Africa: An Ugly Scramble for Oil, Minerals, and Markets

Unfortunately US policy towards Africa have largely translated into holding the door open for U.S. multinationals to do what outsiders have done for centuries: extract the continent’s wealth.

by

John Feffer

President Barack Obama speaking at a business forum aimed at increasing investment in Africa, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania last year. At the Africa Summit in Washington, DC this week, more than 50 heads of state from the continent have gathered to discuss "development" in Africa. Sadly, much of what's being discussed looks more like exploitation and a race by the world's powerful corporations to secure Africa's profitable resources for themselves. (Photo:  Evan Vucci/AP file)

President Obama is definitely “into” Africa. As much as possible in a world riven by multiple crises, the president has made the continent a focus of his policymaking. Turning his own Kenyan heritage into a personal bridge to the region, he has visited Africa three times as president – in 2009, 2011, and 2013. He has touted his administration’s multi-billion initiatives such as Power Africa to bring electricity to millions of homes, a fellowship program for young African leaders, and the continuation of efforts to fight HIV-AIDS and other infectious diseases....read more...

US-Africa: Make Human Rights Central to Summit

,,,, In Ethiopia, the government has systematically closed space for peaceful dissent over the past decade. In 2009 it passed a draconian law regulating nongovernmental activity which bars work on human rights, good governance, conflict resolution, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and people with disabilities if organizations receive more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign countries. The country's most reputable human rights groups closed or scaled down their operations. The government has also used a 2009 counterterrorism law to arbitrarily detain and prosecute dozens of journalists, protesters, and political opposition leaders. Most recently, in July the police charged three journalists and seven bloggers known as "the Zone 9" collective after they wrote articles calling for reforms and peaceful opposition to government policies........read more....

US-Africa Summit Under Way in Washington

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is working to strengthen ties with Africa at a three-day summit in Washington for some 50 African heads of state.
Monday's opening forums touched on a range of issues including security, health, the environment and corruption.
At one panel focused on trade, South African President Jacob Zuma urged the United States to renew the trade agreement, African Growth and Opportunity Act, when it expires next year....read more...

Washington Meeting of African Leaders Opens to Protests

By ANDREW SIDDONSAUG. 4, 2014

Photo

Secretary of State John Kerry and Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, speaking in Washington on Monday. Credit Alex Wong/Getty Images...read more

Ethiopian protest at Washington DC U.S.-Africa Summit today - video

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Op-Ed In Ethiopia, a stranglehold on freedom

When Secretary of State John F. Kerry traveled to Ethiopia last year, he met a young blogger named Natnael Feleke. When he returned a few months ago, Kerry found that Feleke, along with five other bloggers and three journalists, had been arrested — the latest in a long line of journalists the Ethiopian government has detained on the claim that they were trying to incite terrorism. Although Kerry addressed the arrests with officials he met, and President Obama has spoken forcefully on the importance of good governance in Africa, preoccupation with immediate security priorities — in particular counter-terrorism — trumps the fine words......................read more....

Ethiopia needs to do better

That's the message for Ethiopia

Copyright 2014: Houston Chronicle

July 28, 2014 | Updated: July 28, 2014 10:25pm

As they ready for two days of wheeling and dealing with a high-ranking Ethiopian delegation at a local hotel, Houston business and elected leaders today need to look beyond a foreign market opportunity and first ask hard questions about Ethiopia's recent crackdown on nine journalists, as well as the country's unsuccessful move this spring to make homosexuality a "non-pardonable" crime...read more..............

Rohrabacher: Ethiopia Must Release Opposition Leader

Jul 28, 2014

Press Release

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on Monday urged Ethiopia’s prime minister to release Andargachew Tsige, a native-born opposition leader with British citizenship who last month was extradicted to the African nation from Yemen under questionable circumstances.....read more....

Detention of bloggers is a violation of international law

Forty organisations have called on Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to free Zone 9 bloggers and revise it's overly broad anti-terror law..........read more.............

David Cameron will LOSE election blasts Ken Clarke after Tory spin doctors 'attempted to silence him '

David Cameron is on course to lose the next election, says Ken Clarke.
The veteran Tory revealed how spin doctors attempted to silence him, voiced concerns over the economy and revealed Margaret Thatcher wanted to scrap the NHS.
The extraordinary parting shot came after the Tory grandee was dumped in last week’s ministerial reshuffle .read more...

As Ethiopia's 'Zone 9' bloggers get popular, they get charged with terror (+video)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Ethiopia has charged 10 reform-minded bloggers and journalists with terrorism offenses – marking the latest in a long line of repressive acts against civil society by a key US partner in the Horn of Africa............read more.............

Aid to Africa: donations from west mask '$60bn looting' of continent (The guardian UK)

Aid to Africa: donations from west mask '$60bn looting' of continent

Parched soil in the Greater Upper Nile, South Sudan. Climate change mitigation has been used as a smokescreen to drain Africa's resources, say NGOs. Photograph: PA

Western countries are using aid to Africa as a smokescreen to hide the "sustained looting" of the continent as it loses nearly $60bn a year through tax evasion, climate change mitigation, and the flight of profits earned by foreign multinational companies, a group of NGOs has claimed....read more...

Is the Arrest of Andargachew Tsige the Final Straw for the People of Ethiopia?

by Graham Peebles / July 10th, 2014

Faced with a brutal repressive regime, the people of Ethiopia inside the country and within the worldwide diaspora –frustrated, angry and desperate – are considering alloptions to elicit fundamental change in the country........read more...

Snatched: Justice and Politics in Ethiopia (The Economist)

ANDARGACHEW TSIGE, an exiled Ethiopian opposition leader with British nationality, could be facing the death penalty after apparently being arrested and sent back to his country of origin while on a trip to the Gulf. While transiting in Yemen on June 23rd, during a journey from Dubai to Eritrea, Andargachew mysteriously ended up on a plane to Ethiopia. It is believed that he was detained by Yemeni officials and handed over to members of Ethiopia's security apparatus....read more..

'Britain is supporting a dictatorship in Ethiopia' (The Guadian UK)

It's 30 years since Ethiopia's famine came to attention in the UK. Now, a farmer plans to sue Britain for human rights abuses, claiming its aid has funded a government programme of torture and beatings as villagers have been removed from their homes......read more.....

Ethiopian Muslims stage anti-government protes (AFP)

Hundreds of Muslims protesters demonstrated in Ethiopia on Friday, demanding the release of 17 of their leaders jailed under terrorism charges last year.

"What the government is doing doesn't solve the problem, rather it will worsen the situation," said protestor Mohammed Seman, speaking at the demonstration following busy Friday prayers at a popular Addis Ababa mosque.

The leaders were arrested last August, following months of protests by Muslims accusing the government of interfering in religious affairs. They are currently on trial for intending to "carry out acts of terrorism".........read more.............

Ethiopia : a leadership in disarray

It may be that, in Ethiopia, history is so powerful that the past permeates the present, and it repeats itself. In this case, what we see today is simply another interregnum between two powerful men....read more...

British government statement on extradition of Ethiopian leader, Andargachew Tsege

This statement was issued today by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
On the case
“A British national, Andargachew Tsege, was reported missing in Yemen on 24 June. Since then UK officials have pressed the Yemeni authorities at senior levels to establish his whereabouts, including meeting with the Yemeni Ambassador in London this week. We are aware of reports that he may now be in Ethiopia and we are urgently seeking confirmation from the relevant authorities given our deep concerns about the case. We are continuing to provide consular assistance to his family.....read more....

Ethiopia Ginbot 7 leader facing death penalty 'extradited from Yemen'

Andargachew Tsege, who is also a British national, is secretary-general of the banned Ginbot 7 movement....read more...

UK stands accused over extradition of Ethiopian opposition leader

Andargachew Tsige, a British national, may face death penalty after extradition from Yemen...read more..