Martin Plaut posted: " "According to the ambassador, Eritrea's position on the presence of foreign military bases on its territory remains unchanged after President Isaias Afwerki's visit to Moscow – the country is not interested in the deployment of such facilities." Eritr" Martin Plaut

"According to the ambassador, Eritrea's position on the presence of foreign military bases on its territory remains unchanged after President Isaias Afwerki's visit to Moscow – the country is not interested in the deployment of such facilities."

Eritrean President to Attend Russia–Africa Summit, Ambassador Says

The Second Summit Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum will take place in St. Petersburg from July 27-28.The First Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum was held in the Russian resort city of Sochi in October 2019.

© Sputnik . Alexey Maishev

 In late May, during Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki's visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin extended an invitation to his Eritrean counterpart to attend the second Russia–Africa Summit to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 27-28.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki plans to attend the second Russia–Africa summit to be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, Asmara's Ambassador to Moscow Petros Tseggai Asghedom told Sputnik in an interview.

"Mr. Afwerki has accepted the invitation [of Russian President Vladimir Putin] and plans to come to the summit," Tseggai said.

He added that among the expected agenda items are international security issues and the problem of the arms race in outer space.

In early June, in an exclusive interview with Sputnik Africa, the Eritrean President said that the upcoming Second Russia–Africa Summit, which will be attended by all African leaders, might serve as a platform to discuss "how could governments and nations in Africa engage to promote this partnership that will change the quality of life and enable African peoples to enjoy the resources they have by designing and implementing programs for development."

At the meeting in May, Afwerki and Putin reached agreements on international security and military cooperation. The import of Russian grain to the country was probably also discussed, and the results of these agreements will be seen in the near future, the ambassador said.

Earlier, Putin said when meeting with the Eritrean leader that Moscow and Asmara intend to ink a number of intergovernmental agreements, and that the two countries have good prospects for cooperation in many areas.

During the meeting of the heads of state, certain agreements were reached in many areas. For example, in the sphere of culture, international security, military cooperation, and many others, Tsegay said, adding that it is too early to talk about concrete results, but "the results will be visible in the near future".

According to the diplomat, the two leaders had an extensive agenda during the gathering, that touched upon all major issues, including the issue of direct grain supplies. He stressed that the countries are at the beginning of an extensive "road of long, fruitful cooperation".

In particular, the ambassador said that Eritrea was currently interested in studying the issues of prioritizing products for delivery. He added that time will tell how the relations between the two countries will develop in this direction.

Western Pressure Over Ties With Russia

The United States is trying to vilify and demonize Eritrea and its leadership because of its support for Russia and for the African country's desire to go its own way, Washington supports organizations that oppose the interests of Asmara, according to the Eritrean envoy to Moscow.

He added that Eritrea has been under pressure for more than 80 years.

Earlier, Eritrea's foreign minister said after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that Asmara is under constant pressure from Washington because of its support for Moscow's position, but the African nation won't succumb to it.

According to the ambassador, in light of recent events, such as the meeting between the leaders of Eritrea and Russia in May, there is a growing tendency to increase pressure on Eritrea by expanding sanctions and supporting organizations that oppose its interests.

According to the ambassador, Eritrea's position on the presence of foreign military bases on its territory remains unchanged after President Isaias Afwerki's visit to Moscow – the country is not interested in the deployment of such facilities.

Continuing to Engage with Moscow

Petros Tseggai also announced that Eritrea and Russia are planning to exchange delegations in the near future. During these meetings, the two sides will explore the potential for establishing business contacts.

The Eritrean ambassador admitted that the current level of business contacts between the two countries is low, but assured that efforts are being made to improve this situation.

"Once certain mechanisms of interstate cooperation are in place, we can expect an increase in business agenda activity," he said.

The ambassador hoped that Russian companies would participate in oil exploration in his country. He stressed that the current oil reserves in Eritrea have not been fully explored and called for further research and exploration.

The envoy highlighted the visits by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Asmara and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to Moscow, and hoped that these visits would lead to the assistance of Russian companies in resolving this issue.

Although no substantive discussions have yet taken place, the ambassador expressed optimism that work in this area of bilateral relations would begin soon.

Martin Plaut posted: " Mayor Frank-Tilo Becher (SPD), who had previously tried in vain to ban the festival, is calling for a reappraisal of the decision to allow the "festival" that must go beyond his city. Source: taz [Note: computer translation from German] After " Martin Plaut

Mayor Frank-Tilo Becher (SPD), who had previously tried in vain to ban the festival, is calling for a reappraisal of the decision to allow the "festival" that must go beyond his city.

Source: taz

[Note: computer translation from German]

After the riots at the Eritrea Festival in Giessen, city politicians are demanding consequences. 26 police officers were injured in the riots.

Giessen on July 8th, 2003, counter-demonstrators in front of the Eritrea Festival are being guarded by the policePhoto: Helmut Fricke/dpa

BERLIN taz | After the riots in Giessen at the weekend, state and local politicians called for consequences. Around 1,700 Eritreans from half of Europe had come together there, like almost every year since 2011, to celebrate the Eritrean dictatorship. About 150 Eritrean counter-demonstrators tried violently to prevent the festival by throwing stones and bottles . 26 police officers were injured, some seriously. It is not known whether there were also injured Eritreans. 131 people were temporarily taken into custody. You are free again.

At the political level, the events triggered a heated debate. The Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) called on the federal government to summon the Eritrean ambassador. "Our police officers are not the buffer stop for conflicts in third countries," he said.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said on Monday at the government press conference that there had been talks with the chargé d'affaires of the Eritrean embassy in advance. It had been made clear to him that inter-Eitrean conflicts should not be fought on German soil. There hasn't been an Eritrean ambassador in Germany for nine years, nor have there been fully-fledged diplomatic relations.

The organizer of the festival is the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany. He is controversial for his proximity to the one-party dictatorship in the small Horn of Africa country, dubbed the "North Korea of ​​Africa." Spokespersons for the association had rejected the accusation that the event was used to promote the regime in Eritrea. Rather, it would have been a cultural and family festival.

Minister of Propaganda praises the festival

However, the statement is contradicted by the fact that the governors of all six provinces in Eritrea were flown in to the “culture and family festival”, performed and celebrated. Even Eritrea's information minister - the term "propaganda minister" would be more appropriate - had tweeted about the festival from the capital Asmara and spoke of a "lively event" that was enriched by the presence of "the governors of all six provinces of the home country". He did not mention riots.

A participant reports to the taz that flags from Eritrea and the sole governing party PFDJ were shown and sold. According to an observer, a song was also sung calling for the murder of residents in the neighboring Ethiopian province of Tigray. This cannot be verified independently. Representatives of the organizer could not be reached on Monday.

The relationship between the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany and the PFDJ itself is also difficult. According to the register of associations at the responsible district court in Wiesbaden, the association, which was registered in 2018, consists of four pillars. One of them is the Eritrean governing party PFDJ itself, the other three are organizations from Eritrea and Germany. According to indirect information from the register of associations, the association is said to be non-profit, but the taz does not have a certificate from the tax office. The picture reports that a German branch of the PFDJ was founded in Frankfurt/Main in February. The taz has minutes of a meeting of the PFDJ youth organization in Germany in May.

Gießen Mayor Frank-Tilo Becher (SPD), who had previously tried in vain to ban the festival , is calling for a reappraisal that must go beyond his city. In addition to the incidents surrounding the festival, there was openly racist hate speech on social media that mocked the rule of law, said Becher. For him, the question is whether such a festival should be allowed to take place again in the next few years.

The US has issued two statement, outlining the action they are taking to end the Wagner group's activities in Africa, which help fund their operations in Ukraine, while also furthering Russia's objectives in Africa.

The United States Issues an Advisory Focused on the Gold Sector Across Sub-Saharan Africa

MEDIA NOTE

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON

JUNE 27, 2023

Today, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the United States Agency for International Development issued a unique business risk advisory focused on the gold sector across sub-Saharan Africa.  The advisory highlights the opportunities and specific risks raised by the gold trade across sub-Saharan Africa and encourages industry participants to adopt and apply strengthened due diligence practices to ensure that malign actors, such as the Wagner Group, are unable to exploit and benefit from the sector, which remains essential to the livelihoods of millions of people across the continent.

The advisory provides integrated and holistic guidance to those connected to the gold sector in sub-Saharan Africa, which produces approximately 25 percent of the world’s gold each year.  It encourages U.S. businesses to undertake responsible investment in all aspects of the sector: mining, trading, refining, manufacturing, and retail of end products.  In particular, the advisory discusses the multi-faceted context related to artisanal and small-scale mining, reviewing the opportunities for development in the sector and ways in which the U.S. government has provided support.

At the same time, there are numerous risks that are directly and indirectly connected to the gold sector in sub-Saharan Africa.  Without adequate due diligence and appropriate mitigating measures, an industry participant may inadvertently contribute to one or more of these risks, including conflict and terror financing, money laundering, corruption, sanctions evasion, human rights and labor rights abuses, and environmental degradation.

The United States shares the same interests and objectives as gold producers across sub-Saharan Africa in ensuring the development of a responsible and sustainable gold sector that eliminates the role of predatory and malign actors.  This advisory serves as another tool to achieve those objectives.

Sanctioning Entities and Individual Connected to Wagner Group in Africa

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

JUNE 27, 2023

The United States is imposing sanctions on several entities in the Central African Republic (CAR) today for their connection to the transnational criminal organization known as the Wagner Group and for their involvement in activities that undermine democratic processes and institutions in the CAR through illicit trade in the country’s natural resources.

We are also designating one Russian national who has served as a Wagner executive in Mali.  Wagner has used its operations in Mali both to obtain revenue for the group and its owner, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, as well as to procure weapons and equipment to further its involvement in hostilities in Ukraine.

The United States has also issued a new business risk advisory focused on the gold industry across sub-Saharan Africa.  Specifically, this advisory highlights how illicit actors such as Wagner exploit this resource to gain revenue and sow conflict, corruption, and other harms throughout the region. Death and destruction has followed in Wagner’s wake everywhere it has operated, and the United States will continue to take actions to hold it accountable.

The Gold Advisory is a joint effort by Departments of State, the Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as the United State Agency for International Development. To read the full text of the Advisory, see here.  The Department of the Treasury designated two CAR-based entities, Midas Resources SARLU and Diamville SAU; one UAE-based entity, Industrial Resources General Trading; and one Russia-based entity, Limited Liability Company DM, and also designated one Russian national, Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, pursuant to Executive Order 14024.  For more information about these designations, please see the Department of the Treasury’s press release.

Martin Plaut posted: " Source: Addis Standard JUNE 8, 2023 Women in the Afar region of Ethiopia receive emergency food assistance. Photo: ©WFP/Claire Nevill Addis Abeba – Following the suspension of food aid delivery by the USAID and WFP, which at first " Martin Plaut

Source: Addis Standard

JUNE 8, 2023

Women in the Afar region of Ethiopia receive emergency food assistance. Photo: ©WFP/Claire Nevill

Addis Abeba – Following the suspension of food aid delivery by the USAID and WFP, which at first appeared to have been triggered by food aid diversion in the war-torn Tigray regional state, an internal memo of a recent meeting by the donor community in Ethiopia obtained by Addis Standard revealed that the result of an “extensive monitoring” over the course of the last two months conducted by USAID, the single largest food aid provider to Ethiopia, has identified “a country-wide diversion scheme primarily targeting donor-funded food commodities” and is “a coordinated and criminal scheme, which has prevented life-saving food assistance from reaching the most vulnerable.”

A memo prepared by Humanitarian and Resilience Donor Group (HRDG), which is “a platform allowing donors to coordinate their activities in support of a strategic, effective, efficient, and principled humanitarian response,” among others, also shows that the “monitoring visits at 63 flour mills in seven of Ethiopia’s nine regions, and witnessed significant diversion of USAID-funded humanitarian food commodities across all seven regions.”

A field trip by Addis Standard team in March to Borana, Oromia region, found community members in Yabelo, the administrative capital of the drought-hit Borana zone, in Southern Oromia, reeling in the midst of allegations on the rising cases of corruption in aid administration that saw a portion of the aid deliveries are taken for personal use by the people in charge of local aid distribution.

The “scheme appears to be orchestrated” by federal and regional governments entities, “with military units across the country benefiting from humanitarian assistance. Private grain and flour traders and operators have also played a role in the scheme,” the memo reads.

The monitoring by the USAID has also observed evidence of “diversion of other donor-funded commodities” including “wheat donated from France, Japan, and Ukraine through implementing partner World Food Program (WFP).” In September last year, Ukraine has donated 50,000 metric tons of grain for Ethiopia and Somalia through WFP, which has since been delivered in various batches.

The outcome of the motioning seems to have a wide-range implication on the overall food aid delivery to Ethiopia. According to the HRDG memo, “there is a strong possibility that USAID will pause all USAID-supported food assistance across Ethiopia until further notice.” The US government has provided a whooping $1.8 billion aid in lifesaving assistance since the 2022 fiscal year alone.

Although the possibility will leave “non-food aid” provisions unaffected, the USAID said before allowing any additional USAID-funded commodities to be distributed in Ethiopia, “the country’s humanitarian architecture must undergo significant and immediate reforms.”

Stringent recommendations

This comes in the backdrop of the 2023 joint appeal published in March by Ethiopian government and humanitarian partners which sought for $US 3.99 billion to assist over 20 million people across the country with food assistance. An estimated 13 million of this are targeted for humanitarian response in drought affected areas alone.

Regardless of the needs however, the HRDG memo forwarded stringent recommendations to be implemented both by the donor community and the Ethiopian government. While the USAID called on other donors “to seize this opportunity to improve the humanitarian architecture in Ethiopia,” the humanitarian group itself recommended the Ethiopian government to implement a litany of measures, starting from “making public statement “condemning the humanitarian aid diversion and demanding that humanitarian staff throughout Ethiopia not be harassed in any way,” to identifying and dismantling the “organized structures orchestrating the diversion scheme(s).”

Indicating the scale of the diversion that covers the unnamed seven regional states, the group also asked the federal government “to work with regional and local authorities to identify any diverted donor-funded commodities that are currently being stored illegally in Ethiopia and facilitate the safe return of those commodities into the custody of implementing partners.”

Furthermore, in what shows to be a disruption in the periodic Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reporting process, the recommendation called on the Ethiopian government top “define a timeline to reinstate the IPC process, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, and allow donors and their implementing partners to use IPC data and analysis to target food or alternative modalities of assistance only to the most vulnerable.”

Compounded by the ongoing drought affecting millions, and the suspension of food aid, a recent assessment and observation by Famine early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) covering the months between June to September 2023, has classified Tigray region to be “worse than previously assessed” and southern and southeastern areas of Oromia and Somali regions to continue to face risk of extreme outcomes of the ongoing drought. FEWS NET classified both cases as “Emergency (IPC Phase 4).”

WFP leadership resignation report and denial

It is in the midst of this crisis, which is described by a source close to the matter as “complete failure of the aid industry in Ethiopia,” that the news of the resignation of the senior leadership of the WFP in Ethiopia was reported by The New Humanitarian on Tuesday this week.

According to the exclusive report, the “WFP country director Claude Jibidar and his deputy, Jennifer Bitonde, tendered their resignations at an all-staff meeting on 2 June”. The New Humanitarian also said the resignation happened “shortly before the findings of a probe into the misappropriation of food aid in the country are due to be made public.”

WFP refuted the report and described it “inaccurate”; it insisted that “there has been no resignations by senior management in WFP Ethiopia”, but said the country director “is currently on leave and remains a WFP employee.”

According to the source who spoke with Addis Standard on conditions of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, one of the “demands by the USAID” is to seen a “complete change in leadership at the WFP Ethiopia.”

Although, it did not indicate any change in the leadership, WFP admitted that it was “in the midst of rolling out comprehensive, systemic measures to prevent any further interference with lifesaving food assistance from reaching those who depend on it for their survival.”

Addis Standard’s requests for comments from Claire Nevill, WFP Ethiopia Head of Communications, Brenda Kariuki Senior Regional Communications Officer for Eastern Africa, as well as the WFP Global Media Team were unsuccessful. 

Martin Plaut posted: " On Monday the New Humanitarian broke the story of the resignation of the two most senior World Food Programme (WFP) staff in Ethiopia. The crux of the story was this: "WFP country director Claude Jibidar and his deputy, Jennifer Bitonde, tendered" Martin Plaut

On Monday the New Humanitarian broke the story of the resignation of the two most senior World Food Programme (WFP) staff in Ethiopia.

The crux of the story was this:

"WFP country director Claude Jibidar and his deputy, Jennifer Bitonde, tendered their resignations at an all-staff meeting on 2 June, sources present at Friday’s 'emotional' gathering told The New Humanitarian, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. The move followed an internal investigation launched last month over reports that significant amounts of food meant for hungry people in Ethiopia’s war-affected northern Tigray region had been sold on the commercial market."

Why the resignations?

What I hear from a source in Ethiopia is that the USAID found aid on local markets, first in Tigray (Alamata) but later across Ethiopia, including Gambella and the Somali region. The majority of this diversion of aid was said to have taken place since the January ceasefire in Tigray.

The WFP tried to blame the beneficiaries or the NGO's they had been working with. Others suggested some was looted by Eritreans or by agencies working with local governments. These arguments were not regarded as credible, since there was evidence of aid being taken directly from government warehouses or sold by millers.

USAID demanded a halt and a full explanation. USAID administrator Samantha Power made the announcement in a statement on 3rd of May, explaining that the aid had been intended “for the people of Tigray suffering under famine-like conditions”. “We have made the difficult decision to pause all USAID-supported food assistance in the Tigray region until further notice,” Power said.

The Americans believed the Tigrayan authorities and Federal authorities were trying to defraud the US taxpayers. Investigations in Tigray and by the Federal government are now said to be close to being finalised.

Another source commented: "It’s a scale of aid diversion I have never seen before and it implicates the governments at regional and federal level. The Ethiopian and the Tigrayans military were caught on camera taking wheat from mills. Worse still, they had contracts signed by the mills. Although this was first detected in Tigray it implicates at least 8 regions."

"My friend a diplomat confirms the food aid corruption information. As of today, it seems an ‘open secret’ in diplomatic circles," a further source explained.

What does it amount to?

This must be among the most serious cases of aid diversion in many years and could lead to wholesale cuts in Ethiopian food aid, upon which many Ethiopians depend.

Everyone knows that some aid is sold on local markets by ordinary people, but this is on a quite different scale.

What has been uncovered goes way beyond this and amounts to officially sanctioned corruption. And with footage of troops taking food from warehouses and mills it could no longer be denied.

USAID knew if the true scale came out and they had not acted then they would be blamed and heads would roll.

Hence the dramatic decision to cut aid flows to Tigray, which has left the poorest of the poor without the assistance they so badly require.

As the WFP said on 3rd of May 2023:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is deeply concerned by the recent reports of significant diversion of humanitarian food assistance in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region. WFP takes this issue extremely seriously and will not tolerate any interference in its distribution of critical food aid to the most vulnerable women, men and children.

WFP immediately launched a comprehensive investigation upon learning of the food diversion reports and has taken swift action to establish all the facts and further strengthen our controls.

WFP has paused food distributions in Tigray, which will not resume until WFP can ensure that vital aid will reach its intended recipients.

WFP is working closely with the regional authorities to identify any individuals involved in these activities, and to close any loopholes in the process of identifying and registering beneficiaries.

WFP is also strongly reiterating to our cooperating partners that they monitor and report any illicit activities, and that they are enforcing the agreed controls. 

WFP prides itself on ensuring the proper use of donor contributions - with the most stringent controls and processes in order to best serve the millions of the hungry who depend on WFP’s lifesaving and life-changing assistance.

The people of Tigray are still recovering from the impacts of a two-year conflict, which has left 84 per cent of the region in a food crisis. WFP is resolutely committed to ensure life-saving food assistance reaches those most in need efficiently and effectively.

Word Food Programme Statement, 3 May 2023