Reed Kramer

Several coffee companies and coffee traders are launching a new system to track deforestation related to coffee cultivation around the world, JDE Peet's, one of the participating companies, said in a statement on Wednesday. reuters.com/sustainability…

Today in the year 300 like every day, caravans of as many as 12,000 camels moved from 4 a.m. to sunset down from Mediterranean ports, across the Sahara Desert and into West Africa. Timbuktu, Gao and Djenné became major cities along the caravan routes as the Mali Empire grew.

First, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines do have a deep, strategic relationship. Ethiopian has consistently leaned into Boeing platforms (787s, 737s, 777s), and that fleet choice ties directly into U.S. export financing via the Export-Import Bank of the United States. That part of your argument—industrial linkage + financing—is solid. However, the “11,000 jobs per $1B” claim is a standard aerospace multiplier often cited by Boeing and U.S. export advocates; it’s not a precise, deal-specific metric. It’s better framed as an estimated supply-chain impact across manufacturing, engineering, and services—not a direct hiring figure tied to one airline order.

Excellent business partnership between the U.S. and Ethiopia via the two most systemically critical companies in each country - Boeing (largest U.S. exporter) and Ethiopian Airlines (Africa’s largest and most profitable airline). Ethiopian Airlines, with 160+ aircrafts, is by-far Boeing’s largest customer in Africa. The Airline is also the U.S. EX-IM Bank’s largest customer on the African continent. For every $1.0 billion of Boeing aircraft purchased by Ethiopian Airlines, 11,000 high paying American jobs are created or retained. It’ll be awesome to see Boeing aircrafts land at the 110 million passengers, $12.5 billion, Bishoftu International Airport (under construction) in Ethiopia, owned by Ethiopian Airlines. When completed the airport will be amongst the 10 largest in the WORLD! I expect the financing road shows in the U.S., for the new airport, currently underway, to be very positively received by U.S. financiers. Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines clearly demonstrating that investments and trade partnerships are the way to go between the U.S. and Africa. On behalf of @CBECapitalSC, big congratulations to all! @BoeingAirplanes @flyethiopian @AsstSecStateAF @USEmbassyAddis @ETEmbassyDCA @MoF_Ethiopia @PMEthiopia Nigeria Kenya South Africa Uganda Tanzania Rwanda

The Democratic Republic of Congo is poised to overtake Ethiopia to become sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth-largest economy this year, the IMF said bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

“The American government does not want to come [to Sudan], and they are making all these allegations about Sudan without coming to see.” I have to agree with @Amgad_Fareid. The one common thread over 30 year of US diplomacy in Sudan is constant visits. I dont understand how we can claim to understand anything about this country without going there..frequently. thehill.com/policy/interna…

I was profoundly honored by President ⁦@JDMahama⁩ of Ghana as I received the African Lifetime Achievement Award at the ⁦@TheAfriHeritage⁩ Awards in Accra. Thank you Your Excellency for always being there for me for decades. You are a true brother and great friend.💕💕

All of Africa Today - April 14, 2026 @allafrica: allafrica.com/stories/202604… #Africa

Nearly 20 Million Lives Saved in Africa Through Measles Vaccinations @WHOAFRO: allafrica.com/stories/202604… #Africa

Washington's Asymmetry of Interests in Sudan - analysis by Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc allafrica.com/stories/202604… #Sudan

Cross-listing the Dangote Refinery on 5 African Stock Exchanges!

7 years ago on this day a powerful popular revolution in Sudan ousted Al-Bashir after 30 years in power and continued their struggle because it was never merely about regime change.

I read a long piece on Africa’s economic future in @TheEconomist of 23 March 2026 titled “Get Paid, Not Aid”, in which the newsmagazine argued that business investment will shape the continent’s future. The long read was quite glowing about Africa’s prospects. I am skeptical. Why? Because, while it is positive, past experience including the “Africa Rising” wave of the 2000s (started, again, by The Economist, perhaps in atonement for its famous earlier derogatory cover story titled “The Hopeless Continent”), has shown that Africa will not rise simply because western media says it is rising. These narratives, in the main, are often driven by subtle agendas. In the post-2008 financial crisis, it was driven by Africa being seen as a “last frontier” after the financial crisis destroyed $14 trillion of economic value and Africa, with a low correlation to the global economy at the time, offered a prospect for global investors looking for where in the world to make profit. To counter this narrative with more nuance, I wrote the book Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s ‘Last Frontier’ Can Prosper and Matter, published by @PenguinUKBooks in 2014, in which I argued that although Africa was “emerging”, it had not “risen” and was not rising despite the breathless media narrative driven by western commentators. In that book I provided a guide to how the continent could actually rise, making the point that foundational philosophical worldviews, education and skills, basic good governance anchored on transparency and accountability, and innovation, were far more important than foreign investment or aid for Africa to truly rise. The @FT review of Emerging Africa called it “a welcome last word on the Africa Rising obsession”. A decade later, my arguments have been borne out. Democracy is in decline, and Africa has not worked out a better alternative (as Winston Churchill famously described it, “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest”). Industrial-based economic transformation has not yet occurred, innovation-driven productivity is absent with perhaps the exception of South Africa. 600 million Africans remain without electricity, and poverty levels remain stubbornly high. Meanwhile, population is rising faster than concrete progress. The present Economist piece appears heavily driven by a focus by western investors on strategic critical minerals in Africa, even as it lauded the impact of indigenous African entrepreneurs. In this sense, these narratives miss the point: Africa won’t “rise” in a transformational manner, as Rising Asia has, until the continent’s 54 countries are properly governed with the public sector delivering the basics of state capacity. These are: security, effective revenue mobilization from a domestic base as opposed to incessant, unaccountable foreign borrowing, effective provision of social services such as health and education, and enabling business environments (especially electricity). Private capital isn’t enough.

This is a pretty extraordinary statement from a bureaucratic perspective as the regional bureau would typically "own" the relationship with any country in its area, especially one that's an anchor state like #Nigeria. Leaving aside that the US is providing security and intel to improve security, presumably weighed heavily in defense of Christians, I cant imagine the nature or tone of the threat is going to go over well in Abuja. But this is also why Trump doesn't feel the need to appoint Ambassadors anymore. Why deliver sensitive diplomatic messages privately when you can have anyone deliver it publicly over the internet?

All of Africa Today - March 23, 2026 @allafrica: allafrica.com/stories/202603… #Africa

Former Top U.S. Africa Official to Head SAGINT

Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria Early African Winners as They Harvest Windfall from the Misery of US–Israel vs Iran War As the world reels from the escalation of the US–Israel vs Iran war that erupted on 28 February, the humanitarian suffering is profound. Yet in the realm of global commerce, a quieter upheaval is underway. With the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz rendered near impassable – shipping traffic down by 90% – Africa has emerged as the world’s most vital logistics corridor. •In KENYA, the once-forgotten LAMU PORT has roared to life. Long dismissed by critics as a white elephant, it has seen a 974% surge in volume. Ultra-large vessels, too deep for Mombasa and too exposed for Gulf waters, now dock at Lamu’s 18-metre natural depth. •ETHIOPIA'S national carrier Ethiopian Airlines has seized the moment. With Dubai and Doha mostly paralysed by airspace risks from Iranian missile and droke strikes, Addis Ababa has become the continent’s primary air-bridge. Cargo revenue is up 14%. High-value goods – electronics, pharmaceuticals, perishables –are now routed through Bole International, bypassing the 40-day sea detour. •NIGERIA is counting its crude. Brent prices hit $120 per barrel in March. Against a budget benchmark of $64.85, daily revenues have doubled. The government has stumbled into an unexpected multi-billion dollar fiscal cushion. •DURBAN, South Africa’s main port, has shed its reputation for congestion. It is now clocking 28 crane moves per hour, processing thousands of ships rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope with a rare level of precision. •MOROCCO'S Royal Air Maroc has moved swiftly. Ten new international routes –including Los Angeles and Beirut – have siphoned off transit passengers who once relied on Middle Eastern hubs. Casablanca traffic is up 12%. •WALVIS BAY in Namibia has become the first reliable refuelling station for ships emerging from the South Atlantic. Bunkering demand is up 30%. •The DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery has in Nigeria, is cashing in. In March, it issued an export tender for 84,000 metric tonnes of jet fuel and diesel. It is no longer just a domestic project – it is replacing Persian Gulf supplies for the continent. •MOZAMBIQUE'S $20 billion LNG project has been fast-tracked. TotalEnergies resumed operations in early 2026. Over 4,000 workers are racing to meet an accelerated production date. Iranian gas is out. Mozambican gas is in. •At Mozambique's PORT of MAPUTO, volumes grew by 16% in the weeks following the war’s outbreak. Chrome and coal exporters have abandoned northern routes in favour of the safer Indian Ocean–Cape corridor. •MAURITIUS, ever shrewd, has leveraged its mid-ocean position into a 15% revenue increase. High-end logistics and emergency repair services are now its bread and butter. But no doubt, the most intriguing twist is the Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) revolution in Lamu. Manufacturers are using RoRo ships – where vehicles are driven on and off via ramps – to offload thousands of cars. These are then ferried to the Gulf on small, low-risk boats to avoid the $200,000+ war risk insurance premiums slapped on large carriers entering the Strait of Hormuz. To protect this windfall, Kenya and Ethiopia have launched joint military operations along the once-languishing Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor. This unprecedented coordination is designed to ensure that the new “safe harbour” of Lamu remains shielded from regional spillover. And because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz marooned shipping containers, an emergency air-bridge has formed. Nairobi and Addis Ababa are now the primary transit points for consumer electronics flown from Asia to Europe—bypassing the the 17,700KM sea detour. US leader Donald Trump despises Africa, once labelling its countries "sh*thole", but while many of them will be hit hard by rising energy and fertilisers from America and Israel's attack on Iran, several of them will get a bounty he would never have wished for them.

Cameroonian economist, Vera Songwe, has received a major international recognition after being appointed an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences by Pope Leo XIV on March 9, 2026. Dr. Songwe, a native of Bamendankwe in Bamenda, North West Region, joins the Vatican-based academy that advises the Holy See on key social, economic, and development issues affecting the world. Her appointment comes just weeks before the Pope’s historic visit to Cameroon scheduled from April 15 to 18, 2026, during which the Pontiff is expected to travel to Yaounde, Bamenda, and Douala. A globally respected economist, Dr Songwe previously served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa after her appointment in August 2017. She has also held senior positions at the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, where she was named Regional Director for West and Central Africa in 2015. Her influence has long been recognized internationally. In 2013, Forbes listed her among the “20 Young Powerful Women of Africa,” while the Choiseul Institute for International Policy and Geoeconomics named her among the “African Leaders of Tomorrow” in 2014. #MMINews

Pekka has tons of experience in the Horn, knows many of the main actors in Sudan's conflict, and will bring a manager's discipline to the role that has been sorely lacking up to now. Unclear how the main influence-makers behind the belligerents will respond, but a good move!

News: #Ethiopian Media Authority revokes Addis Standard’s online media registration; Editor-in-Chief disputes claims The Ethiopian Media Authority (#EMA) has announced the revocation of the online media registration certificate of #Addis_Standard, effective 24 February 2026, citing repeated violations of media ethics, national laws, and what it described as the country’s national interests. The statement did not specify which reports or actions formed the basis of the decision. Responding to the EMA’s announcement, Yonas Kedir, Editor-in-Chief of Addis Standard publications, rejected the Authority’s claims, saying the outlet had never received any formal notices of violations. “The claim that Addis Standard received repeated notices is factually incorrect. At no point has the Ethiopian Media Authority formally notified Addis Standard newsroom of any prior violations or enforcement actions,” he said. He added that the publisher, #JAKENN Publishing PLC, is reviewing legal options to protect its rights and ensure due process is upheld. Established in 2011 as a monthly magazine, Addis Standard has faced multiple challenges over the years, including scrutiny from government institutions. In April 2025, Ethiopian police raided the Addis Standard office and the home of one of its senior staff membersl, briefly detaining three managers for several hours and confiscating multiple electronic devices, including laptops, phones, and data storage equipment. During the Tigray war, in June 2021, Ethiopia’s media regulator suspended Addis Standard… Read more: addisstandard.com/?p=55383