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

Martin Plaut posted: " “On 25 May 2023, a mission led by UNOCHA deputy head of Ethiopia comprised from UNOCHA, UNDSS, WHO and other INGOs were prohibited from entering Gemhalo village in Tahtay Adiyabo woreda [district] by Eritrean forces,” they said. Source: CNN By " Martin Plaut

“On 25 May 2023, a mission led by UNOCHA deputy head of Ethiopia comprised from UNOCHA, UNDSS, WHO and other INGOs were prohibited from entering Gemhalo village in Tahtay Adiyabo woreda [district] by Eritrean forces,” they said.

Source: CNN

By Gianluca Mezzofiore, Bethlehem Feleke and Eve Brennan, CNN

Updated 11:25 AM EDT, Fri May 26, 2023

Eritrean forces prevented a UN-led humanitarian mission from entering a village in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray on Thursday, in what would mark violation of a peace deal ending fighting in the area, aid workers on the ground told CNN.

After two years of fighting, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a deal to end hostilities in November last year that included withdrawing all foreign forces from the north of the country. Eritrean soldiers had joined in on the conflict on the side of Ethiopia.

But aid workers said officials from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), as well as those from other NGOs, were stopped from reaching the village of Gemhalo by Eritrean forces.

“On 25 May 2023, a mission led by UNOCHA deputy head of Ethiopia comprised from UNOCHA, UNDSS, WHO and other INGOs were prohibited from entering Gemhalo village in Tahtay Adiyabo woreda [district] by Eritrean forces,” they said.

“The mission was stopped after traveling 16km from Sheraro around Waela-Nihbi. Eritrean forces are in Tigray in close distance from Sheraro occupying five kebeles [neighborhoods] of Tahtay-Adiyabo woreda [district],” they added.

“Looting, destructing infrastructures, raping are continued. Eritrean forces are committing all forms of violations in the villages including denying humanitarian access to those areas,” they said.

In January, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a press conference in Nairobi that Eritrean troops were still in Ethiopia, contradicting authorities in Addis Ababa.

“We understand that they have moved back to the border, and they have been asked to leave Ethiopia,” she told reporters.

Eritrean forces also recently prevented “an African Union [peace] monitoring and verification team from carrying out their activities,” said Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray’s interim government. Tigrayan authorities continue to discuss the issue with the Ethiopian government, he added, saying, “it must be resolved.”

CNN has reached out to the Eritrean and the Ethiopian governments for comment.

Blinken accuses all sides in Ethiopian conflict of committing war crimes

The Tigray conflict has its roots in tensions that go back generations in Ethiopia. The country is made up of 10 regions – and two cities – that have a substantial amount of autonomy, including regional police and militia. Regional governments are largely divided along entrenched ethnic lines.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 after decades of iron-fisted rule by a TPLF-dominated coalition, and began a drive for a new pan-Ethiopian political party, sparking fears in some regions that the country’s federal system was under threat. Tensions with the TPLF boiled over and in November 2020 Abiy ordered a military assault against the group, sending in national troops and fighters from the neighboring region of Amhara, along with soldiers from Eritrea.

Thousands of people died in the fighting, while many more fled, and Tigray was plunged into severe food insecurity. All actors have been accused of carrying out atrocities in the conflict, but Eritrean forces have been linked to some of the most gruesome. In addition to perpetrating mass killings and rape, Eritrean soldiers have also been found blocking and looting food relief in multiple parts of Tigray.

Eritrea’s government has denied any involvement in atrocities. Ethiopia’s government has pledged investigations into any wrongdoing.

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TigrayCNN — 

Eritrean forces prevented a UN-led humanitarian mission from entering a village in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray on Thursday, in what would mark violation of a peace deal ending fighting in the area, aid workers on the ground told CNN.

After two years of fighting, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a deal to end hostilities in November last year that included withdrawing all foreign forces from the north of the country. Eritrean soldiers had joined in on the conflict on the side of Ethiopia.

But aid workers said officials from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), as well as those from other NGOs, were stopped from reaching the village of Gemhalo by Eritrean forces.

“On 25 May 2023, a mission led by UNOCHA deputy head of Ethiopia comprised from UNOCHA, UNDSS, WHO and other INGOs were prohibited from entering Gemhalo village in Tahtay Adiyabo woreda [district] by Eritrean forces,” they said.

“The mission was stopped after traveling 16km from Sheraro around Waela-Nihbi. Eritrean forces are in Tigray in close distance from Sheraro occupying five kebeles [neighborhoods] of Tahtay-Adiyabo woreda [district],” they added.

“Looting, destructing infrastructures, raping are continued. Eritrean forces are committing all forms of violations in the villages including denying humanitarian access to those areas,” they said.

In January, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a press conference in Nairobi that Eritrean troops were still in Ethiopia, contradicting authorities in Addis Ababa.

“We understand that they have moved back to the border, and they have been asked to leave Ethiopia,” she told reporters.

Eritrean forces also recently prevented “an African Union [peace] monitoring and verification team from carrying out their activities,” said Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray’s interim government. Tigrayan authorities continue to discuss the issue with the Ethiopian government, he added, saying, “it must be resolved.”

CNN has reached out to the Eritrean and the Ethiopian governments for comment.

Blinken accuses all sides in Ethiopian conflict of committing war crimes

The Tigray conflict has its roots in tensions that go back generations in Ethiopia. The country is made up of 10 regions – and two cities – that have a substantial amount of autonomy, including regional police and militia. Regional governments are largely divided along entrenched ethnic lines.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 after decades of iron-fisted rule by a TPLF-dominated coalition, and began a drive for a new pan-Ethiopian political party, sparking fears in some regions that the country’s federal system was under threat. Tensions with the TPLF boiled over and in November 2020 Abiy ordered a military assault against the group, sending in national troops and fighters from the neighboring region of Amhara, along with soldiers from Eritrea.

Thousands of people died in the fighting, while many more fled, and Tigray was plunged into severe food insecurity. All actors have been accused of carrying out atrocities in the conflict, but Eritrean forces have been linked to some of the most gruesome. In addition to perpetrating mass killings and rape, Eritrean soldiers have also been found blocking and looting food relief in multiple parts of Tigray.

Eritrea’s government has denied any involvement in atrocities. Ethiopia’s government has pledged investigations into any wrongdoing.