One of the most drastic proposed changes would be eliminating the bureau of African affairs, which oversees policy in sub-Saharan #Africa. It would be replaced by a much smaller special envoy office for African affairs that would report to the White House National Security Council. The office would focus on a handful of issues, including “coordinated counterterrorism operations” & “strategic extraction & #trade of critical #NaturalResources.”

#Trump’s WH budget office has sought to understand the potential cost to maintain #Greenland if it were acquired…. They are also attempting to estimate what #revenue the #US #Treasury could gain from Greenland’s #NaturalResources.

…Trump has said repeatedly that the US will “get” Greenland.

“100%,” he told NBC News on Sat. Asked whether it would involve #force, he said that there is a “good possibility that we could do it without #military force” but that “I don’t take anything off the table.”

While #Trump’s demands elicited international outrage & a rebuke from #Denmark, WH ofcls have in recent weeks taken steps to determine the financial ramifications of #Greenland becoming a #US territory, including the cost of providing government services for its 58k residents, the sources said.

3 people familiar…said the US had revised its proposals. The latest draft gives #Ukraine NO future #security guarantees & requires it to contribute to a joint investment fund ALL income from the use of #NaturalResources managed by state & private enterprises.

…It stipulates that Washington is given first rights to purchase extracted resources & *recoup* all the money it has given Ukraine since 2022, +INTEREST at a 4% annual rate, before Ukraine gains access to the fund's profits.

• "For the avoidance of doubt, such future sources of revenues do not include the current sources of revenues which are already part of the general budget revenues of #Ukraine."

• The fund aim is to invest in Ukrainian projects & attract investment in public & private assets including #NaturalResources, #infrastructure, #ports & state-owned enterprises.

• Contributions to the fund will be reinvested in Ukraine to promote "the safety, #security & prosperity of Ukraine."

• The 2 countries will establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund to collect & invest revenues from Ukrainian resources.

• Reps from both countries will jointly manage the fund.

• A subsequent agreement about the fund will be "negotiated promptly" AFTER the conclusion of this agreement.

• #Ukraine will contribute to the fund 50% of revenues earned from Ukrainian state-owned #NaturalResources developed in the future.

As we wait to hear more on the #Trump / #Putin call, here is a reminder of the framework #minerals *deal* [#extortion] the #US & #Ukraine tentatively agreed to last month.

The deal, which is yet to be signed, would see the US extract Ukraine's #NaturalResources.

Titled "BILATERAL AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR A RECONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT FUND," it lays out some details:

Sen #MikeLee (R-Utah), the new chairman of the Senate #Energy & #NaturalResources Cmte, suggested that he would seek to overturn the decision using the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to nullify an executive action within 60 days of enactment with a simple majority vote.

…Lee said in an emailed statement, …“Senate #Republicans will push back using every tool at our disposal.”

@beverly_ochieng <- thank you for the interesting article!

This exemplifies a lot:

Transnational corporations exploit the resources of the global south, sowing corruption and leaving (especially when environmental damage is taken into account) very little benefit for the local population.
The western-aligned African governments* help the mining corporations to continue with these practices. The corporations give them some crumbs, the administrations pass a small part of these crumbs to the population.
Then, because of underlying unresolved social problems (including poverty, corruption, lack of opportunities...), terrorist groups emerge and destabilize a region that is can well be denominated "the Canary in the Coalmine of climate change".
Western governments "help" the Mali by pimping up the military, because of a sad lack of recognition of the benefits of a healthy civil society.
Geopolitics and Imperialism lead to Russia-backed military coups.

I mean, I am sad that a the money goes to a military junta, but a nationalization of the benefits of mining activity is totally justified. The shareholders really don't need the money. The people of Mali do.

So, maybe it would have been a great idea to not push the exploitation to a point where the countries become unstable, just to earn some bucks for already rich owners of investment funds?

To put the 160 million $ that were paid to the government into perspective:
Resolut reported in 2023 a net profit after tax of 91 million $, the gold mine in Mali constituting approximately two thirds of their total activity.

https://www.rml.com.au/investors/reports/annual-reports/

* Note: Not that Russia or China treat these countries better than US or Europe, but also not much worse.

@newyorktimes