Gathering military generals and experts from different African countries and US Africa Command (AFRICOM) chief, African Logistics Communications Symposium (ALCS) is opened this morning Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“Logistics and communications may not always receive headlines, but every commander in this room knows they determine outcomes. Strategy can be sound, training can be excellent, and equipment can be world-class. Yet without reliable logistics and secure communication, readiness fades quickly. When logistics fail, operations stall. When communications break down, coordination dissolves. And when those gaps appear, adversaries exploit them,” said US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin J. Massinga, in his opening remark at the Hilton Addis Hotel this morning.
“For the United States, our approach is clear. We want to work with African nations as equal partners: supporting locally defined priorities, strengthening institutions, expanding professional military education, and encouraging transparent procurement and sustainable defense economics. We believe that defense investments should deliver real capability, not hidden debt; enduring readiness, not short-term dependency,” Ambassador Ervin J. Massinga said.
The purpose of ALCS 2026 is to provide a collaborative forum for senior logisticians and communications leaders to forge partnerships, drive innovation, and enhance collective security and readiness. It is stated that the symposium has brought together military leaders, defense experts, and industry partners to reflect on the topics and address related challenges Africa is facing.
“…This is the first time that we’ve combined both logistics and communications, but they are absolutely critical—as everyone knows—to military operations, and you can’t conduct operations without them. Unfortunately, we don’t always invest in logistics and sustainment like we should. That is part of why we’re here: to highlight the importance of that foundational investment. No matter what weapons or future technology you buy, if you can’t sustain it and you can’t get it to the battlefield, it doesn’t matter. This is an opportunity for us to come together and talk about why this matters,” said General Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command.
“There’s an intersection between security and commercial development, and how do we partner effectively with those commercial entities to bring that technology forward and apply it to the defense and security of our nations? We brought some folks here with us in order to do this because there’s a convergence between security and economics…We’ve also got 26 different companies out here with different technologies that may be of interest. Whether or not it’s exactly these companies, hopefully there’s opportunity for you to engage with them, talk to them, and understand what may be possible—what may be out there that could help solve some of these difficult problems,” General Dagvin Anderson of AFRICOM said in his remark to the participants of the symposium.
