A major structural change is underway in the African timber industry as operations are reoriented away from the European market towards Asian markets.  These issues are explored in one recent trade articles by Alain Karsenty, the Research Director of CIRAD. The article refers respectively to the “crises” and “brutal weakening” of European-owned forest and timber operations in Africa in recent years.  M. Karsenty observes that Asian operators in Africa have been better able to overcome recent market challenges than their European counter-parts because they have significant capital and the markets in which ...