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.  According to M. Karsenty, “European dealers, formerly essential in the African timber industry, are gradually giving up their assets to Asian investors. Malaysian operators have been present in Central Africa since the mid-1990s ...