Brigadier General Paul G. Filcek, Director of Logistics at US AFRICOM, disclosed this during a digital press conference with African journalists on the ongoing 2026 Africa Logistics and Communications Symposium, co-hosted with the Ethiopian Ministry of Defence. “It’s a model designed to empower African partners rather than create dependency,” he said. Addressing questions on technology, Mitchell said Artificial Intelligence could transform African logistics through route optimisation, predictive fleet maintenance and faster customs processing. The Africa Logistics and Communications Symposium is US AFRICOM’s flagship event for aligning military logistics with commercial investment. This year’s edition in Addis Ababa highlights collaboration, innovation, and next-generation technology and logistics solutions to enhance collective readiness among African partners to defeat security threats.