With increasing isolation and damaging sanctions from the West, along with stiff Ukrainian resistance – their new counteroffensive in both the eastern and northeast regions is seeing fierce fighting, along with drone strikes hitting Moscow it seems that Putin is increasingly keen to look towards Africa for support.
In an article authored by Vladimir Putin entitled “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future” he sets out aims for co-operation between them, arguing that “Today, the constructive, trustful, forward-looking partnership between Russia and Africa is especially significant and important.”
However, the steep drop in the number of African countries that came to Putin’s African Summit – only 17 African leaders attended out of a total 54 sovereign African nations – does seem to show a disapproval or at least an unwillingness to become involved with Russia due to the Ukraine invasion. The summit held on July 28th saw a steep drop in attendance from the summit held in October 2019 in Sochi, Russia which had been attended by representatives from 43 African countries.
It seems clear that Putin is making great efforts to shore up support in the region. But what exactly is he offering?
What Has Russia Offered?
The food aid was announced Thursday and will see the shipment of up to 50,000 tons of grain to several African countries. Putin also announced a relief of $23 billion of debt and further financial support to African nations.
“In the coming months, we will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25,000-50,000 tonnes of grain free of charge,” Putin informed the summit.
The move comes after criticisms of both an attack on a key Ukrainian port on the Danube – sending wheat prices soaring and also pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative concerning food shipments from Ukraine.
Ukraine is often referred to as the “Breadbasket of Europe” with around 32 million hectares of land cultivated each year, with Ukraine and Russia supplying a quarter of the world’s wheat, and half of its sunflower products.
To remedy the situation, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was a deal negotiated in July 2022 by Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine to allow 32.9 million metric tonnes of food to still be exported from Ukraine during the conflict there – something vital to avert a world food shortage. However, the deal collapsed when Putin withdrew support for it in a list of its demands that had not been met.
Much of this food supply went to African countries — some of whom struggle with food shortages already.
Russia wrote off $23 billion of debt that countries of Africa owed it and will address $90 more billion towards that, Putin announced at the Russia-Africa summit. pic.twitter.com/8zCam6CGu2
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 28, 2023
Why is Africa so important to Putin?
Putin’s interest in Africa has grown since Russia’s increasing isolation due to the invasion of Ukraine. During the summit, Putin also agreed to consider peace proposals tabled by the nations in attendance.
Putin is portraying the war in Ukraine as part of a larger struggle with the West and playing on resentment in some African countries towards countries such as the US.
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However, the moves have been observed with scepticism with many seeing it as a ploy to extend his influence in the region at a time of both condemnation and sanctions from the West. Many also see the move as a reward for African leaders who have held back from criticising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has for some time been involved in Africa, with reports of Russian military contractors operating there. It is thought that this is due to Africa having mineral deposits vital for heavy industry.
It should also be noted that the food shipments are not necessarily going to the countries in greatest need – both Sudan and Chad are suffering food shortages but were not included in the deal.
Where was this deal announced?
Both the financial package and grain shipments were announced at the Russia–Africa Summit, held this year in St. Petersburg. This is a summit between the African Union and the Russian Federation aimed at strengthening links between the participants and discussing issues around trade, investment, security and culture.
Russia has been actively trying to portray itself as a leading world power at the summit despite the current crises. Putin also reportedly said he would consider a peace deal for Ukraine put forward by African leaders.
Along with financial and food aid, Putin has discussed the development of military cooperation with Africa.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: Leaders at the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit, October 24, 2019. Featured Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
