MOSCOW, Russia
Russia is readying itself to make deeper friends with Africa as the West continues to shun Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine last year in February. And some of the African leaders are skipping the event, maintaining what has been Africa’s classic stance on the conflict: neutrality.
The Second Russia-Africa
Summit has come four years after the first, largely due to Covid-19. But it has
come amid a new geopolitical perspective including Western sanctions on Russia
government departments, officials and entities with ties to the government
owing to the war.
"Yet a preliminary
programme released ahead of the meeting on July 27 shows the topics will be
based on Moscow’s ties with African countries and businesses to do. Russian
President Vladimir Putin is expected to address a plenary session at the Summit
and will reportedly describe the state of and prospects
for developing the full range of ties between Russia
and African nations in the political, economic and humanitarian
areas,” according to the Kremlin.
The participants,
including African Presidents such as South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa and
Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, will join in a final
declaration of the summit which will dictate the future of ties.
"Russian and African
officials, businesspeople and public figures have been invited
to attend the session. The Russian President has plans
to meet with the heads of African regional
organisations," the Kremlin added in a Telegram channel on Monday.
Vladimir Putin
and the leaders of a number of African states will
continue to discuss possible ways of settling the situation
around Ukraine within the African Peace Initiative, which they launched
in St Petersburg in June.
The President
of Russia will hold bilateral conversations with all heads of African
states taking part in the summit.
The Kremlin has not publicised
the list of confirmed participants, but the number is expected to be lower for
heads of state this time than in 2019, which reported 43. One is the pressure
applied from the West on some of the African leaders may contributed to them
staying away or sending representatives. Russia’s isolation also means a
headache for travel plans especially in airspace clearances if overflying
European countries backing the sanctions.
In 2019, Putin promised to
double Russian trade with Africa in five years to $40 billion. This
time, the Summit has adopted a humanitarian segment which will be held
alongside one on business.
Participants will discuss
issues like ‘Partnership for Food Sovereignty’ to be addressed by Konstantin
Babkin, President of the Rosspetsmash Association and President of the New
Commonwealth Industrial Union. Others include Andrey Guryev, the President of
the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAFP), Boris Listov, Chairman
of the Management Board of the Russian Agricultural Bank, and Benedict Okey
Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African
Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), a programme brochure showed on Tuesday.
Russia argues Africa is one of
the most vulnerable regions in the world in terms of food security, despite
agriculture employing more than 60 percent of its labour force.
“The only way to solve this
problem is to achieve food sovereignty. This is a realistic possibility due to
the continent's immense agricultural potential,” the programme added.
In a commentary on Monday,
Putin had said he will use the Summit “shape a non-discriminatory agenda for
cooperation.” Russia, he argued, has consistently supported Africa to rid
itself of the yoke of colonialism and oppression.
“We understand the importance
of uninterrupted food supplies for the socio-economic development and political
stability of the African States. Notwithstanding the sanctions, Russia will
continue itsenergetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products,
fertilizers, and other goods to Africa,” he wrote. - Africa
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