Author: Kester Kenn Klomegah

A few African countries have also imposed similar restrictions on entry into their territories. The southern African countries include Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
Russia and South Africa, which later joined in 2011, are both members of the BRICS, and since the outbreak of the coronavirus in December 2020, have discussed some aspects as well as the prospects for collaborative work in fighting the disease.
Russia and South Africa previously proposed localizing production of Russian vaccines, but the key setback was that the vaccines were yet to be approved by the World Health Organization. As a result, there were neither concrete practical results nor effective collaboration between the two countries.…

Africa is a busy geopolitical arena, with many players operating.
Russia has to compete against them, and distinctively remain focused its efforts. Russia welcomes diplomatic support from African countries, and unlike the West, it does not demand good governance or advocate for human rights reforms.
Russia likes to portray itself as not interfering in local politics or judging African countries, even though there is mounting evidence that it has been involved in meddling in elections in Africa through disinformation, fake news and attempting to exploit fault lines in societies through social media.…

When talking about bilateral ties, the most common complaints are inadequate support systems – both from the state and financial institutions. Russian NGOs are also pushing for a diverse set of initiatives aimed at enhancing ties.
The Coordination Committee for Economic Cooperation with African countries, a business and policy NGO, established as far back as 2009, proposes that funds be availed to support Russian business and investment in Africa.
Senator Igor Morozov, Member of the Committee for Economy Policy of the Federation Council (Senate) and Chairman of the Coordination Committee on Economic Cooperation with Africa observes that conditions that are opening up for Russian business today are not the same as those for businessmen from France, the European Union, India or China. …

With its about 1.3 billion people, Africa is a potential market for all kinds of consumable goods and for services. In the coming decades, there will be an accelerated competition between or among the external players over access to the resources and for economic influence in Africa.
Despite the growth of external players’ influence and presence in Africa, says the report, Russia has to intensify and redefine its parameters as it has now transcended to the fifth stage. Russia’s Africa policy is roughly divided into four periods, previously after Soviet’s collapse in 1991.
The first historic summit in 2019 created a good basis for launching or ushering in a new fifth stage of Russian-African relations. The joint declaration adopted at the summit raised the African agenda of Russia’s foreign policy to a new level and so far remains the main document determining the conceptual framework of Russian-African cooperation.…

The ceremony formally marks the official beginning of the ambassadors’ duties in the Russian Federation, and it usually takes place twice a year in the.
President Vladimir Putin made concrete reference to his earlier speech delivered in November at the expanded meeting of the , in which he outlined the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy and gave a detailed overview of the current difficult international situation, as well as approaches to settling acute global and regional problems.
He has been consistently pursuing the idea that it is possible to effectively cope with the numerous challenges and threats only through joint efforts of the entire global community, that Russia was ready for such cooperation.…