Browsing: Africa Russia Summit

The two-day Russia-Africa summit 2023, being held in St. Petersburg, is seen by Putin as a major event to bolster ties with Africa, a continent with 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage. This marks the second Russia-Africa summit since 2019. However, the number of heads of state attending has significantly reduced, from 43 in the previous summit to only 17 now. The Kremlin attributes this decrease to crude Western pressure discouraging African nations from participating.…

• In an escalation of geopolitical tension, Russia has pulled a power move, ending the Black Sea Gran Initiative. To what extent does this decision threaten food security in Africa? 
• Collapse of the deal will drive inflationary pressure on grain prices, especially in countries heavily reliant on imports, experts warn.
• Currently, Africa is facing biting food shortage as inflation fueled by high food and fuel prices grips economies.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal that allowed the export of Ukrainian agricultural produce especially grains through the Black Sea, has collapsed following the withdrawal of Moscow from the agreement. For those unaware, the Black Sea Gran Initiative, was negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022.

The deal, up to Monday July 24th, was allowing ships to carry fertilizer and agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports. It let ships to sail through strictly mapped routes, to avoid mines and …

• The second Russia-Africa Summit is underway in St Petersburg, Russia.
• The first Russia-Africa summit in 2019 culminated in the signing of 92 agreements, worth over $11 billion.
• Russia is looking to maintain major trade deals with Africa—a market of 1.3 billion people.

The second Russia-Africa Summit is currently underway in St Petersburg, Russia. This crucial summit taking place on 27th and 28th July has left tongues wagging in the West. The summit has the potential to either further isolate Russia globally or turn the tide and see Africa back Moscow.

How the summit plays out will have very significant outcomes in the determination of the ongoing geopolitical shifts.

$11Bn worth of deals in 2019 Russia-Africa summit

In 2019, Russia and a score of African leaders met for the first Russia-Africa Summit which culminated in the signing of 92 agreements, worth over $11 billion. This time around, with Africa facing a …

Pundits advise that the US is better off supporting the African Union’s Agenda 2063 even though the US strategy is exclusive for Sub-Saharan Africa. However, that part of Africa is still accounted for in the continent-wide Agenda 2063. It would bode well for all parties concerned if US support to Sub Sahara Africa served to help the region better place itself in the overall African vision.

There is the matter of friend-shoring as well, Africa feels the US gave Asia a much better deal, more explicit, more concrete, specific and committed than it ever did with the motherland. How will it play out? Will the US-China trade war help Africa secure a better deal from China than the US?

Even though the strategy does mention a willingness to facilitate ‘new geographic groupings’, it is not specific as to what these new alliances are and what they will mean in terms …

Apart from the absence of a public strategy for the continent, there is a lack of coordination among various state and para-state institutions working with Africa.

Despite the growth of external players’ influence and presence in Africa, Russia has to intensify and redefine its parameters. Russia’s foreign policy strategy regarding Africa has to spell out and incorporate the development needs of African countries.

Unlike most competitors, Russia has to promote an understandable agenda for Africa: working more on sovereignty, continental integration, infrastructure development, human development (education and medicine), security (including the fight against hunger and epidemics), normal universal human values, the idea that people should live with dignity and feel protected.…