World View | What Moscow Wanted the World to Know About the Russia-Africa Summit

 The World to Know About the Russia-Africa Summit

President Putin managed to hold the second Russia-Africa Summit (postponed from October 2022) and the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum on July 27–28 in St. Petersburg despite his allegedly over 18-month-long special operations against Ukraine or the Eurasian war. Putin described the celebrations as being filled with pomp and purpose and referred to Africa as the world's burgeoning power center.

Russia has been trying to regain its influence that proverbially existed during the Soviet era on the continent even as it remains as the largest supplier of arms to the continent. The Summit conveyed a message that life goes on normally and that Russian international acceptance has not diminished. This message also gains importance as Ukraine's Zelensky claims that he has now decided to take the war to Moscow after a few drones attacked the Russian official buildings yet again.

image source - aljazeera

Russian President Putin pledges to give six African countries free grain shipments.

Putin intended to let the most impacted regions of Africa know that he would work to meet their needs for food, fuel, and fertilizer despite the most severe sanctions from the West after declining to renew the Black Sea Grain contract. He was able to predict that Russia would support Africa despite the fact that many African countries and other countries in the global south seemed to be under pressure from the West and threatened with sanctions if they made overt attempts to court the Moscow elite. It makes sense that the Kremlin spokesman regretted that few world leaders attended the Summit (17 compared. 43 in 2019).

However, it wasn't all that horrible. 17 of the 48 delegations had either the Head of State or the Head of Government as their leader. 

At least five other regional association leaders were also there, including Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, and Azali Assoumani, chair of the African Union and president of the Union of the Comoros.

It will be noted that several African leaders were displeased that they were passed around without following the proper process during the previous US-Africa Summit. In order to maintain decorum and respect, it is said that at such nation-specific summits, the decision was made to allow the AU Chairman and anyone else who wanted to attend a partner country to represent Africa instead of all 54 Heads of State. It might have had some impact as well. 

In an attempt to appease the crowd, President Putin offered to provide 50,000 tonnes of wheat to each of the six countries that would be most affected, while also making every effort to ensure that food supplies would reach the continent. Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic were among them. Putin emphasized that the grain agreement was actually allowing Ukrainian wheat to exclusively take care of the concerns and wants of the rich west while acknowledging their worries about the food crisis that is significantly worsening the situation in developing nations.

Several leaders, notably those from South Africa and Egypt, encouraged Putin to accept the extension of the grain agreement to maintain the Black Sea's navigability. Russia may take that into consideration, but only under conditions that would benefit them more. access without restriction and facilitation for their own exports. The battle has escalated even more since President Ramaphosa of South Africa, who is also the current chair of BRICS, sent a mission to Moscow with a peace proposal to halt it. However, the plan has not been very successful. 

"We had a substantive and engaging exchange of views on the entire range of themes of strategic cooperation between Russia and African countries," said Putin at the summit's closing ceremony.

"I firmly believe that the results we have achieved will form a good foundation for the further deepening of the Russian-African partnership in the interests of the prosperity and well-being of our people," said Putin in addition to outlining plans to strengthen foreign policy coordination and increase trade and investment flows as well as industrial cooperation between Russia and the countries of the African continent.

Numerous bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) were made, some of which could have significant effects if followed to the letter and spirit given that the Russian outreach may in the near future be severely constrained by conflict and sanctions. The Second Russia-Africa Summit's Declaration, the Second Russia-Africa Summit's Declaration on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space, the Second Russia-Africa Summit's Declaration on Cooperation to Ensure International Information Security, the Second Russia-Africa Summit's Declaration on Strengthening Cooperation to Combat Terrorism, and the Second Russia-Africa Summit's Action Plan for 2023–2026 are among them. 

In Putin's presence, two further documents were signed with significant African integration organizations. These included an MoU on essential aspects of relations and cooperation between the Russian government and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), as well as another similar MoU between the Russian government and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). ,

Putin pledged to boost Russia's commerce with the continent to $40 billion within five years during the first Russia-Africa Summit in 2019. But it has remained at about $18 billion annually. Although there are elaborate plans of action and a matrix that includes corporate and defense alliances, the real test is in the eating. Only time will tell how they will proceed.

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