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The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has rejected Western sanctions and pledged to supply large quantities of grain to Africa.
During a speech at a Russia-Africa conference in St. Petersburg, Putin emphasized Russia's crucial role in ensuring global food security.
He announced that Russia is prepared to fulfil this role by offering both commercial and assistance-based grain shipments to countries in need.
Among the nations mentioned were Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea.
"We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next three to four months."
President Putin during the summit
Despite the gesture of support, some African nations were not included on the list, like Sudan and Chad. However, many of the countries mentioned already have strong relations with Moscow, and some leaders expressed gratitude for the aid even though their nations currently have sufficient food supplies.
Russia's involvement in African affairs has been on the rise, with the nation hosting its first summit in Africa in 2019. Since then, Russia has been working to strengthen its business ties and influence on the continent. The Wagner mercenary organization, despite facing setbacks at home, remains operational in Africa.
The decision to provide grain support comes after a failed Black Sea grain agreement with Ukraine. In response to criticism from the West over Russia's decision to abandon the agreement, Putin mentioned a parallel agreement that pledged to expedite Russian grain and fertilizer exports, which had been disregarded.
The failure of the Black Sea grain deal and Russia's actions that disrupted the export routes have contributed to a 10% increase in world wheat prices over the past 10 days.
Putin pointed out that most of the grain exported by Ukraine under the agreement went to nations with above-average incomes, leaving the poorest nations, including Sudan, with only a small share of the cargo.
The Russia-Africa conference in St. Petersburg saw a substantial representation from African states, with officials from 49 out of the 54 African countries in attendance.
The Kremlin has attributed this turnout, in part, to Western nations' attempts to discourage attendance, despite less than half of the invited world leaders showing up at the 2019 summit.
