During the Russia-Africa Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his country's readiness to supply free grain to particularly needy African nations in the coming months. He also emphasized Russia's capability to replace food imports from Ukraine for the African continent.
Putin highlighted Russia's genuine interest in further strengthening multifaceted trade, investment, and humanitarian ties with Africa. The President pledged to increase quotas for African students in Russian universities and encouraged countries on the continent to actively adopt settlements in their national currencies.
TASS has compiled the key points from Putin's address at the forum.
About the grain deal
The Russian Federation's participation in the grain deal was based on certain conditions that have not been fulfilled. "Moscow entered into the deal with the expectation that obstacles to the supply of grain and fertilizers from Russia to world markets would be removed, but none of the promised actions have been carried out."
One of the reasons for Russia's involvement in the deal was to provide food and fertilizer to countries in need. However, in nearly a year, only 32.8 million tons of cargo have been exported from Ukraine under the grain deal, with over 70% going to high- and upper-middle-income countries, including the European Union. On the other hand, countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and others received less than 3% of the total volume, amounting to less than 1 million tons.
Russia has the capacity to substitute Ukrainian grain both on a commercial basis and as gratuitous aid to the most vulnerable countries in Africa, "especially considering the prospect of a record harvest this year."
On free grain supplies
Russia has expressed its readiness to supply African countries with 25-50 thousand tons of grain free of charge in the next three to four months. The beneficiaries of these deliveries include Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. Additionally, "Russia will bear the cost of delivering these products directly to the consumers in these countries."
On obstacles to cooperation
The Russian Federation has expressed its willingness to provide African countries with Russian fertilizers that have been blocked in European ports, free of charge. However, out of the 262,000 tons of such fertilizers, only two shipments have been sent - 20,000 tons to Malawi and 34,000 tons to Kenya, despite this being characterized as "a purely humanitarian action."
A paradoxical situation arises where Western countries hinder the supplies of Russian grain and fertilizers while hypocritically blaming Russia for the current crisis in the world food market.
Africa possesses the capability to produce food to sustain itself, and Russia "stands ready to share its expertise in agricultural production with African countries and offer assistance in adopting the most advanced technologies."
On industry and trade
Enhancing Russian-African industrial cooperation holds significant importance. Russian industrial products, such as automobiles and construction equipment, have gained wide recognition and are in high demand across the continent. "More than 50% of Russian supplies to Africa comprise machinery, equipment, chemical products and food."
Russia looks forward to the forthcoming launch of a Russian industrial zone in Egypt's Suez Canal region. Construction of the first production facilities is scheduled to commence in 2023, with the aim of exporting goods produced there to various African countries.
The international North-South transport corridor will facilitate convenient deliveries of Russian goods to Africa. "Simultaneously, this corridor can also be utilized in the opposite direction to supply African goods to the Russian market."
"To further expand the spectrum of trade and economic ties, it is crucial to actively engage in financial settlements using national currencies, including the ruble." Moscow is prepared to collaborate with African countries to develop their financial infrastructure and integrate banking institutions into the financial messaging system established in Russia, which facilitates cross-border payments, independent of Western systems imposing restrictions.
On energy
Over 30 promising energy projects with Russian involvement are currently being developed in 16 African countries, with a combined capacity of approximately 3.7 GW.
In the past two years, Russian exports of crude oil, oil products, and liquefied natural gas to Africa have increased by 2.6 times, demonstrating the growing energy cooperation between Russia and the continent.
Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation, is actively engaged in constructing the El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt. Apart from nuclear power generation, Rosatom can offer African countries its extensive expertise and cutting-edge technologies in non-energy applications of peaceful atom, particularly in the fields of medicine and agriculture.
On personnel training
Currently, nearly 35,000 African students are pursuing education in Russian universities, and "this number continues to grow each year." "The quota for training African students, supported by the federal budget, has increased by two and a half times over the past three years, reaching more than 4,700 students for the next academic year."
Russia has plans to establish branches of leading Russian universities in Africa to promote education collaboration. Additionally, "Moscow is actively fostering close partnerships with African educational institutions through the Russian-African Network University initiative."
Furthermore, Russia proposes exploring the feasibility of creating schools in Africa where subjects can be taught in Russian. "Such educational projects, including studying the Russian language and implementing high educational standards, aim to build a strong foundation for further mutually beneficial and equal cooperation between Russia and African nations."
On media
The Russian Federation is putting forward "a proposal to establish a shared information space between Russia and Africa." This initiative aims to disseminate objective and unbiased information about global events to both Russian and African audiences.
Efforts are actively being made to open representative offices of prominent Russian media organizations in Africa. This includes well-known entities such as the TASS news agency, Rossiya Segodnya, the RT TV channel, VGTRK and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS