Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky deploys diplomats against Russia in Africa

The Ukrainian president has told diplomats of plans for a humanitarian grain initiative and new embassies in the bid to win over the world’s fastest-growing continent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told diplomats in Kyiv that an ‘overhaul’ of relations with African countries was underway and vowed to strengthen trade ties. Picture: AFP

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would open almost a dozen new embassies in Africa next year in an apparent bid to counter increased Russian influence on the continent.

Experts say Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a new scramble for Africa. Twenty-two African nations refused to censure Russia for the initial invasion. Months later, a similar group declined to condemn the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Kyiv wants to win over African capitals with a humanitarian grain initiative after Russia blockaded Black Sea ports that would have taken wheat to East Africa, where millions are hungry.

“Each Russian rocket is not only hitting Ukrainians, it also harms the quality of life for Africans,” Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said on a recent trip to Africa.

“I urge Africa not to stay neutral. Neutrality will only encourage Russia to continue its aggression and malign activities across the world, including in Africa.”

Russia might be on the back foot militarily, and increasingly friendless, but Moscow can count on support in Africa. Over the past decade, from the Central African Republic to Sudan, African leaders have come to prize Russia’s merciless brand of hard power.

“We are overhauling relations with dozens of African countries,” Zelensky told diplomats in Kyiv. He also vowed to strengthen trade ties.

US President Joe Biden participates in a family photo with the leaders of the US-Africa Leaders Summit on December 15, 2022. Picture: AFP

It came on the heels of the US-Africa leaders summit, where US President Joe Biden attempted to convert African heads of state with business deals.

However, some analysts say the battle may already be lost, with 5000 Russian mercenaries scattered across the continent and anti-colonial sentiment on the rise.

Rising Russian influence underscores shifting relationships on the world’s fastest-growing continent.

In recent years the US and former colonial powers such as Britain and France have lost ground to China, Russia and smaller players including Turkey and Gulf states.

Africa today is filled with Chinese infrastructure and addicted to Beijing’s loans. Moscow flexes its muscles differently, spreading misinformation, plundering resources and propping up unpopular autocrats.

Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was a leading exporter of arms to sub-Saharan Africa. Ukrainian troops have even fought on the continent. Yet the country cannot compete economically or diplomatically with Russia.

“Ukraine has not prioritised Africa – its diplomats in New York have been slow to appreciate that the continent represented 54 votes [on the UN],” said Alex Vines, the Africa program director at the Chatham House think tank.

“The treatment of African students in Ukraine [who were turned back at Europe’s borders] immediately after the Russian invasion also played badly on the continent.”

Many African countries view Ukraine as a western puppet. Russia’s colonial adventures did not extend to Africa and the Kremlin backed liberation struggles during the Cold War.

Among those abstaining at the UN are South Africa, with whom Russia has strong trade and security ties, Uganda, which has hidden behind neutrality, and the war-torn Central African Republic (CAP), where mercenaries with Russia’s Wagner group cruise around imposing order.

The same mercenaries are on the front line in Ukraine.

In the CAR, Wagner, which has broken up rebel groups, has been accused by UN investigators of “excessive force, indiscriminate killings, occupation of schools and looting on a large scale.”

All they required in return was licences to export diamonds, gold and timber.

“Russia used the argument of sovereignty, saying their presence finally gives local governments the freedom to choose their allies and fight their wars without any limitations,” said Enrica Picco, Central African director at the Crisis Group think tank. That, alongside a torrent of social media propaganda, won over millions of Africans.

Other nations baulk at being asked to take sides in Ukraine while protracted conflicts quietly claim lives in Tigray, the Sahel and eastern Congo, or resent what they see as western lecturing on human rights.

“It is not an African war, so African countries should be able to protect their interests regardless of the parties,” Picco said.

The Times