Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg

[…] President Putin was speaking on Saturday during a bilateral meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa at Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. The gathering was held to discuss South Africa and Russia’s bilateral relations.
  In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sincere appreciation, underscoring the longstanding history of collaboration between the two nations.
  He emphasised that their cooperation goes back to their joint efforts within the G20, where they have successfully worked together on numerous critical issues. […]
  Turning attention to the recently concluded second Russia-Africa Summit, President Ramaphosa lauded President Putin for hosting a successful summit, with a declaration that was “well negotiated and well crafted”, representing the views of various countries.
  President Ramaphosa took the opportunity to express gratitude to his counterpart for hosting a successful and well organised summit.
  “We believe the summit was successful and well organised. The outcome was very good and the declaration was well negotiated and well crafted. It represents the views of various countries that were here and put together with your views. I believe that we have a declaration that can take forward our relationship between Africa and Russia.”
  “What is particularly pleasing is that Russia conducts its relationship with Africa at a strategic level, with a great deal of respect for and recognition of the sovereignty of African States,” the President said. President Ramaphosa acknowledged that Russia’s support for Africa has remained steadfast over time, dating back to the days of the Soviet Union. He expressed satisfaction that the spirit of cooperation between Russia and Africa endures to this day.

Trade ties

Regarding the bilateral relationship between Russia and South Africa, President Ramaphosa affirmed that the two nations share and uphold strong ties.
  “It’s a multi-level relationship. On an investment level, there are quite a number of companies in the South African market that are also invested in the Russia market,” he said.
  The President emphasised that South Africa is presently grappling with an energy crisis and could gain valuable insights from Russia’s experience. […]
  The President mentioned his interest in exploring fields such as space, noting the presence of a Space Institute in South Africa.
  “You have advanced a great deal in space, and that is one area in which we could cooperate.
  “We appreciate the support we received from Russia during the COVID-19. Your innovation when it came to COVID-19 helped to inspire our own scientists. I remember you [President Putin] and I having a conversation after our scientists discovered Omicron and we spoke on the phone. You sent Russian scientists to South Africa so that we could exchange views. I do believe that that was really impactful. We thank you for that,” the President said.
  Regarding education, the President expressed South Africa’s deep appreciation for the support received from Russia. He conveyed his desire to encourage an increasing number of students to pursue studies in various disciplines in Russia.
  President Ramaphosa acknowledged the value of the extensive support provided by President Putin to many South Africans who have been educated in Russia, and expressed his wish to see this support continue.
  Furthermore, President Ramaphosa praised President Putin’s stance on the representation of Africa at the United Nations level.
  “We’d like to appreciate your position on the issue of the representation of Africa at the UN level. We continue to be a continent that is not represented in the key structures of the UN. Thank you for being supportive in that regard,” he said.  •

Source: https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/sa-russia-cement-bilateral-relations of 29 July 2023

The Russia Africa Summit, which is being hosted in St. Petersburg, Russia, has heightened tensions between the West and Africa. The United States and France have threatened several African delegations attending the Summit. […]
  Nomvula Mokonyane’s** remarks on 25 July (Wednesday) amid her interview with Newzroom Africa in St. Petersburg divulge that South Africa is certainly one of the nations pestered by the United States and France.
  When questioned about the threats, Mokonyane stated that the ANC has ongoing interactions with the United States Embassy in South Africa, and that the ANC’s Treasurer-General went to the US for additional engagements with the US.
  “We’re trying to avoid being trapped in one relationship,” she said. She went on to say that South Africa would want the chance to reaffirm its stand on alternative creation and diversity.
  In his opening remarks on the first day of the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassured African leaders that they were in a country of friends and like-minded people.
  They certainly are. Russia and China have always stood behind African countries during times of hardship, and unlike the United States, they are on the legitimate side of history.
  A month ago, Kenya’s president attended the Global Financing Pact Summit, and in his speech, he pointed out that African leaders are frequently summoned like young boys and girls and intimidated to attend summits in the West, failing which the West will rescind any prior agreements and cooperation. He stated that conferences organised by Western countries are merely for spectacle; they make pledges but fail to fulfil them. South Africa’s president was among those present, and he conveyed his displeasure with the West, claiming that during Covid-19, the West treated African leaders like beggars by hoarding vaccines while China and Russia went beyond what was necessary to safeguard human lives in Africa.
  Russia has a lot to offer Africa through this conference, particularly in terms of the blue economy. The United States and the West must recognise that Russia is not and has never been an adversary of Africa; in fact, Russia has helped African countries even when doing so was unfashionable.
  We have friends in America and the West. Russia resembles family.  •

* Sikho Matiwane is an established entrepreneur and director at Matiwane Diplomatic Consulting.
** Nomvula Mokonyane is an ANC-affiliated South African politician. She was a minister in the South African government until 2019. (Editor’s note)

Source: https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/russia-africa-summit-russia-is-more-like-family-than-the-west-87a6f446-de7b-45e0-9214-f07c055fd316 of 28 July 2023

The African Union (AU) on Friday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire in Ukraine and a solution to the grain war at the end of the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg.
  “We need to achieve a ceasefire [in Ukraine], because war is always unpredictable. The longer it lasts, the more unpredictable it becomes. Putin has shown that he is ready for dialogue,” said Comorian President Azali Assoumani, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the AU.
  Assoumani referred to the ten-point peace plan presented by the African countries to Moscow and Kiev and emphasised that “we now have to convince the other side”. He added: “We are acting as mediators. We will talk to both sides. I hope that we will achieve positive results.”
  Among other things, the plan provides for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, a de-escalation of hostilities, security guarantees for both sides and respect for sovereignty, as stipulated in the UN Charter. African countries led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had presented the plan to Moscow and Kiev in mid-June, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded, as he did with the Chinese initiative, that the negotiations would have to include the complete withdrawal of the Russian army from the occupied territories.
  For his part, Putin, who accused the United States and NATO of refusing dialogue with Russia, assured that he would talk “with interested African countries” about the situation in Ukraine. At the same time, he announced Russia’s intention to reopen embassies closed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
  The final declaration of the second Russia-Africa Summit makes no specific reference to Ukraine, but condemns “aggressive nationalism, neo-Nazism and neo-fascism” as well as “Afrophobia and Russophobia”. The approximately 50 representatives of the countries participating in the meeting made no secret of the fact that food security depends to a large extent on the cessation of all hostilities between the parties to the conflict.  •

Source: https://www.pagina12.com.ar/572317-la-union-africana-pide-alto-el-fuego-en-ucrania of 29 July 2023

(Translation Current Concerns)

globaltimes. St. Petersburg hosted the second Russia-Africa Summit from 27 to 28 July that was attended by 17 heads of state from that continent. They and the other participants, which also included five vice presidents and four heads of government alongside many national delegations, bravely defied Western pressure to come to this event. Russian officials earlier claimed that the US and the EU were trying to talk their guests out of going. This allegation was lent credence by the publication of hostile Western media editorials.
  The overwhelming majority of African countries participated in some capacity after only five countries declined to send representatives to the summit. Recalling that a little more than half of the continent voted against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at least once since the start of its special operation in Ukraine, this means there were countries that still decided to expand ties with Russia in spite of their disagreements over the situation in Eastern Europe.
  Western political and media pressure failed to ruin the event because African countries appreciate the ways in which Russia can help them strengthen their sovereignty during these unpredictable times. The erstwhile Soviet Union supported their freedom movements and comprehensively assisted many of them with building their statehood afterwards. Regrettably, the Russian Federation struggled with many domestic challenges after independence and wasn’t able to resume this international role until recently.
  President Vladimir Putin sought to make up for lost time during the first Russia-Africa Summit that was held in October 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic and then the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine impeded implementation of their action plan. Be that as it may, Russian-African ties didn’t deteriorate in the nearly four years since their last multilateral meeting, and it can actually be argued that Russia became more important to some of its African partners during this period than at any time since 1991.
  The West’s anti-Russian sanctions that were imposed after the start of its special operation in Ukraine caused problems for its African partners, which weren’t resolved in spite of the Black Sea Grain Initiative that Moscow recently declined to extend after it accused the West of not fulfilling its part of the deal. Nevertheless, Russian President Putin promised during the latest summit to ship the neediest of them grain free of charge by year’s end.
  This brings the analysis around to discussing other aspects of the event since it concerned more than just strengthening Russian- African agricultural cooperation. Consistent with the theme of “Peace, Security and Development,” military ties were discussed bilaterally with interested countries behind closed doors, but the details weren’t publicly disclosed due to their sensitivity. Additionally, academic, energy, financial, industrial, institutional, media and other forms of cooperation were also discussed.
  What connects everything together is that the comprehensive expansion of Russian-African relations in each of these spheres advances President Putin’s vision of helping his country’s partners on the continent “strengthen national and cultural sovereignty” like he pledged to do leading up to the summit. He’s regularly spoken about this concept since the start of the special operation, which he considers to be the prerequisite for mutually beneficial partnerships.
  It deserves to be mentioned at this point that not a single African country jumped on the West’s anti-Russian sanctions bandwagon despite immense pressure to do so. This includes those who voted against it at least once at the UNGA. Never before had all of Africa come together like this. Its countries clearly wanted to show the international community that they’re truly independent and will no longer let their former colonisers dictate their policies.
  The West was shocked by this unprecedented display of sovereignty, which is why its officials and media began waging an information warfare campaign against Russia in a desperate attempt to convince African countries to sanction it. Examples include false claims that its military advisors are responsible for atrocities and lying that Russia is weaponising famine in Africa. No African country was swayed into sanctioning Russia, however, not even those that didn’t attend the latest summit.
  They all know that their objective national interests are best served by keeping their strategic options open and not burning bridges with any of their partners no matter the external pressure put upon them. Russia is regarded as a historically reliable partner with whom ties can be expanded in whatever sphere any given African country wants, which can help diversify from their previously disproportionate dependence on the West while complementing their efforts to cultivate even closer ties with China.
  Russia doesn’t attach strings to its agricultural and military aid, nor does China attach any to its infrastructure investments and market access, with these forms of cooperation combining to strengthen African states’ sovereignty. Moreover, these major countries are also sincere in their desire to improve people-to-people ties, especially academic exchanges and skills training. The reason for this is that they envisage Africa as a whole functioning as an independent pole in the emerging Multipolar World Order.
  Therein lies the primary difference between the US and the EU on one hand and Russia and China on the other. The first pair attaches strings of some sort to all forms of aid in order to keep Africa subordinated to them, while the second pair never attaches any of the aforesaid since it wants to empower Africa’s rise. The US and the EU can’t countenance an international order that they don’t lead, while Russia and China are striving to build a fair and just order where all countries are equal regardless of their size.
  This insight enables one to better understand the significance of the second Russia-Africa Summit, which is intended to function as Russia’s complementary version of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Both events take place at multi-year intervals, thus providing enough time to make progress on their action plans. Although Russia is comparatively late in re-engaging with Africa, it more than makes up for this delay with the strategic role that it plays in ensuring its partners’ agricultural and military needs.  •

Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1295280.shtml of 29 July 2023