Musings From Abroad

Again, Russia vows tons of grain for Africa after Black Sea withdrawal

Published

1 year ago

July 27, 2023

As the Russia-Africa summit continues at St Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin has promised Africa tens of thousands of tons of grain despite Western sanctions.

Russia has suffered an economic boycott from most Western countries after it invaded Ukraine in November 2022. According to him, the sanctions made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilizers.

According to Russia, 49 of Africa’s 54 states—including 17 heads of state and four heads of government—sent officials to St. Petersburg.

In order to fulfill what he claimed was Moscow’s crucial role in ensuring global food security, Putin stated that Russia was prepared to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and assistance basis.

Putin claimed that Western sanctions were put in place in retaliation for what Moscow refers to as a “special military operation”. It said the sanctions even prohibited Russia from providing free fertilizer to developing countries.

“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,” Putin said.

Comoros President, Azali Assoumani, who also serves as the African Union’s chair, stressed that Russia’s accusations should be taken seriously.

“I shouldn’t say that Russia is right or wrong. It acted for its own reasons; now we need to hear them in order to try to move forward.”

Another African contributor, Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa appreciated the Russian gesture even though his country already had enough to ensure its own food security.

The Russia-African summit was last held in 2019 and facilitated $12.5 billion in business deals, largely in arms and grains.

Musings From Abroad

Military advisors from Russia arrive Equatorial Guinea

Published

17 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Russian military advisors are in Equatorial Guinea training indigenous soldiers.

Anonymous sources cited by Reuters during the week claim that between 100 and 200 Russian instructors are training with elite guards in charge of guarding the President and the first family.

The males had been seen in Malabo, the country’s capital, and Bata, its second city. Reports of Russian forces stationed in the nation initially appeared in August.

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has maintained close relations with Moscow.

Nguema travelled to Moscow in September to attend the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

Russia has strengthened military connections with African countries, sending advisors and combat soldiers to the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

Faced with an Islamist terrorist insurrection, three Sahel countries have turned to Moscow for support, expelling French and American troops.

Musings From Abroad

Russia claims African, ex-Soviet nations want its mpox vaccine

Published

18 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Several African and former Soviet nations have shown interest in purchasing Russia’s smallpox and Mpox virus vaccine, testing equipment, and antiviral medications, according to Russia’s consumer and health watchdog.

The Orthopoxvac vaccine was created by the Siberian Vektor laboratory and approved by Russia’s health ministry in 2022 after clinical testing revealed the vaccine’s efficacy and safety, according to Vektor.

“The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as the African countries most affected by the mpox outbreak, have expressed interest in acquiring Russian treatments,” the watchdog told Reuters.

The countries that showed interest were not mentioned. Mpox is a virus that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions when it spreads through close contact. The illness can be lethal, although the majority of cases are minor.

An mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that had spread to neighbouring countries and abroad prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a worldwide public health emergency in August.

Requests for comment about the Russian vaccine were not answered by the governments of Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A top public health official in Nigeria and representatives for the health ministries in Burundi and Uganda denied any knowledge of attempts to purchase Russian mpox vaccinations.

According to a top Uzbek public health official, since there had been no mpox cases in the nation, the authorities did not require the vaccination. Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan’s governments did not immediately reply.

To fight the epidemic, several nations, notably the US and France, have committed to donating doses of the two primary vaccines against the virus produced by KM Biologics and Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO), which opens new tab.

Vektor researchers’ scientific publications reveal that the lab has been developing the vaccine since at least 2015. It has not yet released trial findings, though, and regulators outside of Russia have not authorised the injection.

Over 42,000 probable instances of Mpox have been recorded throughout the continent, and 1,100 fatalities have been reported so far this year, according to statistics from the Africa CDC.

The monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus, is the cause of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. Clade I, which includes subclades Ia and Ib, and Clade II, which includes subclades IIa and IIb, are the two separate clades of the virus.