https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-27/putin-rewards-african-allies-with-promise-of-free-grainRussian President Vladimir Putin pledges to send free grain to six African countries with strong ties to Moscow during the Russia-Africa summit. This comes after Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal, which affected global food prices.
- Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal led to a spike in wheat prices after they attacked key port infrastructure in Ukraine, disrupting exports.
- The six African countries receiving free grain are Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea.
- Most of these countries refrained from criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, making them beneficiaries of the grain pledge.
- Putin pledged 25,000-50,000 tons of grain to each of these nations, a significant portion of their imports but only a tiny fraction of Russia's overall sales.
- The move is seen as an attempt by Russia to position itself as a benevolent partner to emerging economies while removing substantial amounts of grains from the global market.
- Some of the recipient countries, such as Eritrea and Mali, were among those voting against a UN resolution demanding Russia's exit from Ukraine.
- Somalia, Eritrea, and Mali have previously received food shipments from Russia, and Somalia also imported grain from Ukraine under a collapsed safe-corridor deal.
Genuine humanitarian effort? I think not. There are definitely underlying geopolitical motives involved here.
