Harare — Only 17 African leaders will attend Russian President Vladimir Putin's second Russia-Africa Summit which gets underway in St. Petersburg on Thursday, July 27, 2023 the Daily Maverick reports.
This is less than half of the attendees of his first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019 when Putin met 43 African heads of state.
The number was confirmed by Yuri Ushakov, Putin's top foreign policy adviser, accusing western countries of pressuring African leaders not attend.
It appears however, that Putin's war against Ukraine and withdrawal from a treaty allowing Ukrainian grain to be shipped through the Black Sea had turned off many African leaders. Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal and attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure' has a negative influence on world food prices which will exacerbate hunger across the continent and the world.
Russia's decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative on July 17, 2023, ended a "lifeline" for hundreds of millions worldwide facing hunger and spiralling food costs, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said. Putin's withdrawal from the Black Sea Initiative is expected to hit food prices heavily again, particularly in developing nations such as in Africa, where rising food and fuel prices have led to an outcry in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and elsewhere.
For Putin, the low attendance of African leaders will be a devastating setback since he had hoped for a strong African show of solidarity to demonstrate the world that despite severe western sanctions imposed on Russia for its war with the Ukraine, he is not isolated.
Just recently, Putin said Russia will replace exports of Ukrainian grain to Africa and keep supplying the continent with food and fertiliser, despite sanctions. According to Putin, Russia shipped 11.5 million metric tons of grain to Africa in 2022, and the first half of 2023 saw the delivery of about 10 million metric tons.
Among those attending are Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Senegal's President Macky Sall and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Assimi Goita of Mali and Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic, both of whom depend on the Russian mercenary firm Wagner for their political survival, are also expected to arrive in St. Petersburg.
