NAIROBI Fighting against Russian aggression, Ukraine is rapidly strengthening its relations with African countries. In less than a year, Ukraine has opened seven embassies in different parts of Africa. Previously, it had missions in 11 African countries.
– We are going to open two more new embassies, says the Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya Andriy Pravednyk Up in Nairobi.
According to him, the embassy in Tanzania should open by the end of this year and in Cameroon hopefully at the beginning of next year.
The map below shows where Ukraine now has embassies in Africa. For comparison, the countries where Finland has an embassy are also marked on the map. You can view them by pressing the Finnish embassies button.
The main reason for Ukraine’s efforts is Russia, which has increased its influence in Africa in recent years.
Relations with African countries are important, for example, in the UN, where issues related to Russia’s war of aggression have been voted on several times.
More than a quarter of the UN member states with voting rights are located in Africa.
– No wonder that Western, Ukrainian and Russian diplomats arranged to secure support from African countries in the early stages of the war, researcher Denys Reva research institute about the ISS writes in his analysis.
ISS specializes in security issues in the African region.
Many African countries remain neutral in the voting. In five significant votes in 2022-2023, on average slightly more than half African countries abstained or did not participate in the vote.
Russia increased its foothold
Russia has been particularly successful in concluding bilateral security agreements with African countries, says researcher Reva. The agreements concern, for example, arms exports and training.
A recent example of cooperation is that of West African countries Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso with Russia agreement telecommunications and surveillance satellites, which are used for example in border surveillance.
These military-run countries are fighting Islamist insurgents and have turned to Russia for military support. At the same time, they have severed ties with their former colonial master France and other Western countries.
Social influencers to work
Ukraine is trying to push its message forward and stop Russian influence companies in traditional and social media. Ukraine’s ambassador to Kenya, Pravednyk, says that there are several social media influencers in Kenya who work with Russia.
– They (the Russians) are trying hard to get many African countries on their side, but we are working hard to respond to Russia’s efforts, propaganda and fake news, says Pravednyk.
Ukraine also cooperates with local social media influencers.
– Millions of Kenyans follow the news on X. That’s why we are working with our Kenyan friends to guarantee visibility in X, says Pravednyk.
The grain exporter also donates grain
Ukraine and Russia are important for many African countries because of grain supply.
At the beginning of the war, the Russian attack badly messed up Ukraine’s grain supplies and raised prices in the world.
At the end of 2022, Ukraine announced a humanitarian Grain from Ukraine program. In it, grain is bought from Ukraine with the support of donors and sent to countries suffering from a food crisis. Finland has also participated in the program.
– In March 2023, we delivered 25,000 tons of grain to Kenya. It helped the country survive the effects of the drought, Ambassador Pravednyk says, for example.
According to Pravednyk, Ukraine is strengthening its relations with African countries because it understands the importance of its grain supplies.
On the other hand, grain deliveries will certainly also improve Ukraine’s reputation.
The tweet below shows how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine communicated its grain program in Nairobi.
Does the job work?
Researcher Denys Reva assessed to in a video call from South Africa that Ukraine’s diplomacy in Africa has produced results.
This can be seen in how many African countries participated in the peace conference organized in Switzerland in the summer and how many signed the final statement, according to which the future peace agreement must be based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Ukraine has recently opened a mission in four participating countries.
Ambassador Pravednyk also calls the peace conference a success.
He comments on the second, upcoming peace conference in the video below.
Did Ukraine help the rebels or not?
Ukraine’s diplomatic relations with Mali and Niger were severed after the countries accused Ukraine of supporting terrorist groups. The accusations were related to the defeats of the Malian army in battles against the rebels, in which Malian and Russian-linked Wagner soldiers died.
A representative of Ukrainian military intelligence hinted that the rebels received help from Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has denied involvement, and military intelligence the representative also fainted his speeches.
French magazine Le Monde claimed as recently as this month that Ukraine was supporting the rebels with drones, but Ukraine denied charges.
The Mali case sparked a debate about whether Ukraine and Russia are waging some kind of shadow war in Africa. Researcher Reva estimates that the discussion may hinder Ukraine’s future in Africa.
– It’s hard to explain why Russia hasn’t been hit with a similar reason, he says.
Ambassador Pravednyk did not want to comment on Mali’s case.