“A new page”. It is in these terms that the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister, Maksym Subkh, inaugurated an embassy in Ivory Coast on April 11, a day after opening another establishment of this type, in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC). At the origin of these new embassies, “instructions from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at expanding Ukraine’s diplomatic presence in Africa”, he indicated, while six chancelleries must still see the light of day over the next two weeks, in Ghana, Botswana, Mozambique and Rwanda.
“The objective is to reach 20 embassies,” said Yurii Pyvovharo, Ukrainian ambassador in Dakar, responsible for acting as the Abidjan representation, while awaiting the appointment of an ambassador assigned to the Ivory Coast. With the support of the Ivorian government since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, kyiv intends to rely on the leading French-speaking economic power in the sub-region to make it “a pivotal country from which to deploy its influence strategy in West Africa”, estimates with the World political analyst Sylvain N’Guessan, director of the Abidjan Institute of Strategies. Not enough to compete, however, with the vast network of Russian influence deployed on the continent via its information agencies, cultural centers and military partnerships for decades.
“A boost”
For his part, the Ivorian Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs in charge of African integration and Ivorians abroad, Wautabouna Ouattara, considered that this inauguration in Abidjan “illustrates the quality of the links and cooperation which unite our two countries since the establishment of our diplomatic relations in 1992. “I remain convinced that this new stage in our diplomatic relations will give a boost to our cooperation, given the enormous potential and numerous assets available to our two countries,” he added, kyiv being particularly interested in Ivorian cocoa and its derived products, and Abidjan by cereals, iron, steel, vegetable and animal fats from Ukraine.
President Alassane Ouattara, for his part, reiterated “Côte d’Ivoire’s loyalty to the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, and hoped for “a rapid end” to the war in Ukraine. On March 2, 2022, his country was one of 28 African states to condemn Russian aggression during a UN general assembly. In the process, the Ivorian head of state called for “the immediate and definitive cessation of hostilities in Ukraine”, while in October of the same year, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, visited in Abidjan.