Contents tagged with Africa
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Kremlin: Russia forgives $20 billion in African debt
Russia has forgiven a staggering $20 billion in debts owed by African countries, according to President Vladimir Putin's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Bogdanov emphasized that these funds are being redirected into development projects under a refinancing program.
On November 10, Sudan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein Al-Hajj, expressed high hopes for Russia's aid in reviving the country's agriculture sector. The sector has …
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Russia turns to Africa for migrant workers as labor shortages intensify
Amid a record labor shortage spurred by the war in Ukraine and an aging population, Russia is seeking migrant workers beyond the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and turning its attention to Africa, reports The Moscow Times.
Hussein Mohammed, Kenya’s State House Spokesperson, announced that the first 10,000 workers from the African continent will arrive from Kenya.
Mohammed did not specify which industries the Kenyans would be employed in but emphasized that they would encompass …
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Russia to sell $17 billion worth of weapons to Africa
Russia will increase arms supplies to sub-Saharan Africa, reported the press service of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s national export agency for defense products.
“Contracts totalling $1.7 billion were signed in 2020-21, and the number of African customers rose to 17. The Russia-Africa forum, held in 2019, provided a boost for deliveries of Russian weapons to the region,” said Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Rosoboronexport.
“The deliveries to the region will include helicopter equipment, air defense …
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Russian general killed in Africa
A Russian major general was killed in Angola, reported the volunteer community "Gruz 200 from Ukraine to Russia."
It is reported that General Vasily Aleksandrovich Kravtsov was killed in Angola on October 17. The alleged cause of death is a traffic accident.
Since 2012, Kravtsov has been the commander of Russia's 336th separate Marine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet. In 2014, the brigade took part in the annexation of Crimea.
The general had Russian state awards - the Order for Merit to the …
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Russia to establish military bases in 6 African countries
Russia has agreed with six African leaders to establish domestic military bases in the territory of their countries, reports the German newspaper Bild. According to journalists, to date, Russians are conducting military cooperation with 21 African countries.
The German media outlet refers to a secret document of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents says that for five years Russia has been actively establishing military contacts n Africa. Recently, during negotiations, Moscow …
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Russia allocates new aid to Africa
The Russian government will allocate $10 million from the federal budget to help African countries that are facing the threat of famine due to the locust invasion.
The funds will go to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in the form of a voluntary target contribution from the Russian Federation, according to the decree of April 24 which has been published on Kremlin’s website
Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia will each receive $3 million and $1 million will be allocated to South Sudan.
The …
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Kremlin explains decision to write off billions of African debt
By writing off billions of dollars owed by African countries, Russia has “opened a way for its companies to operate on the continent,” said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as cited by the Interfax news agency.
Peskov explained that for a long time the debt burden had prevented the development of collaboration and cooperation between African countries and Russian companies. By law, companies with major debt could not enter into any new projects, he explained.
“This is how it’s been cleared …
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Russia to spend $6 billion to open ‘window to Africa’
After writing off $140 billion owed by Syria, Vietnam, North Korea, countries in Africa and Latin America and former Soviet republics in Central Asia over the last 20 years, Russia is planning to drastically increase its lending to foreign governments over the next three years.
In the draft budget for 2020-2022, the Russian government has allocated $6 billion to loans to foreign governments and companies. This is the most in the country’s modern history, Bloomberg observes. The funds will be …
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Putin: Russia has written off $20 billion of African debt
Russia has written off more than $20 billion of debt owed by African countries, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a plenary session of the Russia – Africa Economic Forum, reports finanz.ru.
This is 42% more than the annual budget of Russia’s entire higher education system ($14 billion), and more than the amount that will be allocated to the national healthcare project between now and 2024 ($18.8 billion), for example.
Putin said that Moscow is systematically contributing to the …
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Putin: Russia will fight for influence in Africa
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to increase cooperation with African countries. "We are ready not to redistribute wealth, but to compete for cooperation with Africa. This cooperation should be civilized and be developed in accordance to laws," said Russian President.
Putin noted that not only the United States but also China, India, Turkey, the Gulf States, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Israel are interested in cooperation with African countries.
"And it is not an accident, …