African Tour of Sergey Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Africa on July 23-27, 2022. The trip was the first to Africa following the launch of a special military operation. It covered four countries: Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia. Sergey Lavrov met not only with the foreign ministers, but with the heads of all states. Moreover, talks were held with representatives of the League of Arab States and the African Union.

The choice of countries was not random. The Republic of Congo and Uganda abstained from voting in the UN General Assembly on resolution ES-11/1 condemning Russian special operation in Ukraine. In addition, Ethiopia and the Republic of Congo opposed the expulsion of Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, while Egypt and Uganda abstained from voting. Ethiopia officially called on Russia and Ukraine for a ceasefire, but did not condemn either side. Egyptian official position is less clear-cut. On the one hand, the country supported resolution ES-11/1, with Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi having several telephone conversations with Ukrainian President Zelensky. On the other hand, Egypt continues to develop relations with Russia and maintains a regular dialogue. Egypt, like Kazakhstan, was the main partner at SPIEF 2022 and opened its pavilion there. At the same time the Egyptian President spoke online at the 25th St. Petersburg Economic Forum, where he emphasized that Russia is an important partner of Egypt in many areas.

The key topic of the talks in Africa was the food crisis and rising energy prices. Officials discussed various aspects of the international and regional agenda, issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as the second Russia-Africa Summit. African partners expected Russia to take further steps to resolve the food and fuel crisis against the backdrop of agreements on grain deal reached in Istanbul.

Egypt was the first stop on Sergey Lavrov's tour. High level of interaction between the countries at the strategic level determined the choice of the country. The trade turnover of 2021 between the states increased by 4% and amounted to $4.8 billion. As for 2022, 470 Russian companies operate in the Egyptian market. During the ministerial visit, Sergey Lavrov met with President el-Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and League of Arab States Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. The key topics of the negotiations were the construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant, food and energy security. It is worth noting that cooperation between the countries has been actively developing recently, despite Western sanctions.

Lavrov's trips to the Republic of Congo and Uganda were historic as he visited these African countries for the first time. In Congo, the minister met with President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso. The latter is a graduate of St. Petersburg State University and speaks Russian. It is noteworthy that Sergey Lavrov visited the residence of the head of state in the city of Oio, the territory of the Mboshi tribe, from which the current president originates. At a press conference Lavrov referred to the discussed "specific ways of avoiding artificial obstacles in relations between the two countries and doing everything possible to make trade, economic and investment relations independent from the policies of Western countries. Russia and the Republic of Congo interact constructively within the UN and other multilateral formats on the basis of the Protocol on consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. There are prospects for mutual cooperation in energy, oil production, supplies of Russian-made machinery and equipment, geological exploration, and agriculture. For example, in 2018 Rosatom and the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation of the Republic of Congo signed in Moscow a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of peace atom.
Unlike Egypt, Russian trade with the Republic of the Congo and Uganda is very low and does not exceed $500 million, but the potential for cooperation is extremely high, which in particular was the subject of Sergei Lavrov's conversation with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo. Uganda traditionally imports Russian military equipment, and buys wheat and fertilizers. The cooperation with this African partner has grown over the past five years. A Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy was signed in 2017. A corresponding agreement was concluded on the sidelines of the 63rd IAEA General Conference in Vienna in 2019. In addition, a memorandum on cooperation science, technology and innovation and a memorandum between Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health of Uganda on cooperation in ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population were signed in the same year. Y. Museveni visited Russia several times, most recently he attended the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019. During the meeting with Lavrov the Ugandan leader said that he could not criticize Russia, which "has been supporting the anti-colonial African movement for 100 years." It was in Uganda that the Russian minister announced that the role of Africa would be reconsidered and given more importance in the new concept of foreign policy.
The visit to Ethiopia was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere. The Russian Foreign Minister took part in the coffee-making ceremony and planted trees on the territory of the Russian embassy with his Ethiopian counterpart. At the talks senior officials discussed the prospects for cooperation between the two countries in energy, transport, infrastructure, telecommunications, agriculture and mining. Particular attention was paid to the preparation of the Second Russia-Africa Summit. For this purpose, S.V. Lavrov met with representatives of the African Union.
The reaction of Western countries to the African tour of S.V. Lavrov was extremely negative. It was stated that Russia was trying to get out of isolation by attracting African countries to its side. The West tried to counteract in every possible way. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Arab League countries, in particular Egypt, were under the pressure of the West so that they would not sign any documents or even take pictures with the Russian delegation. Against the background of S.V. Lavrov’s visit to Africa, French President E. Macron left for Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau and Benin, and the US Special Representative in the Horn of Africa M. Hammer went to Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the US plans to host a second US-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022 in an attempt to increase its presence on the continent amid growing Russian and Chinese activity in the region. Now Western attempts to convince African countries to refuse cooperation with Russia and join the sanctions turned to be fruitless. Russia continues to build up its ties with Africa, despite opposition from Western countries.
Thus, the development of relations with African countries shows that Russia is not in isolation, as Western countries claim. Speeches by S.V. Lavrov and Russia's position on many international issues find understanding on the African continent, where anti-colonial sentiments are strong. In the future, we should expect the final transfer of Russia's ties not only from the West to the East, but also to Africa. It is confirmed by the start of preparations for the Second Summit and the Russia-Africa economic forum.

A.I. Berezhnov, junior researcher
O.N. Kulakova, junior researcher
Center for Global and Strategic Studies, Institute for African Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences