(Ecofin Agency) - Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Africa has been portrayed mainly as a collateral victim of the ongoing conflict. However, recent tours by the involved parties’ senior officials suggest the continent has an important role to play.

On October 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, landed in Senegal for an African tour that was to take him to several countries. Although the rest of the tour was canceled on October 10 -due to Russia’s renewed attacks on Ukraine, the Ukrainian official was able to visit Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Ghana.

The tour, organized to strengthen cooperation with African countries, allowed Ukraine to discuss cooperation in sectors like digital transformation, information technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, trade, education, and security. In Accra, Dmytro Kuleba also announced the upcoming opening of a Ukrainian embassy in Ghana, marking the new course Ukraine wants to give its relations with countries on the continent. 

While the economic aspect of this new cooperation desired by Ukraine will undoubtedly be important, the timing of Mr. Kuleba's visit suggests that the most urgent aspect for Ukraine is to strengthen its political and even security ties with African countries. Indeed, the tour came about three months after Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov visited Egypt, Congo, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Economic opportunities and international support  

Long before Minister Kuleba's visit, the United States and France, two of Kiev's main supporters in its war against Russia, dispatched heads of their diplomatic missions to several countries on the continent. These unending diplomatic to-ings and fro-ings of high-level foreign officials on the black continent thus seem to show that the continent’s importance is rising on the global geopolitical scene. 

Africa was often seen as a land full of economic opportunities. Its huge oil, gas, and strategic mineral resources reserves have often been coveted by global economic giants. Its young population is often targeted as a mass market for large corporations looking for export markets.  Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, it is seen as a collateral victim but, recent developments highlight its political importance.

With its 54 countries, Africa is indeed the continent with the highest number of member countries in the United Nations (28% of the membership). This makes it a strong ally to lobby for motions or gather more international support on political affairs. Russia obviously got this point. Indeed, it caught Western powers by surprise by establishing a strong alliance with some African countries and taking action to improve its image on the continent, in the Sahel notably.  

The proof of the continent’s growing geopolitical importance was given, in June 2022, when Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, directly addressed the African Union (AU) announcing the appointment of Ukraine’s special envoy for Africa and plans for a major Ukraine-Africa political and economic conference. In July 2022, during his African tour, Sergueï Lavrov declared that “African states play an increasingly important role in the global politics and economy.”

Favor African interests 

According to several experts, although tragic, the events unfolding in Ukraine can be taken as opportunities for Africa to definitely assert itself as a mediator in the global geopolitical stage instead of suffering the consequences as it has often been.  A growing number of calls coming from the continent and even outside (Germany, China, etc) are already asking for an overhaul of the UN Security Council -whose configuration has never changed since the end of WWII- to give Africa two permanent seats.

Some alarmist theories see the Russia-Ukraine war as the beginning of the third world war. Nevertheless, the war, which began in Europe, is also being fought in Africa, albeit only on a political level for the time being. It is up to African countries to put their interests first, with namely the right to trade and maintain relations with whomever they wish without having to choose one side or the other in a conflict between two major economies.  

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou