Russia to send free grain to Africa – agriculture minister

Russia will start free grain deliveries to African countries within the next six weeks, the country’s Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev announced on Friday.

“We are now finalizing all the documents. I think that within a month, or a month and a half, they will start,” the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously announced that Moscow would send up to 50,000 tons of grain to six African countries at no cost.

Putin noted that Russia would provide Africa with tens of thousands of tons of free grain even as international restrictions have dramatically complicated exports of its agricultural produce and fertilizers, in terms of transport logistics, insurance and payments.

“We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tons of free grain each in the next three to four months,” Putin told a Russia-Africa summit in July, adding that his country would also cover the delivery costs. 

The development comes after Moscow refused to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative that was aimed at allowing Ukraine to export grain from its ports to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, in exchange for lifting Western sanctions that prevented Russian agricultural exports.

Moscow withdrew from the agreement in July, saying that Western countries were still making it impossible for Russia to ship food and fertilizer.

Russia exported 11.5 million tons of grain to Africa in 2022, despite Western sanctions affecting the supply of Russian food products to developing countries.

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