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African leaders are to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg at the end of July for a summit billed as strengthening cooperation in peace, security, and development. The second Russia-Africa Summit comes as Moscow [Mos-coe] wages war against Ukraine. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo reports.]]
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Russia Africa Summit Preview (TV/R/Web)
HEADLINE: Attendance Will Play Big Factor in Russia-Africa Summit
TEASER: The African countries that show up to this month's event in St. Petersburg, Russia, may help determine the summit's success
PUBLISHED AT: 07/20/2023 AT 10AM
BYLINE: Mariama Diallo
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Nairobi
VIDEOGRAPHER: Skype
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman, Reifenrath, DJ (ok)
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Feeds
MANDADORTY CG: Skype
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:54
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES))
((INTRO))
[[African leaders are to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg at the end of July for a summit billed as strengthening cooperation in peace, security, and development. The second Russia-Africa Summit comes as Moscow [Mos-coe] wages war against Ukraine. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
African leaders will head to St. Petersburg at the end of the month for the Russia-Africa Summit, the second of its kind. The event will focus on enhancing cooperation in such areas as development, security and peace, even as Moscow persists in its aggression against Ukraine.
International summits involve an element of political theatre, analysts say, and African attendance will be a measure of success for the St. Petersburg gathering.
[[Radio: Steven Gruzd heads the Africa-Russia project at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg.]]
((Steven Gruzd, South African Institute of International Affairs)) ((Skype))
“So, I think there will be a lot of focus on who attends // and last time in 2019, when the world looked very different before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there were 43 African heads of state that went to Sochi [Russia] for the 2019 summit.”
((NAT POP… War in Ukraine))
((NARRATOR))
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to higher food and oil prices for many African nations.
[[Radio: Mvemba Dizolele directs the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.]]
((Mvemba Dizolele, Center for Strategic and International Studies)) ((Skype))
“They are under a lot of pressure with what’s happening in Ukraine and the ramifications of the conflict there in terms of commodity prices, particularly for Africans — but also everything that is happening with Wagner and so on — so this an opportunity for Russia to try to assert its place on the global stage as well.”
((NARRATOR)) ((show busy ports in Africa))
And trade will likely be a major topic of discussion.
[[Radio: Again, Steven Gruzd]]
((Steven Gruzd, South African Institute of International Affairs)) ((Skype))
“I think there would be talk about trade. Russia’s trade with Africa is really negligible. China and the EU are by far much bigger trading partners with Africa.”
((NARRATOR))
Russia is also looking to get around sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies.
[[Radio: says Gruzd]]
((Steven Gruzd, South African Institute of International Affairs)) ((Skype))
“No African countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, and so it’s a lucrative market for it. // We saw a similar pattern after the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 as Western markets closed to Russia business, they sought markets elsewhere and of course Africa, Latin America, Asia were areas where they did seek to expand.”
((NAT POP – UNGA))
((NARRATOR))
The U.N. General Assembly in February passed a resolution demanding that Russia end the war and leave Ukrainian territory. While 141 countries voted in favor, two African countries voted against it and 15 abstained.
((For radio: Again Mvemba, Dizolele))
((Mvemba Dizolele, Center for Strategic and International Studies)) ((Skype))
Russia benefitted from that in the sense that it showed them they have some friends. It’s simply an awakening on the African part. They are particularly sending a message to the rest of the world we also have our own foreign policies, and those reflect our national interest.”
((NARRATOR))
Dizolele adds, however, that the optics of one country summoning the leaders of an entire continent undermines Africa’s efforts to assert itself on the global stage.
((MARIAMA DIALLO VOANEWS NAIROBI, Kenya))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 20, 2023 09:49 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
