The head of the Presidential Council Mohamed Menfi has participated in the Russian-African Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in response to an invitation received from the Russian Presidency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the summit, which was attended by 49 out of 54 African countries, that Russia is ready to supply African countries with free grain. This comes just days after Russia withdrew from the grain export agreement that was sponsored by the United Nations and Turkey.
Putin offered to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of free grain to each country in the next three to four months. This Russian step comes at a time when many African countries are suffering from a severe food crisis due to the war in Ukraine, as Russia and Ukraine are among the largest exporters of grain in the world, and the fluctuation of their grain exports has led to a rise in food prices around the world.
The Russian President added that his country is ready to cooperate with African countries to ensure the supply of grain, pointing out that Russia has a strong infrastructure for exporting grain, and that it is able to supply African countries with grain at competitive prices. Furthermore, he went on to stress Russia’s commitment to support global food security.
According to international reports, 40% of total wheat imports to Libya come from Ukraine, which exposed the country to an increase in flour prices by nearly 30% after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Source: The Russian-African Summit – Libya Al-Ahrar
