Russia to Ship 200,000 Tons of Grain to Africa

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last July that his country will send the free grain to Africa by the end of the year.

President Vladimir Putin promised that Russia would provide humanitarian aid in the form of grain to six African countries listed by the World Food Program during the Russia-Africa Summit in July.

The first shipments of wheat for Somalia and Burkina Faso left Russia in November.

On Thursday, Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, welcomed the arrival of the first cargo ship carrying free grain. This timely delivery, comprising a substantial 25,000-ton shipment, aims to alleviate the impact of the recent devastating floods in the region.

On 18 July, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered in cooperation between Turkiye, the UN and Russia, came to an end. Moscow stressed that the provisions of the agreement on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled. It claimed that a significant proportion of the supplies were going to wealthy European nations rather than to economically disadvantaged countries in Africa.

After the deal expired, Putin assured that Moscow would continue to supply grain and fertilizers to African nations.