Battle for the soul of Africa continues as Ukraine makes attempt to woo continent

Days before African heads of states undertake a peace mission to Kyiv, Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has attempted to woo the continent, promising to share Ukraine's digital expertise and farming technology and provide educational opportunities.

Briefing the media on relations between Ukraine and Africa after concluding a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday night, Kuleba says it’s not what Africa can do for Ukraine, but more about what the Ukraine can do for Africa as he tries to revive old ties.

“Our main principle is to talk directly. We don’t need any intermediaries between you and us, we want to build relationships between Ukraine and African nations without any outside forces interfering in this process.”

The minister has just returned from his second diplomatic tour of Africa having visited Morocco, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mozambique and Nigeria. 

The visits come after last October’s visits to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Kenya, with a plan to visit more African states including South Africa. 

He said African countries, like Ukraine, had suffered throughout their history from “other forces interfering in our affairs and telling us how to behave”.

“It’s time to build a relationship based on what we hear from each other. The Ukrainian African renaissance is not just about diplomatic tours, we are expanding our permanent diplomatic presence on the continent.”

Ukraine's pitch comes on the back of an offer Russia's President Vladimir Putin made to President Cyril Ramaphosa in May to increase grain exports. 

The Kremlin said the two leaders had in a phone call discussed problems of global food security and that Russia stood ready “to supply significant volumes of grain and fertilisers to needy African states, including on a gratuitous basis”. 

Kuleba is proposing an Ukrainian-African renaissance that will see stronger bilateral ties with the continent.

“What we see with the relations with the continent right now is a Ukrainian-African renaissance and this is what our policy is about. Ukraine returns to active co-operation with African partners where Ukraine restores all and doing the best that Ukraine and Africa had in previous decades.

“We are eager to build strong partnerships based on the principle of mutual respect, interest and benefits. I am confident that this renaissance brings enormous opportunities for both Ukraine and Africa.”

He sold Ukraine as a “mighty agricultural power” that is “gladly willing” to share its experience, professionals and technology in farming with African nations that want to increase agricultural produce in their countries. 

“We also keep working hard to ensure that the volume of exporting Ukrainian grain keeps growing despite any obstacles, that being Russia. Ukraine is a leader in digitalisation in Europe, we stand ready to share our experience in digital experience so that our African partners can use our knowledge to provide digital public services to their citizens. 

“We have specialists and technologies that we can offer to African governments to build these systems of digital services.”

Ukraine, he said, is also a strong military power. 

“I think everyone sees how effectively we have been fighting back the Russian army since last year. We have already managed to liberate more than 50% of the land that Russia occupied during the early stages of the invasion. We are ready to share Ukrainian experience of building a capable military and effectively fighting more high intensity wars.”

Over many decades, he said, Ukraine has hosted thousands of African students, many of whom have become prominent political and business social leaders. 

“We will be happy to welcome more young Africans who want to study and work in Ukraine once the war is over.”

While the war rages on, Kubela said his government continues to provide educational services to active and future African professionals. 

“Ukraine is not a victim and not a beggar coming to ask for help, we come to our African friends offering a mutually beneficial partnership and we are not coming to try to impose our will on anyone, we are trying to heal each other. 

“Our main principle is to talk directly. We don’t need any intermediaries between you and us, we want to build relationships between Ukraine and African nations without any outside forces interfering in this process.”

He said Ukraine is opening 10 new embassies in African countries with agreements already concluded with Rwanda and Mozambique.

“We are building this Ukrainian African renaissance on a solid foundation of shared history. Over many decades Ukrainian engineers helped to construct hundreds of infrastructure facilities in thousands of African countries such as hydroelectric power stations, ports, bridges, roads, hospitals and schools” 

He said many liberation movement fighters had been trained on Ukrainian soil.

Moreover, he said, Ukraine was a founding member of the UN and had chaired the UN special committee against South Africa's apartheid regime. 

“These are all historic facts that Ukraine and African nations share.” 

He said for Ukrainians the war with Russia was “for our freedom and the right to make our sovereign choices”.

“Please, dear friends, brothers and sisters in Africa, do not believe anyone who say that this is a geopolitical game or that someone is using Ukraine. 

“A neighbour who wants to rule over us and denies our right to exist as a free and independent country attacked Ukraine. We are fighting back and we are fighting back very successfully.”

He said the Russian propaganda did not stand up to the test of simple logic. 

“Everyone was sure Ukraine would collapse and fail but we fought on because we knew that we were fighting for the right cause for ourselves and that no-one would be fighting for us.”

Kubela said Ukraine had never asked any foreign country to send soldiers to its aid. 

He likened the war to the liberation movements that had fought for the liberation of Africa. 

“In the end you won your independence, and you did it because you were fighting for your freedom, land and you had someone to support you in that struggle. Today supporting Ukraine is not about being pro-western or anti-western, it is about protecting the right of every country and nation to live on its soil, make its own choices and to be free, not to depend on someone else’s choices. 

“This is what the struggle is about. This is what the UN Charter is about and moreover, in a practical sense, I think it is a wise decision to stand on the side of the eventual winner.”

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