Foreign News
Key Takeaways from the Second Russia-Africa Summit
By Jideofor Adibe
The Second Russo-Africa Summit, which was originally scheduled to hold at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on October 2022, was eventually held at the Expo Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city after Moscow, on 27 and 28 of July 2023.
The original idea of holding it in Addis Ababa was partly in response to criticisms of African leaders being herded into one European or American capital in the name of Africa Summit – like small boys. However, given what has happened in the last couple of years, what are the main takeaways from the Summit?One, that the summit held at all was a subtle message that life in Russia remains normal despite the Ukrainian war and the Western sanctions on the country.
Though attended by 49 delegations, with only 17 heads of state participating at the summit compared with the 43 which previously attended the first summit in 2019, it must be underlined that not many people would feel comfortable visiting a country at war. Add to this the rumour that the US and other European countries mounted serious pressure on African leaders not to attend the Summit and the attendance will be seen as not too bad. Besides, some of the continent’s most important leaders were there. They included Abdel Fattah el –Sisi of Egypt, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Macky Saul of Senegal and Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea. Other prominent attendees included Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Workneh Gebeyehu Negewo, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Amina Salmane, Permanent Representative of the Arab Maghreb Union to the African Union, Dilma Rousseff, BRICS New Development Bank President, Benedict Oramah, President of African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Gilberto Da Piedade Verissimo, President of the Economic Community of Central African States. Though the Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not there, he was represented by the country’s Vice President, Kashim ShettimaTwo, it is symbolic that the Summit was attended by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and leader of the Russian private military contractor, Wagner group. It was Prigozhin’s first known public appearance in Russia since launching an unsuccessful armed rebellion against the country’s military hierarchy. Though Private military companies (PMCs) are banned in Russia, Wagner, has since 2014 (when Russia annexed Crimea), emerged as one of Russia’s most important foreign policy tools in several African countries. Capitalizing on anti-Western and anti-French sentiments, the Wagner group has bolstered its presence in Central African Republic, Libya, Mali and Sudan and looking for opportunities to extend its influence to other places. The group has been operating in several African countries since 2017, often providing its clients with direct military support and related security services alongside propaganda efforts. It was estimated that in 2018 about 1000 Wagner mercenaries entered CAR to defend the government of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra against rebel attacks on the capital, Bangui. In return, Wagner subsidiaries received unrestricted logging rights and control of the lucrative Ndassima gold mine. The presence of Prigozhin at such a high level summit will indicate both tacit Russian support for Wagner’s operations as well as Prigozhin’s interest in exploring opportunities for further expansion in Africa.
Three, the summit provided an opportunity for Putin to make amends on his alleged shabby treatment of African leaders who had met with him to promote its peace plan for the war in Ukraine. It should be recalled that on May 16 2023, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, announced new initiatives by African leaders for peace in Ukraine. In June 2023, the African peace mission, including representatives from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia and Uganda visited both Ukraine and Russia to promote its peace deal. On 17 June, Ramaphosa and his delegation met the Russian President Vladmiri Putin at St. Petersburg. The delegation reportedly called on Putin to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine but Putin was said to have rejected the peace plan because it was allegedly based on Russia accepting Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. Some have in fact argued that Putin treated the African leaders with disdain and disrespect. A South African Professor William Gumede, was for instance quoted as saying that the fact that Kyiv was bombed during the visit of the African peace mission to Ukraine was humiliating “and then in Russia, Putin didn’t even bother to listen to the delegation, basically interrupting them before they’d even finished speaking, implying there was no point in discussing anything as the war would continue.” Perhaps what was often left out by critics of Russia’s treatment of the African delegation was that the time of the peace mission was probably inauspicious because Ukraine had just launched its much anticipated counter offensive to reclaim lost territories. Be that as it may, the Second Summit was an opportunity for Putin to make amends and Putin was mostly on charm offensive. Commenting on the African peace initiative, Putin was quoted as saying: “We did not reject them”, but only maintained that “in order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides.”
Four, alongside the war in Ukraine, food security was high on the agenda especially following Russia’s decision to withdraw from an international grain deal. The agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year allowed the safe passage of agricultural goods through Ukraine’s ports in the Black Sea. While the vast majority of the nearly 33 million tonnes exported since then did not reach the world’s poorest countries, the deal was said to have helped reverse spiralling food prices by more than 20 percent, according to the UN. Russia justified its decision to withdraw from the grains deal by arguing that the conditions for the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative had been ignored. Korir Sing’Oei, Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, called Putin’s decision to pull out of the grain deal “a stab on the back”.
As if in response to the charge of stabbing them on the back, Putin told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tons of grain despite Western sanctions, which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilisers. He was quoted as saying that Russia was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and aid basis to fulfil what he said was Moscow’s critical role in global food security. Russia said that Ukraine’s failure to export more grain to poorer countries was one of the reasons it pulled out of the deal. Putin also complained that parts of the deal allowing for the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured.
On charges of insensitivity to millions of poor in drought-hit horn of Africa, Putin was quoted as saying: “We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next three to four months.” Last year, Russia exported 60 million tonnes of grain, of which 48 million was wheat.
Five, the Summit also agreed to institutionalise Russo –Africa relations by establishing a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum with a view to coordinating the development of the Russian-African relations. It designated the Russia–Africa Summit as its supreme body to be convened once every three years. It also proposed an annual political consultation between Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and African States.
Six, the Summit also re-stated its commitment to enthrone a multipolar world order. Putin hailed the “commitment of all our states to the formation of a just and democratic multipolar world order”. The Participants at the Summit also signed a joint declaration that called for “the establishment of a more just, balanced and stable multipolar world order, firmly opposing all types of international confrontation in the African continent.” Putin promised that Russia would support African countries’ efforts to “ensure compensation for colonial policies, including the restitution of cultural property displaced in the process of colonial plundering.”
Jideofor Adibe is a professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Extraordinary Professor of Government Studies at North Western University, Mafikeng South Africa. He is also the founder of Adonis & Abbey Publishers and can be reached at 0705 807 8841 (Text or WhatsApp only).
Older teenagers in the UK will face an overnight social media curfew, the government has announced – though they will be able to opt out of it by changing their account settings.
It would mean apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube being set to be unavailable by default to 16 and 17-year-olds between midnight and 06:00.
The government also wants “addictive” features such as auto-play and infinite scroll to be set to be disabled, saying – combined with the curfew – the measures will improve teenagers’ focus, sleep quality and family life.
However, campaigners such as Ellen Roome, who believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in an online challenge gone wrong in 2022, does not think the plan goes far enough as teenagers can switch the setting off.
The new plans follow the announcement in June that under-16s in the UK would be banned entirely from a range of platforms.
It adds to a complex – and potentially confusing – mix of policies and measures from the government and tech firms intended to keep young people safe online.
They include optional parental controls over children’s devices and child-only versions of popular sites such as YouTube.
Lorna Woods, professor of internet law at Essex University, said she felt the measure was designed to target apprehensions from parents and child safety groups.
“There have been concerns about the way services keep children and young people engaged on their phones for long periods, and that this can impact their sleep, amongst other effects,” she said.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has previously said it wants age verification to be handled by manufacturers of devices themselves, rather than the onus being entirely on platforms.
Apple recently introduced such “device level” age checks, meaning anyone using iPhone and iPads with the latest version of their operating software will be asked to verify their ages.
Baroness Kidron, who has strongly campaigned for safety and age assurance measures to be at a device rather than app level, was critical of the government’s approach.
She said it should not be about “banning children from tech” but “banning tech from putting toxic products in the hands of children”.
Online safety minister Kanishka Narayan defended the action the government had taken, said the combination of the curfew and limiting auto-play features meant that “Britain is already going to be the most robust place in the world when it comes to regulating” tech companies.
In an earlier statement, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the measures would be “crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are fundamental to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life”.
Laura Trott, the Conservative shadow education secretary, described the plans as a “dog’s dinner”.
The government said further measures would be aimed at helping children use AI chatbots safely including by making providers introduce regular breaks for under-18s.
It said it will aim to lay its new proposed measures in front of Parliament by the end of 2026, with the aim that they take effect alongside its social media ban for under-16s next spring.
But some child safety charities and experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness or promise of a midnight curfew for older UK teens.
He added that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “leaves office having announced a social media ban without a plan” with his likely successor Andy Burnham to “inherit a series of missed opportunities”.
Prof Sonia Livingstone, an expert in children’s digital rights at the London School of Economics, said a curfew could harm vulnerable children by limiting their access to social media when they might need it most.
Dame Rachel de Souza, children’s commissioner for England, said: “We have to listen to young people. They don’t want a ban, but they do want to be protected from addictive, infinite scrolling.”
Meanwhile, social media analyst Matt Navarra said the measure was “not a curfew” but a “mildly annoying settings prompt with a government press release attached”.
Previous attempts to restrict what young people can see online – for example Australia’s social media ban – have been hampered by VPNs, which can hide the true location of an internet user.
But the government said it would not be taking any action to restrict them in the UK for now, saying they were useful for whistle-blowers, minority groups and family privacy.
It cued findings from research it commissioned which indicated there was little to show VPNs were being used by many children to get around age checks.
In a report published on Tuesday, the government said it had trialled a selection of different options with 300 teens, and found an overnight curfew showed sleep benefits.
But Pete Etchells, professor of science communication at Bath Spa University, cautioned against the results – saying it was merely “one part of the puzzle” in restricting tech use.
The 2026 UN Global Business Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has concluded, with participants calling for a greater role for the private sector in achieving the goals.
This year, the forum was held under the theme “Business and the Real Economy: Delivering Sustainable Development in a Changing Global Context”.
Business leaders, government representatives, and international organisations discussed the contribution of the private sector to accelerating progress towards the SDGs.
Participants focused on Goal 9, dedicated to industry, innovation and infrastructure, as well as the implementation of action 55(c) of the Pact for the Future.
The document was adopted by UN Member States at the Summit of the Future in 2024 and outlined directions for modernising global governance and accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Action 55(c), in particular, provides for strengthening cooperation with the private sector and increasing business accountability. The business forum programme included two thematic discussions.
The first focused on key trends shaping modern industrial policy, including digitalisation, the development of artificial intelligence, the green transition and the transformation of global supply chains.
During the second session, participants examined practical aspects of implementing action 55(c) at the national level, presenting examples of cooperation between government bodies and businesses, including in the preparation of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs).
Opening the forum, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo, noted that timely investments in sustainable development can become a driver of global economic growth and energy transformation.
In turn, Chair of the Board of the UN Global Compact Network in Central Asia, Umut Shayakhmetova, highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Fatou Haidara, Deputy to the Director-General and Managing Director of the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations (UNIDO), said that private business has already become a major driving force behind modern industrial transformations.
“When we think about the future of industrialisation, we can say that the private sector is already at the centre of ongoing transformations from the green transition to the restructuring of global supply chains.
President and CEO of the African Finance Corporation (AFC), Samaila Zubairu, said that the continent has reached a point where it needs to move from discussing financing needs to creating competitive economies.
The speeches by forum participants were complemented by assessments from representatives of the technology sector, who highlighted the importance of digital solutions in advancing the sustainable development agenda.
Valery Sherman, Technical Director of MEFERI, said the agenda of the SDG Global Business Forum reflects an important trend being increasingly assessed not through declarations but through real changes in the economy.
The outcomes of the forum are expected to be used in preparing subsequent intergovernmental events in 2026, including the Private Sector Forum and the United Nations Water Conference.
The SDG Global Business Forum was held as a special event within the framework of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
Its theme in 2026 is “Transformative, Equitable, Innovative and Coordinated Actions for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda”.
During the HLPF, an in-depth review of five Sustainable Development Goals is being conducted, while 36 countries, including Brazil, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, will present their Voluntary National Reviews.
A man suspected of killing his wife and two daughters in Bedfordshire has been in court in South Africa after UK authorities submitted an application to extradite him.
Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, and her daughters Natalie, 15, and Nala, five, were found dead by police in a house in Great Denham, near Bedford, on 6 July.
The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised three murder charges against Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, 45, who is a British citizen of Zimbabwean heritage.
He has appeared before magistrates in Johannesburg where he confirmed his name and was told a further court hearing would take place on 22 July.
During the hearing he indicated he would be speaking in English.
His mother and sister were seated in the court’s public gallery, and Tshuma waved to his family as he was taken down to the holding cells at the end of Monday’s hearing.
South African police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe explained that the court proceedings concern the extradition request and a charge of illegal possession of firearms.
She said: “We can confirm that South Africa has received a provisional extradition request from Interpol Manchester through to Interpol Pretoria.
“We will be awaiting a full extradition request within 40 days, which will include the case docket as well as supporting evidence.
“However, we can confirm that, for now, we do have the warrant of arrest from UK authorities.”
Police added that he travelled from Heathrow Airport in London to South Africa, via Dubai, and he briefly went to Zimbabwe before returning to Johannesburg.
He was arrested in the Kensington suburb of the city on Friday.
In a tribute, family members said “words cannot begin to express the depth of our emptiness and sorrow in the fact of this tragic and senseless loss of life”.
Nnaji’s Fraud Trial: Enugu PDP’s Chances Gets Slimmer
ShareBy David, Torough Abuja The National Working Committee of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Enugu state working...
Unity Key to Stronger Democracy, Information Minister Tells Nigeria APC Stakeholders
ShareBy David Torough, Abuja The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has called on members of the All...
Information Minister Congratulates Omoniyi Ibietan on Re-election as APRA Secretary General
ShareBy David Torough, Abuja The Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has congratulated Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan on...
NIHTE Urges African Govts to Adopt ‘Green Corridors’ for Low-Carbon Transport
ShareBy David Torough, Abuja The Deputy National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers, NIHTE, Engr. Bola...
NEPC Seeks Funding for ECOWAS Trade Promotion Network
ShareThe Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nonye Ayeni, has urged members of the ECOWAS Trade...
Troops Apprehend Terrorist Informants, Logistics Suppliers in Borno
ShareTroops of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) have apprehended suspected terrorist informants and logistics suppliers, received the surrender of an ISWAP...
Troops Rescue 13 Kidnapped Victims, Foil Terrorist Operations in Zamfara Communities
ShareFrom Ifeanyichukwu Nwannah, Gusau Troops of Joint Task Force, North West Operation Fansan Yamma (JTF NW OPFY) have rescued 13...
Wizkid Headline US Summer Festivals
ShareNigerian music superstar, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, is set to perform at the BlastFest and the Trillville summer...
Singer Asake Announces ‘In God We Trust’ World Tour
ShareAfrobeats sensation, Ahmed Ololade, aka Asake, is set to embark on a world tour ‘In God We Trust’, a global...
Food Insecurity: Governance, Incompetence and Compromise
ShareBy Akpoturu Best Of all the vulnerabilities that can compromise a sovereign state, the inability to feed its own populace...