Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, announced on Thursday, July 27th, 2023, that within the next three to four months, the country will supply Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50 thousand tons of grain free of charge.
Addressing participants at the Second Russia-Africa Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, Putin said, “Africa’s potential is obvious to everyone. Thus, the average annual growth rate of the continent’s GDP over the past 20 years, which is 4-4.5 percent per year, exceeds global ones. The population is approaching 1.5 billion and growing faster than anywhere else in the world. It is also characteristic that the growth of the middle class, which forms the main demand for modern goods and services, outstrips similar indicators in most regions of the world.”
He added that the gesture was in recognition that uninterrupted food supply to African countries holds the future for sustainable economic development. Russia will also provide free delivery of the product to consumers. These sustained humanitarian aids of such measure will help Africa achieve food sufficiency.