Russian ships loaded with free grain have started reaching Africa. What you need to know

By admin On Dec 1, 2023

The first batch of humanitarian aid, consisting of 25,000 tons of grain, has arrived in Somalia

Russia has started sending the first batches of free grain to struggling African nations under a deal announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. This week, Somalia became the first to receive a shipment of 25,000 tons of grain.

The Black Sea grain deal Russia’s move to send free food aid to Africa came after it unilaterally withdrew from the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative earlier this year. The deal, which was initially brokered by the UN and Türkiye in July 2022, was meant to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, such as wheat, corn and sunflower products, to world markets, primarily to poorer countries, such as those in Africa.

In exchange for allowing the shipments of Ukrainian grain, Moscow was promised that Western sanctions would be lifted from its own agricultural exports.

However, a year after it was struck, Russia abandoned the deal, arguing that it was still unable to get any of its grain or fertilizer out to world markets, and that the West had completely ignored its end of the bargain.

Additionally, Moscow noted that more than 70% of the shipments under the initiative had failed to reach poor countries and were instead delivered to wealthy nations.

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Russian ships loaded with free grain have started reaching Africa. What you need to know

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Russian ships loaded with free grain have started reaching Africa. What you need to know

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