RussiaAfrica summit held

SOCHI/MOSCOW: Russia landed two nuclearcapable bombers in South Africa on a training mission yesterday, a flight apparently timed to coincide with President Vladimir Putin’s opening of a flagship RussiaAfrica summit designed to increase Russian influence.

The two Tupolev Tu160 strategic bombers touched down at Waterkloof air force base in Tshwane, the South African National Defence Force said. Russia’s Ministry of Defence has said the mission is designed to nurture military ties with South Africa.

Speaking before dozens of African heads of state at a twoday summit in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Putin called for trade with African countries to double over the next four to five years and said Moscow had written off African debts to the tune of more than $NZ30 billion.

The first RussiaAfrica summit is part of a Kremlin drive to win business and restore influence that faded after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which backed leftist governments and movements across the continent throughout the Cold War.

‘‘Many Russian companies have long and successfully worked with partners from the

most different sectors of the African economy and plan to expand their influence in Africa. We of course will provide support at the state level,’’ Putin said.

The prize is greater political clout on a continent with 54 United Nations member states, vast mineral wealth and potentially lucrative markets for Russianmanufactured weapons.

But Russia is starting from a low base. Although it has enjoyed considerable success selling arms to African countries, Moscow lags far behind competitors in trade terms.

Russia said its trade with African countries rose to US$20 billion (NZ$31.2 billion) last year, but it did not rank among the continent’s top five largest partners for trade in goods, according to Eurostat.

That list was topped by the

European Union, followed by China, India, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

As it noted the arrival of Russia’s warplanes, the South African National Defence Force praised what it said were strong diplomatic links between the countries. ‘‘Our relations are not solely built on ‘struggle politics’, but rather on fostering mutually beneficial partnerships based on common interests,’’ it said in a statement.

South African media have been sceptical about Moscow’s return to the continent.

‘‘Russia is the clumsy latecomer at Africa’s superpower party,’’ ran a Mail & Guardian headline in June. — Reuters

PHOTO: SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL METZEL/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS Trading dialogue . . . Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, head of Sudan’s transitional sovereign council Abdel Fattah alBurhan and other officials attend a meeting on the sidelines of the RussiaAfrica Summit in Sochi, Russia, yesterday.