Over 400 tonnes of fertilisers destined to Africa frozen in European Ports
Leaders of several African countries have directly contacted President Vladmir Putin on this issue
Over 400 tonnes of free fertilisers destined to Africa were frozen in European ports due to sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union ( EU).
According to a statement from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Botswana, this came to light during a meeting between Russian
President Vladimir Putin, and Dmitry Mazepin, member of the Management Board Bureau of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs ( RSPP) and Chair of the RSPP Commission on Mineral Fertiliser Production and Trading held on November 23, 2022.
According to the statement, special attention was paid to the fertilisers free supply to African countries during that meeting and that is when Mazepin mentioned that almost half of the continent’s countries are Russian partners. However, he admitted that at present, large Russian companies are facing significant challenges in organising the fertilisers supply to the African region owing largely to the USA and EU sanctions on Russia.
Mazepin also noted that some 23 tonnes of free fertilisers were delivered to Burkina Faso and a trial batch of 20 tonnes was shipped to Malawi under the agreement with Senegalese President Macky Sall, who doubles as Chairperson of the African Union ( AU).
He said that the possibility of additional deliveries is being considered due to the difficult situation in the country.
Meanwhile, Putin stressed that assistance to African partners is vital, because it is a question of efforts to ensure food security in the African region and it is absolutely unacceptable to block such humanitarian missions.
The Russian President also said that leaders of several African countries have directly contacted him on this issue. He emphasised, “we must do everything we can to support our friends in developing countries, primarily African states. This will be correct from the humanitarian viewpoint and also in the interests of business”.