Putin pledges Russian military support in Africa

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered what he called ‘total support’ for Africa, including in the struggle against terrorism and extremism. The speech was read out at a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to his African counterparts. BBC News reports that several African governments have cut ties with traditional Western allies and are looking to Moscow for help in tackling frequent attacks by jihadists. Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré said Russia was a more suitable international partner than former colonial power, France. ‘Russian companies are working in all these areas with the Malian Government and (private) partners in Mali to provide solutions to the challenges facing the Malian people. The two parties have agreed to step up the pace to ensure rapid results,’ he said on Sunday.

Full BBC News report

Meanwhile, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame have stated that the US under Donald Trump should be a partner of choice that attracts by the force of its example rather than by imposing its views and ways of life on others. The Sunday Tribune reports that Trump’s return coincides with that of former SA's Ebrahim Rasool as ambassador to the US in Washington to replace ex-Cabinet Minister Nomaindiya Mfeketo. Rasool held the position between 2010 and 2015, when Barack Obama was President. Relations between SA and the US under Trump were not always rosy during his first term between 2017 and 2021. In 2018, then International Relations & Co-operation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was forced to convey the government’s unhappiness to the US Embassy in Tshwane after Trump tweeted that he had asked his Secretary of State at the time, Mike Pompeo, to closely study what he described as ‘land and farm seizures and expropriations and large scale killing of farmers’. Also in 2018, the AU was forced to express its infuriation, disappointment, outrage and demand a retraction after Trump referred to some African countries as ‘shitholes’. Also at stake is the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which allows some countries on the continent tariff-free access to US markets for certain products and is set to expire in September next year.

Full Sunday Tribune report

News24 reports that Kenya's candidate for the top job at the AU said if Trump does not want to work with Africa, the continent has ‘other friends’. Raila Odinga is one of four candidates vying to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat as AU Commission chair next year. ‘I don't want to prejudge him,’ Odinga said. ‘If he wants to work with Africa as a friend of Africa, we will welcome him and work with him. If he does not want to work with Africa... Africa has got other friends,’ he said. President William Ruto, who narrowly defeated Odinga in the country's 2022 election but has gone on to back his rival's campaign for the AU, spoke by phone with Trump on Friday. Ruto said they discussed ‘areas of mutual interest’ including trade and investment, security and good governance, as well as Kenya's role leading a UN-backed mission to try to quell rampant gang violence in Haiti.

Full News24 report