Though Africa is thousands of miles away from Russia and Ukraine, the continent has felt the adverse economic effects of the ongoing war between the two countries.
A group of African leaders traveled Thursday to Poland, en route to Ukraine and Russia, on an ‘African Peace Mission’ to persuade Moscow and Kyiv to start talks aimed at ending the conflict.
The mission comprises the African Union chairperson and President of Comoros Island, Azali Assoumani; Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema; Senegal’s President Macky Sall and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Egypt, Congo, and Uganda have also sent representatives.
The delegation was received late Thursday by Polish President Kancelaria Prezvdenta who gave his country’s perspective on the conflict and held talks with some of the African leaders.
The delegation was in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
Why is this peace mission important for Africa?
Many African countries that depend on Russia and Ukraine for grain, fertilizer, and vegetable oil are facing a shortage of food and high prices and want to see peace.
‘The human and negative economic impact and tension arising from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is a grave situation that affects all of us in an interconnected world,’ Ramaphosa said Wednesday, on the eve of the trip.
He said the mission brings an African perspective and an appeal for peace deliberations underway in various parts of the world.
Professor Lesiba Teffo from the University of South Africa agrees with Ramaphosa, saying the mission is a good move on the part of the African leaders.
‘There is a crisis out there. Many parts of the world and organizations are trying to step in to stem the war. Why shouldn’t Africans join and help end the conflict?’ he asked.
Teffo said whether the mission succeeds or not, is another matter, as many initiatives fail. He said the mission puts the continent on the global political stage.
‘It’s better to try and fail, rather than fail to try,’ he told Anadolu.
In a statement Thursday, Ramaphosa said African leaders are pleased and encouraged by the openness with which Putin and Zelenskyy have undertaken to engage with them on the matter.
He said the strength of the mission is that African leaders will be engaging with both parties.
‘From our own experience, it is at times of escalated conflicts that a search for peace must be equally accelerated,’ he said.
‘Will Africa succeed where others failed?’
Iqbal Jassat, an executive at the Johannesburg-based Media Review Network think tank, told Anadolu the undertaking of African leaders is ‘purely symbolic and a wasteful exercise.’
‘It is naive to believe that the six African leaders on a voyage to Ukraine and Russia ostensibly to mediate peace, will be successful,’ he said.
He said NATO and the US are determined to settle military scores with Putin via Zelenskyy as their alleged proxy and have armed Ukraine to full capacity.
Jassat also said the mission is thus entirely misled into believing that Zelenskyy is an autonomous actor in the conflict.
And, he said, the African leaders lack a solid track record in resolving conflicts on their continent – conflicts in Sudan, the Sahel region, Somalia, and numerous coups that have taken place in Africa.
Teffo, however, agrees that there are conflicts in Africa that it tries to resolve, but it should not stop Africa from trying to mediate peace elsewhere. Besides the conflicts on the continent seem to be sponsored by groups outside of Africa, he said.
‘As Africans fight, others ship out minerals to their continents to develop themselves and send handouts to Africa as development aid,’ he said. ‘Who gives Africa weapons of war.’
Source: Anadolu Agency