Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Kenyan President William Ruto the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
“Held a meeting with the President of Kenya William Ruto. Thank you for participation in the Peace Summit and a principled position of support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” – wrote Zelensky in his Telegram channel on Sunday night.
The Ukrainian head of state noted that at the meeting they discussed food security issues, which are very important for both countries, the development of Ukrainian-Kenyan relations and projects in the field of agricultural exports.
In addition, the parties considered the possible participation of Kenya in the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
AFRICA, hubs, President of Kenya, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, UKRAINIAN GRAIN
Virtual monobank will keep the possibility of card-not-present transactions in only three countries in Africa: South Africa, Egypt and Morocco, the bank’s co-founder Oleg Gorokhovsky said.
“Due to the increased risk of fraud and to strengthen the fight against illegal gambling traffic, we are closing all card-not-present transactions in Africa, with the exception of South Africa, Egypt and Morocco,” he wrote in Telegram on Friday.
According to monobank on its website, it currently serves 7.439 million customers.
As part of the Ukrainian-African renaissance, Ukraine seeks to develop relations of mutual respect and benefit with African countries, in particular offering a number of beneficial areas of cooperation for Nigeria’s new leadership, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview with the Nigerian edition of The Guardian Nigeria.
“In May, I became the first Ukrainian foreign minister to attend the presidential inauguration ceremony in an African country. It was Nigeria. This fact shows Ukraine’s commitment to developing relations with Nigeria’s new leadership. This way we show other African countries that Ukraine seeks to develop partnership based on mutual respect and shared benefits,” he said, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
According to Kuleba, Ukraine has made steps towards each other in the spirit of mutual respect and now counts on reciprocal steps of the new leadership of Nigeria to develop mutually beneficial relations.
“We propose to increase the volume of trade and consider the possibility of attracting Ukrainian construction companies to projects in Nigeria. Ukraine also has a lot of experience in digitalization. Our “State on Smartphone” program allows citizens to do almost everything online, receive public services. We are ready to share this experience with you. Another promising area of cooperation is cybersecurity. Nigeria is one of the countries that suffer from the highest number of cyber attacks. We know how to counter them effectively,” he said.
Kuleba also stressed that the Peace Formula proposed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is the only real way to restore a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
“Imagine if Nigeria, God forbid, experienced aggression – would you agree to give up part of your territory, allow someone to occupy it and torture your people? You wouldn’t agree to that. Being at the inauguration of your president, I saw your army. I am convinced that your warriors would have fought resolutely for your land. That is what we are doing today. We did not start this war. The hostilities are taking place on our territory, but we know what we are fighting for: the freedom and security of our citizens. And that motivates us to fight against the invaders,” the minister said.
The number of migrants crossing the central Mediterranean towards Europe from January to April this year is unprecedented, much higher than during the same period in 2022, Le Figaro newspaper reported Friday.
From January to April, according to EU border agency Frontex, the number of illegal arrivals to the European Union through the central Mediterranean increased by almost 300 percent compared to last year, reaching a figure of 42,200.
This is slightly more than half of all illegal entries into the EU in all directions recorded this year.
Particularly many migrants arrived in Europe via Tunisia. Compared to 2022, their number increased by 1,100%.
The migrants cross the sea in small boats that are made for them right on shore at a cost of about 1,000 euros. Gangs of smugglers are becoming more and more organized, and this partly explains the increasing influx of illegals into the EU, Frontex said.
A comprehensive four-day online training course for diplomats from African countries has been launched at the Ukrainian Diplomatic Academy named after Gennadiy Udovenko under the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the course will continue the “renaissance of relations” between Ukraine and African countries, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.
“During my tour, our African partners showed great interest in learning about the Ukrainian diplomatic experience. In a year of countering Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has established itself as an unqualified international leader in the areas of communications, public diplomacy, combating disinformation and crisis response. The training course developed by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will continue the renaissance of relations between Ukraine and African countries, and will also become our practical contribution to strengthening the sustainability of the countries of the African continent,” the Foreign Ministry press service quotes Kuleba as saying.
In the course “Security and Diplomacy in Wartime. Ukrainian experience,” more than 200 diplomats from countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Senegal will have the opportunity to learn from Ukrainian diplomatic practitioners, international scientists and think tank experts.
According to Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry plans to hold a series of similar training courses for a number of other African countries in 2023 as part of the intensification of relations with Africa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes it is important for the country to have meaningful relations with the entire region. Southeast Asia and with every state in the region.
In a video address on Monday, noting a telephone conversation with the president of the Philippines, he said that “Ukrainian diplomacy has a clear task – to reach out to all regions of the world, where our position is not yet sufficiently represented, to make Ukraine and Ukrainian interests understandable to all those states and peoples with whom we do not yet have stable relations.”
“This applies to Asian directions as well as to Africa and Latin America,” he said.
