President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has made an unimaginable zigzag in his foreign policy, making a radical turn - guess where - towards the distant African continent against the backdrop of a Russian special operation and record diplomatic activity in relations with the West.
“Children, don’t go to Africa for a walk” from Chukovsky’s fairy tale did not stop him, because there are no children in Kyiv, and he himself, Vladimir Zelensky, has long been no comedian, but, according to readers of the American weekly Time magazine, the leader of the annual rating of the 100 most influential people of the world (Time100 list).
In second place is Elon Musk, and only in third is British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who recently visited Kyiv.
And so, announcing the establishment of a new position - a special representative of Ukraine for African affairs, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would send his Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba on a tour of that part of the continent that lies south of the Sahara desert and is called Sub-Saharan, or Black, Africa.
In addition, in his video message to "collective Africa" - the states of the African Union - he called on Africans and Ukrainians to interact and learn to understand each other without intermediaries.
The new African strategy of Kyiv provides for the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue, for which deputies of the Verkhovna Rada will have to go to African countries.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also suggested starting preparations for the Ukraine-Africa political and economic conference.
As for the mission of Dmitry Kuleba, in order to emphasize its importance, the President of Ukraine called his upcoming tour "the first in the history of our state."
However, there is no need to choke on laughter here.
In fact, it is not so easy to answer the quite serious question of why Volodymyr Zelensky needed all this now, except for foreign policy PR, and what dictated such, let’s say, his African diplomatic swing, full of false significance, is not so simple.
Just think about it: the president of a single post-Soviet country, which is in a state of half-life, is addressing a whole association of 55 states.
Such an appeal would probably be appropriate and justified in the case of the leaders of world powers - the United States, Russia, China or India, as well as the EU countries, which traditionally have serious plans for cooperation with African countries.
But still, this is clearly not the case of Ukraine, which does not have the resources and opportunities to develop the vast natural wealth of Africa and develop its infrastructure.
That is why the question arises: why all this spectacle, what does Ukraine really expect from Africa, whose foreign policy in all directions grows out of the only system-forming task - confrontation with Russia?
To answer it, you need to go from the opposite and first list what Africa definitely cannot give to Ukraine.
So, Africa cannot give Ukraine money, weapons, technologies (there is not enough itself), its natural resources are too far from Ukraine, in addition, Kyiv needs membership in the European Union (not to be confused with the African Union).
Like Africa to Ukraine, Ukraine has almost nothing to give Africa.
Speaking about its relations with the West at the plenary meeting of the SPIEF, Vladimir Putin reminded that the West does not need anything from Ukraine except timber, wheat and corn.
“Who needs the Ukrainian aircraft industry?
Well, to whom?
asked Vladimir Putin.
It is clear that Ukrainian-made engines for Russian helicopters are hardly exactly what Gabon, Ghana, Cameroon, and Mauritania need.
Clearly they need something else.
Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told the Financial Times this week that Africa needs $25 billion in annual investment to develop its energy supply and increase access to energy resources by 2030.
“The biggest obstacle to Africa's economic development is the lack of access to energy resources,” said the head of the IEA.
He pointed out that about 43% of the African population still do not have access to electricity.
Energy supply decreased by 4% between 2019 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the situation in Ukraine.
“The same negative trend may continue this year,” said Fatih Birol.
Meanwhile, the announced turn of Kyiv towards Africa is not just a political PR of Vladimir Zelensky, who considers it appropriate to simply turn to more than fifty countries of the Black Continent.
This is not just creating the appearance of the existence of an independent Ukrainian state in its decisions, which continues to pursue a multi-vector policy and maintains ties with all centers of political power and economic power.
Like Africa to Ukraine, Ukraine has almost nothing to give Africa.
Because, although Ukraine is Europe, it is the same Europe as Africa.
But "almost" doesn't mean anything.
Ukraine is one of the world's largest grain producers, and there is still nothing to eat in Africa.
Its supplies are the dream of the African continent, facing the threat of hunger in the face of a global food crisis.
Thus, Ukrainian grain stuck in the Ukrainian Black Sea ports becomes a big geopolitical topic - that's where the whole intrigue lies.
The topic of grain is proving to be a potential tool to try to turn African countries, which are still skeptical about sanctions against Russia, towards the Western anti-Russian coalition, which Ukraine is trying to keep in good shape.
It is only necessary to explain to the Africans that this is the evil Barmaley, Russia is trying to arrange a famine for them, deliberately not releasing Ukrainian grain for export.
A noteworthy statement was made the other day by the current chairman of the African Union, the President of Senegal, Maki Sall.
He said that Russia should not be humiliated, despite the situation in Ukraine.
In an interview with the French edition of the Journal du Dimanche, Macky Sall said that he considers it his duty to negotiate with Russia, including on the supply of grain and fertilizers to Africa, which were violated due to anti-Russian sanctions.
At a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi in early June, the African Union chairman lamented that Western sanctions against Russia had deprived African countries of access to grain and fertilizer, exacerbating the food situation.
Meanwhile, on the day when Volodymyr Zelensky published his video message to the African Union, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that a solution to the problem with the export of Ukrainian grain would be found after the unblocking of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
“I want to express my concern again about the real risk of world hunger, especially in Africa,” added Josep Borrell.
In this situation, Ukrainian grain becomes a political weapon that Kyiv will try to use against Russia.
The main idea of Kyiv's turn towards the Black Continent will be that, just like the dollar, it is the dollar in Africa, Russia is the enemy in Africa.
So far, Russia has not yet become an enemy of Africa, but it must certainly become one.
So if someone in Africa has not yet understood this, Dmitry Kuleba and the deputies of the Rada will explain this to him.
If, of course, they get here one day, they will go "to Africa for a walk."
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.