Putin’s Desperate Play to Win Over Africa

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new grain promises at the Russia-Africa summit, a coup in Niger, and U.S.-Italy dialogue at the White House.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making grand promises to African countries to try to shore up support against the West. On Thursday, Putin hosted the Russia-Africa summit in his hometown of St. Petersburg, where he promised six African nations up to 50,000 metric tons of free grain in the next three to four months despite Western sanctions on Russian exports.

But Moscow’s lucky grain recipients weren’t chosen randomly. Of the six nations offered free grain, one of them (Somalia) has repeatedly supported Putin on United Nations resolutions to condemn and halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And two of them (Mali and the Central African Republic) remain strongholds of Russia’s paramilitary Wagner Group. Africa’s poorer nations have been repeatedly “screwed over” by Ukrainian grain suppliers, Putin said on Thursday, claiming that Kyiv gives 70 percent of its exports only to high- or above average-income countries. According to the Black Sea Grain Initiative’s Joint Steering Committee, 65 percent of wheat exported from Ukraine under the deal went to developing countries.

Russia last week suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, which ensured the safe transportation of grain out of the region. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that Putin’s decision to leave the agreement as well as Moscow’s bombing of a Danube River port in Ukraine were “especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people,” such as nations in the Horn of Africa. The East African region is dependent on Russian and Ukrainian grain exports, and Russia’s war in Ukraine has worsened its already dire food scarcity crisis.

Only 17 African heads of state attended Thursday’s meeting, less than half of the 43 African leaders who attended the last summit in 2019. Among the attendees, the most surprising guest wasn’t an African leader at all but rather Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was photographed shaking hands with a top Central African Republic official. Prigozhin is supposed to be in Belarus as part of his exile for attempting a coup on June 23, yet his appearance indicates that the mercenary leader remains an integral part of the Kremlin’s establishment.

Putin hopes this year’s summit will strengthen Moscow’s ties with the continent to help counteract Russia’s international isolation resulting from his decision to invade Ukraine. However, Africa has a long history of nonalignment going back to the Cold War, and the smaller turnout in St. Petersburg suggests that not every African leader is on board with getting cozy with Russia.

• The State Department’s China Shortfall Revealed by Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch
• ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Have More in Common Than You Think by Jennifer Williams
• Spartans Were Losers by Bret Devereaux

Coup in progress. Soldiers in Niger officially announced a coup via national TV late on Wednesday. In their statement, they claimed to have dissolved the nation’s constitution, suspended government institutions, and closed the West African country’s borders. Their declaration comes less than 24 hours after President Mohamed Bazoum was detained by presidential guard troops inside the presidential palace. Bazoum’s current whereabouts are unclear, but he tweeted on Thursday that the country’s “hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it.” The nation’s army also proclaimed its support for the coup on Thursday.

Western countries, including the United States and France, as well as the U.N. have condemned the coup. In 2021, Bazoum became president in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960. During his reign, he garnered public support for his efforts combating jihadi terrorism, specifically al Qaeda and the Islamic State. More than 1,800 terrorist attacks occurred in West Africa during the first six months of the year, resulting in nearly 4,600 deaths, a top regional official said on Tuesday.

The enemy of my enemy… U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to the White House on Thursday. The two leaders discussed Western efforts to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, Meloni’s openness to pulling back Rome’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and Italy’s upcoming G-7 presidency. With Italy and the United States both being NATO members, Biden chose to emphasize the two countries’ similar geopolitical goals rather than the two leaders’ starkly different ideologies. Meloni heads the far-right Brothers of Italy, a neo-fascist party that supports closing borders to asylum-seekers and condemns LGBTQ rights.

This was not Biden’s first time inviting a world leader with contrasting political ideals to the White House in recent weeks. Last month, Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House to “consecrate” the U.S.-India strategic partnership despite U.S. concerns over India’s democratic backsliding and human rights abuses under Modi.

Maritime tragedy. At least 25 people were killed in the Philippines’ Laguna Lake on Thursday after a ferry capsized during super typhoon Doksuri. Passengers on the ferry, alarmed by strong winds, rushed to one side of the boat, causing it to capsize, bringing the total count of people killed during the massive storm to roughly 36 individuals. Around 40 others were rescued in the accident, and search and rescue efforts are ongoing. The typhoon first pummeled Taiwan before hitting the northern Philippines and is expected to make its final landfall in southeastern China on Friday. More than 5,700 people have been evacuated in Taiwan, and over 49,000 households have lost power there.

When the Four Seasons hotel chain announced it would be opening a new luxury resort in Rome in 2025, it likely believed its most unique feature would be its location: a 15th-century palazzo bordering Vatican City. However, developers surprised even themselves when archaeologists stumbled upon the ruins of Nero’s Theater under the future hotel’s garden on Wednesday. The private theater was built for the Roman Emperor Nero and, until this week, was known only via literary mentions.

And finally, a clarification on yesterday’s World Brief: When we wrote that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is Asia’s longest-serving ruler, we should have specified that he is Asia’s longest-ruling nonhereditary leader. The Sultan of Brunei, who inherited his throne, is Asia’s longest-ruling leader overall. Many thanks to our sharp-eyed reader, retired U.S. Ambassador Emil Skodon, for pointing this out to us.