Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Kyiv would increase its presence in Africa next year by opening 10 new embassies and strengthening trade ties with the continent.
Ukraine has been trying to rally African countries to its cause as it fights off a full-scale invasion by Russia, in part by promoting a humanitarian grain initiative to help alleviate famine in highly vulnerable countries.
Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian agricultural exports across the Black Sea had led to global grain and fertilizer shortages earlier this year, endangering millions, before a UN-brokered deal partially eased it in July.
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“We are reviewing relations with dozens of African countries,” Zelenskiy told a meeting of diplomats in Kyiv. “Next year we need to strengthen this.”
In addition to opening the new embassies, Zelenskiy said, Ukraine will also try to set up trade representative offices in several key hubs on the continent, which he described as a region “where our interests so far are less represented than we need.”
He did not specify in which countries those new embassies or trade offices would be located, but added that he would like Ukraine to eventually be represented in 30 countries on the continent.
