World
Ukraine, Africa to Bolster Economic Cooperation
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Despite the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, for almost a year, is experiencing the worst times due to an extensive special military operation from its neighbour Russia, it has simultaneously been stepping up efforts to support Africa. During the past year, it despatched tonnes of fertilizers, wheat, grains and other agricultural products to a number of African countries, most of them located in the Horn and East Africa.
In order to boost its efforts in establishing cordial working relations, especially in the area of economic cooperation, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba last year visited a number of African countries, held useful conversations with high-powered government officials, and plans to open diplomatic representative offices this year inside Africa. It also plans to boost exports and participate in taking up opportunities for manufacturing offered by the single continental market.
The overarching message in all these is to focus on engaging and expanding the expected long-term partnership and collaboratively establishing trade links. For connecting business interests between Ukraine and Africa, Ukrainians are rapidly studying more possibilities for participating in the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was already agreed on, in the process, with a number of African leaders and the African Union.
In early January, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky visited Senegal, where he signed a memorandum of understanding between the Ukrainian ministry and the relevant Senegalese agency on January 9, the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry website.
The document envisions the development of bilateral trade in agricultural produce and cooperation on scientific studies, investments, and interrelations between Ukrainian and Senegalese government agencies and private companies. It provides for the possible storage of Ukrainian grain at so-called grain hubs. Ukraine is willing to export not only foodstuffs but also other goods to African countries, which requires the development of logistical infrastructure.
The official document points out that Ukraine is considering the implementation of new logistical projects in Senegal to step up exports of its agricultural produce via the Port of Dakar. The west African republic of Ghana plans to implement new logistics projects, which will help increase agricultural exports from Ukraine. Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky and Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akot, have thoroughly discussed steps to broaden agricultural cooperation and trade relations.
The parties discussed a potential joint project, a logistics hub that will be able to store food products, including grain, and will help stabilize food prices in the region. Besides Ghana and Senegal, Nigeria has also expressed high interest in setting up such hubs in its territory. The current geopolitical situation should rather have a reliable and diversified transit and transport infrastructure to destinations where it is badly needed, especially naturally disaster-affected regions in Africa.
“There have been meetings in Ghana, Senegal, and Nigeria. These countries regularly take a lot of food products, especially wheat. These are major markets from the standpoint of their populations compared to the European market or many other countries. It doesn’t have much purchasing power, but it is big and is developing, and therefore, it needs to be monitored,” Ukrainian media quoted Solsky as saying.
Solsky said each country he had visited was interested in developing cooperation with Ukraine and ready to expand the capacity of their ports to increase the volume of Ukrainian grain unloaded and stored there. But, before launching the construction of hubs in Africa to transship Ukrainian grain, Ukraine needs to receive guarantees from the countries concerned, including documenting the guarantees and the principles of operating them either by Ukraine, or whether it will be a state company, and how private traders will be involved in this cooperation.
Solsky said that his ministry would provide more information about infrastructure projects in mid-spring 2023, as in the coming months, it would have to hold additional consultations with the authorities of African countries and businesses interested in Ukrainian grain exports to Africa.
Within the framework of the roadmap, it has launched its development projects, including constructing facilities for the storage of agricultural foodstuffs and for onward distribution throughout some regional markets to offset food shortages in Africa. Ukraine, however, insists that the food and fertilizer trade should not be subjected to sanctions or any restrictions.
According to several reports carefully monitored by this author, President Volodymyr Zelensky held 18 conversations with African leaders in 2022, nine of which were the first instances of bilateral communication between Ukraine and these African countries. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry listed some of them, such as Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, and Botswana.
President of Guinea-Bissau and Chairperson-in-Office of the Economic Community of West Africa Umaro Embalo visited Ukraine in October 2022. It was the first official visit by a leader of a sub-Saharan African state since 2004, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba, for his part, held 35 phone calls and meetings with his counterparts from African countries in 2022, the ministry said. The first-ever African tour by a Ukrainian foreign minister took place in October 2022. The report indicated that Minister Kuleba visited Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Kenya.
Ukraine’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Maxim Subkh, appointed in July 2022, also visited five African countries. Within this emerging multipolar world, Ukraine is broadening its geopolitical influence, and of course, it is important for Ukraine to fix its diplomatic presence on the continent to an appreciable level necessary for active interaction, in a continuous and efficient manner, with Africa. It has official representation, an observer status, at the African Union.
Arriving back in Kyiv after his visit to Washington in December, President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address, announced that Ukraine would open 10 new embassies in African countries.
“We are rebooting relationships with dozens of countries in Africa. We must strengthen this as we have already determined ten countries where new Ukrainian embassies in Africa will be opened. We have also developed a concept of the Ukraine-Africa Trade House. Its offices will open in the capitals of the most promising countries of the continent,” he said.
President Zelenskiy considers Africa as a unique and dynamically developing continent with whom to have relations. In addition, these countries are steadily gaining political weight and achieving significant economic successes, it, therefore, becomes necessary to look for more new partners, eventually targeting African countries.
The Chairman of the African Union and President of Senegal, Macky Sall, together with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, visited Moscow and Kyiv in an attempt to mediate the conflict, but without any result in sight.
“We do not want to be aligned on this conflict, very clearly, we want peace. Even though we condemn the invasion, we’re working for a de-escalation, we’re working for a ceasefire, for dialogue … that is the African position,” Senegalese Macky Sall said back in May 2022.
Meanwhile, Africa is still divided over the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the crisis that has caused global economic instability since February 24, 2022. The African Union (AU) and African leaders understand aspects of the geopolitical complexities, implications and possible solutions to the existing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For transforming cross-border payments through its deployment with Global Money Exchange, Comviva has been named Best In-Class Cross Border Payments.
The global leader in digital transformation solutions clinched this latest accolade at the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award 2025.
The recognition highlights how Comviva’s mobiquity Pay is helping shape a modern cross-border payment ecosystem that stretches far beyond conventional remittance services.
Deployed as a white label Wallet Platform and launched as Global Pay Oman App, it fulfils GMEC’s dual vision—positioning itself as an innovative payment service provider while digitally extending its core money transfer business.
The solution allows GMEC to offer international money transfers alongside seamless forex ordering and other services. These capabilities sit alongside a broad suite of everyday financial services, including bill and utility payments, merchant transactions, education-related payments, and other digital conveniences — all delivered through one unified experience.
“This award is a testament to Oman’s accelerating digital transformation and our commitment to reshaping how cross-border payments serve people and businesses across the Sultanate.
“By partnering with Comviva and bringing the Global Pay Oman Super App, we have moved beyond traditional remittance services to create a truly inclusive and future-ready financial ecosystem.
“This innovation is not only enhancing convenience and transparency for our customers but is also supporting Oman’s broader vision of building a digitally empowered economy,” the Managing Director at Global Money Exchange, Subromoniyan K.S, said.
Also commenting, the chief executive of Comviva, Mr Rajesh Chandiramani, said, “Cross-border payments are becoming a daily necessity, not a niche service, particularly for migrant and trade-linked economies.
“This recognition from IBS Intelligence validates our focus on building payment platforms that combine global reach with local relevance, operational resilience and a strong user experience. The deployment with Global Money Exchange Co. demonstrates how mobiquity® Pay enables financial institutions to move beyond remittances and deliver integrated digital services at scale.”
“The deployment of mobiquity Pay for GMEC showcases how scalable, API-driven digital wallet platforms can transform cross-border payments into seamless, value-rich experiences.
“By integrating remittances, bill payments, forex services, and AI-powered engagement into a unified Super App, Comviva has reimagined customer journeys and operational agility.
“This Best-in-Class Cross-border Payments award win stands as a testament to Comviva’s excellence in enabling financial institutions to compete and grow in a digitally convergent world,” the Director for Research and Digital Properties at IBS Intelligence, Nikhil Gokhale, said.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
At the end of an extensive consultation with African foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has emphasized that Moscow would advance its economic engagement across Africa, admittedly outlining obstacles delaying the prompt implementation of several initiatives set forth in Strategic Action Plan (2023-2026) approved in St. Petersburg during the Russia-Africa Summit.
The second Ministerial Conference, by the Russian Foreign Ministry with support from Roscongress Foundation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation.
In Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Lavrov read out the final resolution script, in a full-packed conference hall, and voiced strong confidence that Moscow would achieve its strategic economic goals with Africa, with support from the African Union (AU) and other Regional Economic blocs in the subsequent years. Despite the complexities posed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, combined with geopolitical conditions inside the African continent, Moscow however reiterated its position to take serious steps in finding pragmatic prospects for mutual cooperation and improve multifaceted relations with Africa, distinctively in the different sectors: in trade, economic and investment spheres, education and culture, humanitarian and other promising areas.
The main event was the plenary session co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptians Abroad Bashar Abdelathi. Welcome messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdelhak Sisi were read.
And broadly, the meeting participants compared notes on the most pressing issues on the international and Russian-African agendas, with a focus on the full implementation of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2023-2026, approved at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.
In addition, on the sidelines of the conference, Lavrov held talks with his African counterparts, and a number of bilateral documents were signed. A thematic event was held with the participation of Russian and African relevant agencies and organizations, aimed at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in trade, economic, and educational spheres.
With changing times, Africa is rapidly becoming one of the key centers of a multipolar world order. It is experiencing a second awakening. Following their long-ago political independence, African countries are increasingly insisting on respect for their sovereignty and their right to independently manage their resources and destiny. Based on these conditions, it was concluded that Moscow begins an effective and comprehensive work on preparing a new three-year Cooperation and Joint Action Plan between Russia and Africa.
Moreover, these important areas of joint practical work are already detailed in the Joint Statement, which was unanimously approved and will serve as an important guideline for future work. According to reports, the Joint Statement reflects the progress of discussions on international and regional issues, as well as matters of global significance.
Following the conference, the Joint Statement adopted reflects shared approaches to addressing challenges and a mutual commitment to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with a view to ensuring high-quality preparation for the third Russia-Africa Summit in 2026.
On December 19-20, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was held for the first time on the African continent, attended by heads and representatives of the foreign policy ministries of 52 African states and the executive bodies of eight regional integration associations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with United States and global investors to operate its business in America.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive, Mr Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on January 22, 2026 would end years of efforts by the US government to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15 per cent each.
Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by President Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
Business Post reported in April 2024 that the administration of President Joe Biden passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on January 20, 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by President Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
President Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
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