Russia resumes efforts for influence on Africa

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday ended a four-day trip to Africa that took him to Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola.

The tour was highlighted by the signing of a series of documents ranging from a strategic cooperation pact to energy deals.

Medvedev's visit, the second by a Russian president to sub-Saharan Africa, sent a signal to the world that Russia is striving to regain the influence it had on the resource-rich continent before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

ECONOMIC TIES

Medvedev, with a delegation of officials and businessmen in tow, seems to have focused his trip on helping Russian firms that have lagged behind their western peers in the pursuit of a bigger business presence on the natural resources laden continent.

Egypt, the first stop on Medvedev's trip, is Russia's largest trade partner among the four countries he visited. Trade volume between the two countries was 1.7 billion U.S. dollars last year, and the number of Egypt-bound Russian tourists reached 1.8 million in 2008, the Kremlin said.

During his visit to Cairo, Medvedev and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak signed a strategic partnership treaty that specifies the main areas of bilateral cooperation, including a planned free trade zone between the two countries.

The Russian president also called for expanded commercial ties, saying projects in the energy field, high-tech industries and outer space are promising.

Energy cooperation topped Medvedev's agenda in Nigeria as Gazprom, Russia's state gas monopoly, had been picked as a core investor in the exploration of the African country's gas reserves.

Gazprom and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. signed documents on establishing a joint venture. Boris Ivanov, head of Gazprom International, said the venture would invest up to 400 million dollars to build a 360 km pipeline from the southern Niger Delta to northern Nigeria, with construction beginning next year.

"Gazprom still wants to buy all gas produced around Europe and resell it on its own terms," said Mikhail Korchemkin, head of the East European Gas Analysis, a U.S.-based consultancy.

As a business model, re-exporting African gas does not make sense, but geopolitical motivations play a part there, said Korchemkin, suggesting that Russia intends to reinforce its grip on Europe's energy supply.

In a move to boost Russian investment in Namibia, Gazprombank signed a deal with the national oil company Namcor, pledging to finance the construction of a gas power plant that would export electricity to South Africa.

Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency and Namibia's Ministry of Fisheries and Sea Resources also signed a memorandum of understanding, under which Russian fishermen would be allowed in the waters off Namibia, one of the biggest fish exporters in Africa.

Medvedev's last leg was Angola, which currently holds the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Russia's state diamond monopoly Alrosa has already started a branch in the Angolan capital of Luanda. Apart from cooperation on diamond mining,

Medvedev promised to help Angola modernize industries such as manufacturing and telecommunication, and launch an Angolan telecom satellite called "AngoSat."



MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS

Although Medvedev's trip to Africa might be driven by a desire to boost economic ties, the political significance of the visit should never be neglected.

The visit came on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Egypt. Obama delivered a keynote speech at Cairo University during the trip and vowed to find a fair solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The region has already rocked by mass protests over the Iranian presidential elections, making Medvedev's visit to the regional power broker "extremely timely," The Moscow Times quoted Yevgeny Satanovsky, director of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, as saying.

Medvedev and Mubarak "spent quite some time" during the visit discussing conflicts in the Middle East, in particular continuing the Russian push for a peace conference to be held in Moscow by the end of this year.

"Russia is exerting its best efforts to resume the peace talks in the Middle East according to the two-state solution and freezing settlements," Medvedev said after talks with Mubarak, who hailed

Russia as "one of the greatest countries in the world and has clout on the Middle East peace process."

Russia is a member of the International Quartet that is intent on resolving the Middle East conflict. The Quartet, which also includes the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, endorsed the Roadmap that calls on Israel and the Palestinians to take a series of steps ending with Palestinian statehood.

Meanwhile, Medvedev, in his first visit to the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, said he welcomes all Arab countries to attend the international peace conference in Moscow.

"Lasting security can not be achieved in the Middle East without just and comprehensive compromise to the Arab-Israeli conflict," Medvedev said.

"This comprehensive compromise has to end up with establishing an independent Palestinian state living in peace with all nations in the region including Israel, with its capital in East Jerusalem," he stressed.

Medvedev proposed in January a Middle East peace conference to be held in Moscow in the first half of 2009.

The proposal was welcomed by Palestinians and Arabs, but was rejected by the United States and Israel, which were concerned with Russia's alleged engagement with militant Hamas and its military aid to the moderate Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

Neither Medvedev nor Obama unveiled any sensational initiatives, but both reiterated the well-known stances of their countries on the Middle East peace process, said Maria Appakova, a commentator with the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

"The Russian policy in the Middle East cannot be more balanced than it already is," and the key is what will happen if Moscow and Washington coordinate the principles of their Middle East policies, she said.

By Xinhua writer Yu Maofeng Editor: Mu Xuequan

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