Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the role of public discourse in shaping and influencing Africa’s perception of the war in Ukraine. It will discuss and analyse discursive practices in which different rhetoric and narratives in Africa are changing public opinion on the war.

Paper long abstract:

The Russia invasion of Ukraine has come at a time when countries in Africa are already struggling to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Despite the war breaking out in a geographically distant region, it still entails several repercussions for the African continent. Given that both Russia and Ukraine play important roles in the continent, this episode is now going to have both immediate and lasting implications for Africa’s economics and politics. While there has been widespread condemnation of the attacks on Ukrainian civilians and their own citizens fleeing the warzone – from countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, etc., – there has been a much more muted response from some key African nations. The paper examines the role of public discourse in shaping and influencing Africa’s perception of the war in Ukraine. It will discuss and analyse discursive practices in which different rhetoric and narratives in Africa are changing public opinion on the war. In other words, it shows the link between language, public discourse and the construction of antagonistic perceptions of the Russian-Ukraine war in Africa. Using the narrative paradigm theory and critical discourse analysis, the paper shows how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated public discourse surrounding most of Africa’s longstanding foreign policy of autonomy and non-alignment. The paper concludes that, while African countries may go along in broad solidarity with the people of Ukraine, they should not be expected to follow Western dictates blindly.

Paper short abstract:

There exist today a clear conflict of opinions on the concept of sovereignty amongst many pan-Africanists when it comes to the ongoing war in Ukraine, where there is a split solidarity amongst pan-Africanists towards Russia on one hand and Europe-Ukraine on the other hand.

Paper long abstract:

While an overwhelming majority of young Africans and pan-Africanists agree that every sovereign country has the right to defend itself when faced with aggression, there is however a clear conflict of opinions on this concept of sovereignty, amongst the same pan Africanists when it comes to the ongoing war in Ukraine, where there is a split solidarity amongst pan-Africanists towards Russia on one hand and Europe-Ukraine on the other hand.

Whereas, the solidarity towards Ukraine is purely founded on the premise of sovereignty and democracy, thus easier to understand, that towards Russia is neither based on any moral or sovereign norm, but rather can be identified as a form of solidarity borne of resentment towards the West, in response to what is perceived as Western double standards, especially in the handling of conflicts around the world, and Africa in particular. Also this resentment stems from the long held belief that the West and Europe in particular is responsible for the poverty and underdevelopment of Africa (Bauer, 1969), though some disputed statistical analysis suggest that the causal effect of colonization on income per capita and growth rate in the colonized countries was negligible (Kaniyathu, 2008).

On one hand, having witnessed a swift and a coordinated response to protect Ukraine following the Russian invasion, a response only similar to that seen during the 2nd world war, and a huge humanitarian effort, with European and American borders flung open, refugees welcome with open arms, questions are being asked by many sceptics.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses how the expectations of NGO's, businesses and political actors mandated to muster support for Ukraine in Africa are framed by their lack of understanding of African sociopolitical dynamics and how the latter shapes their approach and narrative, resulting in limited success.

Paper long abstract:

In the wake of the war in Ukraine, NGO's, businesses and political actors were given or gave themselves the mandate to create support for Ukraine in Africa. Despite investing significant resources and active lobbying, their efforts have yet to yield any significant success, much to their surprise. This paper argues that the lack of understanding of African sociopolitical dynamics of those actors and that of Ukrainian representatives impacts how they shape their approach and narrative towards African representatives. Using anonymized business mandates as case studies, this paper first looks at how the "donor/recipient" or "development" narrative still defines the lobbyist approach when discussing the Ukraine war in Africa. It then examines how the "Russia is the enemy" narrative used by lobbyists is ineffective due to the positive relationship many African countries maintain with Russia and due to Ukraine's own lack of leverage. The paper further discusses how the lack of awareness by Ukrainian lobbyists of the real and perceived "double standard" for conflict intervention by western countries is hindering more open exchanges. Finally, this paper makes recommendations on how the Ukrainian narrative can be changed to create strong, long-term relationships with African actors, with short-term benefits.

Paper short abstract:

The theme of the speech is humanitarian and development aid for the countries of the Horn of Africa after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The presentation will be devoted to humanitarian and development aid from donors and the analysis of changes of aid sent due to the war in Ukraine.

Paper long abstract:

The topic of the speech is humanitarian and development aid for the countries of the Horn of Africa, which in the classical definition includes Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti. The selected timeframe relates to the period of the war in Ukraine, which shook the world in early 2022. The effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are felt outside the borders of the attacked country, which may directly affect the flow of humanitarian and development aid globally.

Countries of the Horn of Arica region face problems that are partly the same because of their regional similarity, but most are individual for each country. Regional problems include issues related to natural disasters, especially droughts and floods. Humanitarian and development aid for the Horn of Africa countries is delivered from all over the world, a large part is aid from the USA, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates and China. The presentation will be devoted to humanitarian and development aid from donors and the analysis of changes of aid sent due to the war in Ukraine.

Paper short abstract:

It becomes interesting to note how wheat and grains are the heart of geopolitics with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a source of concern among scholars, policy makers on the subject matter. It is expected on the part of African leaders playing close attention.

Paper long abstract:

It becomes interesting to note how wheat and grains are the heart of geopolitics with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a source of concern among scholars, policy makers on the subject matter. It is expected on the part of African leaders playing close attention. There seems to be significant agricultural trade between African countries and the two actors mentioned. Both Countries are notable players in maize; they are responsible for a combined maize production of 4%. Russia military actions have created a lot of panic among analysts. There is the fear that intensifying conflict would disrupt trade with significant consequences for global food stability. This calls for attention especially the consequences of big rises in the price of global grains and oil seed. The African continent is a net importer of wheat and sunflower oil. It is against this backdrop, that the paper will address the implication of Russia-Ukraine Conflict on food security. The paper’s source of data will be essentially secondary involving books, journals; articles on the subject matter under review.

Paper short abstract:

The Baltic States’ expertise related to countering information warfare in its close neighborhood provides an opportunity to debunk misleading narratives that form African perceptions and the regional identities of both the Baltics and Africa of the war in Ukraine.

Paper long abstract:

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russia’s rapid spread of disinformation and misinformation within African countries has become a prominent issue from the EU perspective. The Baltic States’ expertise related to countering information warfare in its close neighborhood provides an opportunity to debunk misleading narratives that form African perceptions and the regional identities of both the Baltics and Africa of the war in Ukraine.

Baltic CSO OSMOS has conducted an analysis to identify what types of narratives of political opinion influencers from Africa towards Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have been circulating on media platforms at the early stage of the war and why they have been so successful in shaping perceptions of the Russian-Ukraine war in Africa. OSMOS has collected and analyzed more than 100 messages ranging from expert opinion to civil society messages on media platforms to examine narratives of political opinion influencers that notably shape perceptions of African society. Nonetheless, it was necessary to include the analysis of Baltic political influencers’ reactions to their African partners’ perception towards Russia’s aggression.

This paper will focus on the analysis and categorization of specific messages from the Baltic perspective and will also dismantle misleading statements among African stakeholders that undermine Ukraine’s role without ignoring the Soviet Union's role in decolonization and Western nations' contradictory behavior. The study will also reveal the effects of disinformation such as decrease in social trust, democracy, and resilience which directly influence regional identities.