Russian chemical producer Uralchem-Uralkali is planning humanitarian deliveries of fertilizers to Zimbabwe and Nigeria, the group's managing director announced on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg.
"We have decided to deliver to African countries nearly 300,000 tons of fertilizer that the European Union has blocked in its ports. We have already shipped three batches, the last of which recently arrived in Kenya. The next two will be sent to Zimbabwe and Nigeria," said Dmitry Konyaev, CEO of Uralchem Group.
On November 12, an agreement was reached to send fertilizer shipments blocked in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Estonia to Africa. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) chartered a ship to take the consignment to the Mozambican port of Beira, from where it was transported overland to Malawi.
Kenya became the second African country that Uralchem-Uralkali sent its products to free of charge.
In total, the Russian fertilizer producer plans to deliver 300,000 tons of its products to needy countries on a humanitarian basis as part of this initiative "aimed at combating an unprecedented global food crisis."
It's worth mentioning that Uralchem, one of the main suppliers of Russian mineral fertilizers to the African continent, held a session as part of the Second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which took place in St. Petersburg on July 27-28 with the participation of Russian and African heads of state and senior officials.
The aim of the session was to address the main challengeshindering the development of agriculture in African countries.
"Africa has enormous potential in terms of agricultural development and growth in fertilizer consumption," Dmitry Konyaev said at the session. "Today, about 20 kg of fertilizers are applied per hectare in the Sub-Saharan African countries, but in the foreseeable future this figure may rise to 100-150 kg, which could radically solve the problem of food shortages on the continent."
Since 2018, the Uralchem Group and its sister company, the world's largest potash fertilizer producer, Uralkali, together known as Uralchem-Uralkali, have supplied 2.5 million tons of fertilizers to Africa, mostly potash. They supply 80% of all potash fertilizers used by countries on the African continent.