In a statement posted on Telegram , Minister Dmitry Patrushev said that ships carrying Russian grain bound for Burkina Faso and Somalia have left Russian ports, while ships carrying more grain to Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali and the Central African Republic will set sail soon.

A combine harvester harvests wheat in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia in September. (Source: AFP)

In a statement on the Telegram website, Minister Patrushev said the first two grain ships, each carrying 25,000 tons of grain, had left Russian ports for Burkina Faso and Somalia.

The two ships are expected to arrive in African countries later this month or early next month. Further grain shipments are expected to depart for Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali and the Central African Republic before the end of the year.

Previously, in July, at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Aid Forum, President Putin pledged that Russia is ready to provide humanitarian grain aid to the most needy countries in Africa.

A month later, it was reported that negotiations on free supplies of 25,000-50,000 tons of Russian grain to six African countries, including Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea, were in the final stage.

In 2022, Russia exported 11.5 million tons of grain to Africa and in the first 6 months of this year it reached nearly 10 million tons.