Belarus and Equatorial Guinea sign agreements as Minsk seeks allies

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed cooperation agreements during a visit to his Equatorial Guinean counterpart on Saturday as the isolated Kremlin ally seeks African support during the Ukraine war.

Lukashenko met Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the capital Malabo as part of an African tour to bolster ties on the continent.

Deals were signed on launching the first phase of a regional centre to promote Belarusian products in central and west African markets, Lukashenko told Belta news agency.

Projects in industry, education, health and agriculture are due to be completed by 2026 and have been studied for months by a joint commission presided by the countries' foreign ministers.

Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator", has been in power for almost 30 years.

Western countries have sanctioned Belarus and isolated Lukashenko for his firm backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and a crackdown on domestic dissent.

On an official visit to Minsk in September, the first by an Equatorial Guinean leader, Mbasogo denounced the "diktat of Western multinationals", taking up a common theme in Kremlin rhetoric.

Mbasogo, 81, has ruled the oil-rich central African country with an iron fist for 44 years, a record for a current head of state excepting monarchs.