South Africa's president raises food security concerns in Russia-Africa summit

South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa , has called for peace in Ukraine during his speech on Friday at the Russia - Africa summit in St Petersburg.

Ramaphosa also expressed his concern with the issue of food security in Africa following Russia's pulling out of the grain deal.

"Even in this case with the conflict in the Ukraine we still advocate for peace and in a way we feel we have a right to call for peace because the ongoing conflict as you heard over the course of the day also negatively affects us, as African countries. Apart from wanting to support a peace process all over the world, this conflict is now directly affecting us as well. As we told you the last time as far as food security is concerned the price of our fertilisers have gone up", said South African President,  Cyril Ramaphosa .

Only 17 African heads of state were present at the summit, a significant drop when compared to 43 at the first Russia-Africa summit held in 2019 .