In 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held 18 conversations with African leaders, nine of which were the first in the history of bilateral relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) has said.

"Since February 2022, the President of Ukraine has had 18 conversations with African leaders, nine of which are for the first time in the history of bilateral relations (Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, DRC, Zambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Botswana). President of Guinea-Bissau and acting head of the Economic Community of West African Countries Umaro Embalo visited Ukraine in October, the first official visit of a leader of a sub-Saharan African state since 2004.

The Foreign Ministry also said that during the year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had 35 phone conversations and meetings with African colleagues. In October 2022, the first African tour of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine took place in the history of Ukrainian diplomacy, covering Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Kenya.

In addition, Special Representative of Ukraine from the countries of the Middle East and Africa, Maksym Subh, appointed in July 2022, additionally visited five African countries. During the tour, important agreements were reached, primarily in the sphere of economy and education.

"Ukraine needs further consolidation and buildup of international support in countering Russian aggression in order to implement the Peace Formula, establish and maintain sustainable economic ties with the countries of the Global South. It is important to expand our diplomatic presence on the continent to a level that will allow us to interact smoothly and effectively with African capitals," the department said.

The Foreign Ministry said that for this it is planned, in particular, to open a number of new embassies in Africa.

The plans for 2023 also include measures to increase the volume of Ukrainian exports of goods and services, the implementation of joint Ukrainian-African projects in the areas of trade, economic, investment, scientific and technical cooperation and industrial cooperation.