Raisi Heads to Africa; State Media Claims It Aims to Strengthen Cooperation

Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic, will travel to three African countries—Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—on Tuesday, July 20. Domestic media describe this trip, which is the "first visit by an Islamic Republic president to the African continent in eleven years," as aimed at "strengthening cooperation with African countries." The government spokesperson stated: "The main goal of this trip is to enhance relations with friendly and aligned countries, develop markets for knowledge-based products, collaborate in creating and developing joint technology and innovation centers, export technical, engineering, agricultural, and medical services, and generally diversify the export destinations of the Islamic Republic." Bahadori Jahromi also mentioned that "over the past two years, the thirteenth government has sought to create balance in foreign policy and not limit foreign diplomacy to a specific agreement or a few countries." He added: "Although Iran's foreign trade volume with Africa has surged by 100% compared to 1999, it is by no means sufficient, and our economic relations must increase in line with Africa's approximately $600 billion market." He did not specify the volume of Iran's foreign trade with African countries, but the state news agency IRNA published a table showing that Iran's exports to African countries in the 1990s had decreased during the eleventh and twelfth governments, reaching their lowest levels in recent decades. In a press conference on Monday, July 19, Nasser Kan'ani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, provided a more detailed description of Ebrahim Raisi's trip to Africa, presenting it as "a new leap" in Iran-Africa interactions. He highlighted Africa's economic potentials and emphasized that Africa's economy, as a growing region, has attracted the attention of major world countries. Nasser Kan'ani stated: "African countries are interested in expanding relations with Iran, and this trip will encompass political and economic cooperation." According to IRNA: "Iran's exports to Africa fell from $860 million in 2013 to $573 million in 2021, while imports from Africa dropped from $127 million to $37 million." This state media also claimed that financial exchanges with some regions of Africa increased by over 100% in 2022, but like the government spokesperson, it did not mention the figures of exchanges or target countries. Before Raisi, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda, and in response to these visits, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has traveled to Iran four times. The level of relations between the Islamic Republic and Kenya increased after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the country, with 4 million tons of oil exported from Iran to Kenya and a direct flight established between Tehran and Nairobi. The first visit by an Islamic Republic president to Zimbabwe was during Ali Khamenei's presidency in 1985. Since then, the next three Iranian presidents have also visited Zimbabwe, the last being in 2010. Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe also visited Tehran five times.