Russian Government hands over Kamz Trucks to WFP in Ghana

The Russian Federation today handed over 22 Kamaz trucks and 5 trailers to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as part of a long-standing agreement between the two partners, in the area of logistics support.

The trucks will increase the transport capacity of the WFP Regional Fleet Hub which supports the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Accra to respond to emergencies in Western, Central and Southern Africa.

At a handing over ceremony which took place at the UNHRD premises in Accra, the Russian Ambassador to Ghana His Excellency Dmitry Suslov, revealed that the consignment delivered to Ghana is part of a larger donation of 97 trucks, 30 trailers, 4 mobile training clusters, refuellers and spare parts donated by the Russian Federation to WFP’s global operations. The entire donation is estimated at USD10.2m.

Apart from WFP’s Regional Fleet Hub in Ghana, the other two hubs which benefitted from this donation are in the United Arab Emirates and Uganda.

Most of the trucks and trailers received in Ghana will be dispatched for emergency work in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The mobile class room truck, however, will remain in Accra to enable the regional fleet conduct driver trainings. Additionally, KAMAZ will provide a three-year training programme to WFP fleet and workshop managers, mechanics and drivers.

“In the last century, most Africans only knew of the Kalashnikov brand from Russia as it served them well in their struggle for political independence,” said His Excellency Dmitry Suslov. “In these modern times of economic independence and equity, we hope KAMAZ will become the new popular Russian brand in Africa.”

In 2011, the Russian Federation donated 40 Kamaz trucks to the WFP fleet in Afghanistan. This was followed in 2014, by a generous donation of 218 KAMAZ trucks out of which 32 were sent to Ghana for onward dispatch to operations in the DRC and CAR. The rest of these trucks were deployed to South Sudan and Ethiopia, helping WFP to augment its operational transport capacity and thereby improve its emergency response facilities.

To date, the Kamaz trucks have performed very well and their maintenance, repair and fuel costs are comparatively low. Since they were incorporated into WFP’s Global Fleet, they have covered more than 6.5 million kilometres and transported 350,000 metric tons of food to the most demanding and complicated routes. Without these trucks, WFP’s only option would have been to use aviation services (airlifts and airdrops), which are much more expensive per metric ton of food.

“By the nature of our work, especially in emergencies, WFP operates an average of 5,000 commercially contracted trucks on any given day,” said Rukia Yacoub, WFP Ghana Representative and Country Director. “This donation from Russia will significantly improve the logistical support WFP’s Regional Fleet hub in Ghana provides to emergencies and other humanitarian operations in Africa.”

WFP is the foremost humanitarian agency worldwide and focuses on saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. Thanks to the existing peace and minimal occurrence of natural disasters in Ghana, WFP’s work within the country itself focuses on changing lives, helping to empower smallholder farmers so that they have access to more markets, partnering with industrial agro-producers to manufacture specialized nutritious foods which reduce malnutrition, and working with health authorities to improve the nutritional status of mothers and children. These programmes are implemented from the Ashanti Region upwards to northern Ghana. Other programmes are strengthening partners’ capacities and supporting the development of relevant policies which will help Ghana attain Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030.

WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future in countries embarking on development.

Apart from the Russian Ambassador and the WFP Representative, other participants at the handover ceremony were members of the Ghana-Russia Business Development, the WFP Regional Fleet Manager in Accra, officials from WFP’s Headquarters in Rome and the UNHRD, a representative from Kamaz Ghana, as well as staff from the Russian Embassy.