Factbox: Israel and Iran compete for African

Here is a snapshot how the two countries have been competing for good relations and trade with Africa in the last year.

ISRAEL: -- According to Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2009, Israeli exports to Africa totaled some $1.06 billion, a 38 percent decrease from 2008 when exports reached $1.47 billion. The ministry blamed the global financial crisis for the decline. Imports from Africa in 2009 totaled $1.5 billion.

-- South Africa last month announced that it was recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations following the killing of nine activists on a Gaza-bound aid boat.

-- In February 2010, Kenya and Israel held talks about security in Kenya. During the talks, the Kenyan security minister appealed for assistance from Israel to fight against groups he referred to as Somali jihadists.

-- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and a business delegation visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana in a week-long tour in September 2009. Israel said the trip was aimed at developing ties and countering Iran's influence.

-- Lieberman signed an international cooperation deal with his Nigerian counterpart as well as with regional body ECOWAS for Israel to help in food security, water resources and the fight against desertification. Nigeria also signed a $25 million deal with Israel Shipyards for the construction and delivery of two Shaldag patrol boats.

-- During a Lieberman's visit to Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni said that the relations between Uganda and Israel were good and revealed that the Israeli government would launch a special agricultural program in the east.

-- Israel is heavily involved in oil-exporting Equatorial Guinea, where it provides security for the government and is building a $100 million hospital complex.

-- Mining magnates Dan Gertler and Benny Steinmetz have multi-billion dollar investments in Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea, respectively.

-- Mauritania, straddling black and Arab Africa, severed diplomatic ties with Israel in March 2010, completing a process that began in 2009 in response to Israel's attacks on Gaza. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised the move.

-- In March 2009 the New York Times reported that Israeli warplanes attacked a convoy of trucks in Sudan in January to block a suspected arms delivery to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

* IRAN:

-- Last month Senegal's commerce minister welcomed Iran's proposal to carry out infrastructure projects in the west-African country, including road, railway, port and airport construction, at the fourth meeting of Iran-Senegal joint economic commission in Tehran, Fars news agency reported.

-- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe told Iran's Ahmadinejad in Harare in April 2010 that Zimbabwe backed Iran's controversial nuclear program and accused the West of seeking to punish the two countries for asserting their independence. Zimbabwe denied reports that it had signed an agreement allowing Iran to mine its uranium.

-- Zimbabwe and Iran signed cooperation agreements in the fields of energy, science and technology and agriculture. A month later a Zimbabwe-Iran joint tractor manufacturing project, Motira, started operating at the Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries assembly plant, with at least 60 units having been rolled out to date.

-- In April Ahmadinejad visited Uganda to lobby for support for his country's nuclear development. Uganda has increased its ties to Iran recently and President Yoweri Museveni visited Iran in 2009.

-- Museveni announced that Iran had agreed to assist Uganda in the construction of an oil refinery. Iran also agreed to help train Ugandans at the country's University of Petroleum Studies.

-- In April 2009 Kenya said it expected revenue from tea, its number two hard currency earner, to rise following a marketing deal with Iran.

-- One month earlier Iran announced it would supply Kenya with four million metric tons of crude annually. The two countries also signed deals on loans, water supply and direct flights between the two.

-- In October 2008 a report by U.S. based activist group Human Rights First revealed that Iran and Russia had joined China and others as direct weapons suppliers for Sudan after a U.N. embargo was imposed in 2004. The report said Iran's total arms sales were over $12 million to Sudan, including tanks. That was consistent with information from Western diplomats, who have said that Tehran was selling Sudan arms to cement ties and deepen military cooperation. The report was dismissed by Sudan.