Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused some Western countries of enriching themselves at Africa’s expense and pushing African nations back into debt.
Speaking at the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Putin said Russia is helping to improve the continent’s debt situation. His comments came as African leaders from forty eight countries gathered in Moscow for the two day summit, with twenty two heads of state present for discussions on trade, investment, security and grain supplies.
According to Putin, Africa is increasingly asserting itself as one of the key players in the global economy and politics, but this emergence of a multipolar world is facing resistance from countries that are not prepared to accept this reality. He described them as countries accustomed to thinking in terms of their colonial past and enriching themselves fabulously at the expense of others.
Putin told African leaders that there are active attempts by Western countries to drive Africans back into debt bondage and to force them to accept much needed financial resources on predatory terms, which he said slows their long term development. He went further to say that when the West managed to enrich themselves at the expense of others, they are resorting to illegitimate sanctions, tariff wars, blackmail and interference in domestic affairs.
He argued that the West is trying to impose resources on African countries but on terrible terms which are tantamount to robbery, leaving African nations to repay these debts to the detriment of their developmental plans. He also highlighted that manufacturing accounts for less than two percent of Africa’s value addition, while only about fifteen percent of the continent’s estimated one point five trillion dollars in annual trade takes place between African countries.
For Russia, Putin presented his country as a better partner than the colonial West, one that is ready to share technology, build local processing and create jobs rather than just buying raw materials. His comments highlight debt and international financial relations as key issues in discussions surrounding Russia’s engagement with African countries.
This summit, first held in 2019, is seen as part of Russia’s push for political, economic and military influence on the continent as well as efforts to counterbalance Western pressure over the war in Ukraine.
Story by Ama Frimpomaa
