By Mikhail Zubov
Vladimir Putin appeared in the media with an article "Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future". It was published on Monday in the print media of eighteen states of the black continent, including such influential ones as Algeria, Egypt, Cameroon and Senegal, and posted on network resources at midnight Moscow time.
The Russian president's article on the upcoming Russia-Africa summit aroused interest in Africa and irritation in the West. It lists questions that the summit can provide historic answers to.
The article, dedicated to the Russia-Africa summit, which will be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, talks about the growth of trade between Russia and African countries, about gratuitous aid to the poorest of them, and about the common desire for a multipolar world based on international law and taking into account national interests. The article is an invitation to watch or participate in the summit, and it has already elicited hysterical reactions from former African colonizers. For example, French President Macron agreed that Russia would destabilize the situation in Africa.
The Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov explained that good, constructive relations based on mutual respect should not become a matter of concern for anyone. These "whoever", including Macron, as you know, tried to disrupt the summit, put pressure on the leaders of African states to boycott the event, but, apparently, everyone will come.
No grain - no interest
“Putin's article lists topics that are of interest to the countries of the African continent and will be discussed at the summit. Trade, the fight against hunger, education, the development of technology. I was personally convinced that this particular agenda is relevant for African states, because I have just returned from Johannesburg, where a meeting of political parties of African countries and BRICS countries was held, ”Andrey Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, told Expert.
According to the senator, the persuasion of Western leaders to boycott the summit because of the events in Ukraine caused rejection or misunderstanding among the leaders of African countries.
“In Africa, they believe that we should solve the problems of the European continent ourselves, and when we go out with a dialogue to another continent, we need to adhere to such a line that the interlocutors have an interest in communication,” says Klimov. - Most African countries are not interested in what is happening around Ukraine. They have very big problems of their own: a terrible situation militarily, in an ecological and social sense. And when someone from Europe starts to promote other people's political interests, they are offended, to put it mildly. African countries were interested in Ukraine only in terms of food security, and when it turned out that it was not supplying grain to them, but feeding Europe, the interest was gone.”
According to Klimov, Putin's article was read carefully in Africa. The publication contains an answer to an important question about how much grain Russia can supply (and how much, including free of charge). There are also explanations for countries that want independence: what is needed for this - in particular, to move away from neo-colonial currencies.
Invest in the future today
As Anton Orlov, director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Politics, told Expert, the value of the article lies in its calm tone, in the absence of complaints about the pressure that the West is exerting on Russia, and because of which, in particular, grain supplies to Africa are not yet what everyone would like.
“It is not in the character of the president to complain, and even more so to ask for help, even moral, especially from those who themselves need it. The strong do not ask. Putin calmly makes it clear that he will solve the problem,” says Orlov.
In his opinion, the Russian president is inviting the heads of African states to jointly solve global problems today, without waiting for the West to get tired of neo-colonial habits.
“It's like investing in construction,” says Orlov. - You can invest in buying a home at the stage of excavation with less cost and more profit, or pay double or even triple the price when the house is already built. In fact, it is precisely this dilemma that many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America face today: to take the side of Russia and have significant preferences in the future, or wait for the end of hostilities and subsequently knock on the thresholds of the BRICS in the hope of the goodwill of its leaders.”
What will be the response of Russia?
The agenda of the summit will be published a little later, but Fyodor Lukyanov, a member of the Presidium of the Russian Council on International Affairs, told Expert about what it could be.
“Africa in the current conditions is extremely important in our international activities, because it is a set of countries that, in general, take a detached position from the current conflict in Europe,” Lukyanov said. - This does not mean that African countries are pro-Russian, but they definitely do not want to get involved in the anti-Russian policy of the United States. Africans don't need it and they're very clear about it."
Naturally, African leaders do not want to unnecessarily expose themselves to the punitive measures of the West for their interaction with Russia and will be forced to maneuver. But even if you look at the results of voting in the UN General Assembly, then African countries, with rare exceptions, distance themselves from anti-Russian resolutions. This is already an indicator of the very good attitude that our country deserved when it helped to get rid of the colonial yoke and apartheid, and then created the foundations of industry and infrastructure in many countries of the continent.
“Africa is an extremely promising continent, not only because of the natural resources that everyone is paying attention to, but also because of the huge, constantly growing population that is interested in modern development. And it can be provided by countries like Russia,” says Lukyanov.
According to the political scientist and international specialist, the summit will most likely sound the thesis that we are fighting together against neo-colonialism. But the countries of Africa are waiting for the next step from us: an answer to the question - what can Russia do for them, and for this struggle?
And the main intrigue of the summit is what answer Russia will give. This answer should probably include food security, and education, and Russian technologies, which may not be the best in the world, but are quite suitable for Africa.
This article originally appeared in Russian at expert.ru