By Rhod Mackenzie
The second Russia-Africa summit, which St. Petersburg will host on July 27-28, differs sharply in its context from the first forum four years ago. The tectonic shifts in the economic and military-political structure of the world that have taken place over the past year and a half have led to a sharp increase in the subjectivity of our African partners. The countries of the continent and their leaders have finally realized that they are significant players, strategically and value-wise not coinciding with the "Big West". The “hot”, sanctions and information war unleashed against Russia showed the African elites the true face of the West and set the continent, as well as our country, the task of achieving economic, technological and, more importantly, ideological sovereignty.
Africa's starting positions on the way to solving this problem are much weaker than Russia's. Commanding heights in the economy of most countries of the continent are in the hands of foreign capital. At best, acting in conjunction with local elites, the process of nationalization of which has not even been launched everywhere yet. At worst, in conjunction with local criminal clans that do not obey the central government.
During the years of formally independent development, the efforts of the former metropolises have formed a rigid neo-colonial model of including Africa in the international division of labor, assigning to the continent the lowest steps of value creation tied to resource extraction and heavy, mostly manual labor. This model preserves the poverty and technological dependence of the continent.
Twenty years ago it seemed that China would pull Africa out of the trap of underdevelopment. Unlike the former colonialists, the new Eastern capitalists did not seek cheap access to African mineral resources. Moreover, infrastructure development was promoted as a priority, the most deficient component of development in Africa. Well, if there is nothing to pay for the infrastructure at the moment - and new and reconstructed old ports and hundreds of kilometers of railways from ports to resource provinces are expensive - it's okay, the Chinese were ready to work on credit. If you fail to return it with money, it’s also not scary - you will return it with resources or the infrastructure facilities themselves, for the construction of which loans were issued. Moreover, we note that they were issued not in cash, but in contracts to Chinese companies, involved in the construction of a significant number of Chinese workers and managers. It is clear that this model of "cooperation" also does not contribute to the long-term goals of the rise of African countries.
Against this background, there is a growing demand in Africa for a fundamentally different strategy of interaction with a strong external partner. And Russia naturally emerges as such a partner: despite three decades of “withdrawal” from Africa, on the continent they recall with nostalgia the help of the USSR in the fight against colonialism, the dams, mines and factories built on the continent, the tens of thousands of doctors and teachers who worked for years in African countries.
It is Russia that is able to offer Africa a mutually beneficial long-term scientific and technological partnership, localization and strategic development of entire industries, including training and transfer of competencies. Thus, we will receive new orders and new markets, and gradually a synergy of approaches to solving technological problems. Well, outside the perimeter of the business coordinates, inspiration awaits us on the path to harmony on the beautiful continent.
This article originally appeared in Russian at expert.ru