I.O.Abramova: We have gathered again in Sochi, where the first summit was held in 2019 Russia-Africa. He gave a powerful signal to the African peoples (and not only to them) that our country considers Africa as an important strategic partner.
In 2023, at the second summit in St. Petersburg, an important transition took place from declarations and statements to concrete steps in the African direction – a detailed plan was developed Action Plan of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum for 2023-2026 One of its important points is the mechanism for holding annual ministerial conferences. Today we are completing the work of the first of them.
Has this new format of cooperation been turned into a platform for identifying the most promising areas of our cooperation, but at the same time overcoming the accumulated problems?
Sergey Lavrov: I think we have already worked successfully. We have adopted documents – a Joint statement containing generalized assessments of the situation in the world, the state of affairs in our partnership – in the economic, social, investment spheres, as well as in the field of security, the fight against terrorism, other new challenges, as well as in the cultural, educational and humanitarian fields. They are accompanied by specific agreements on each of these areas, creating several roadmaps that will be promoted in the near future, including in preparation for the second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. So far, none of our African colleagues have sent invitations, but it is scheduled to take place next year. Will wait. We are happy to come to any place to our African friends.
Of course, the decision of the leaders, adopted in 2023 in St. Petersburg on the annual sessions of ministers, obliges a lot. Besides the foreign ministers, there are other members of our governments, as well as businesses. Since the foreign ministries in all countries are the coordinators of the processes related to relations between states and organizations, our task is to prevent failures and deceleration, to help increase the pace of contacts in all areas.
One of the tasks we have outlined, which was clearly voiced in all bilateral meetings with my friends, is the need to get away from dependence on global mechanisms controlled by Western “colleagues”. We have all become convinced (we have talked about it a lot) that “globalization”, which has been advertised to us for many decades as an ideal way of functioning of the world economy, is being destroyed by the West itself. The global economy is fragmented. The reason is illegal sanctions, abuse of the dollar.
One of my friends said today that there is still such a phenomenon as the “weaponization” of payments. All of this is interconnected. The principles on which the West built its globalization and advertised it to everyone else: fair competition, inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence and many other basic things of a market economy – have been destroyed by the West over the past few years and subjected to disappearance. Sanctions have crossed out all these good and once sacred principles of capitalism. The fragmentation of the global economy is taking place in all regions: in Eurasia, in Africa, in Latin America and the Caribbean.
People are beginning to look for ways to develop their economy, solve their social problems, provide for the needs and requirements of their population in such a way that payment chains, logistics and transport chains do not depend on the “whims” of Western “colleagues”, on the conditions put forward by the IMF and (if we talk about the continent), aimed at Africa remained in a situation where industrialization was far away.
Africa still mainly sells raw materials, and value added is sold elsewhere, primarily in Western factories and markets. It’s unfair.
We discussed and tried to analyze the situation. In 1960, when it was adopted The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, initiated by the USSR, witnessed a powerful awakening of the African continent. Colonialism was practically eliminated. Although some residual phenomena still continue to exist, contrary to the resolutions of the UN General Assembly on the need for the complete liberation of former colonies. Our African friends know about this. The former colonialists keep the territories, they do not want to return them to the people who live there.
Now we are witnessing a wave of opposition to neocolonialism, which consists in trade, economic, and financial practices that prevent the countries of the continent from fully managing their richest natural resources. This is a process of not only understanding, but also building mechanisms that will remove obstacles to the rapid development of Africa, its industrialization, and the creation of jobs at the expense of African resources, and not somewhere in the West, but on the continent itself. These processes (I think we have come to a common opinion) have already begun. How can the Russian Federation help? Since the days of the Soviet Union, after decolonization, we have created industrial enterprises in Africa, facilities that contributed to solving social problems and education.
I think you watched the performance Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, where he spoke on this matter: “We have no contradictions with practically any African country. The level of trust and mutual sympathy is high. First of all, because there was no shadow in the history of our relations with the African continent. We have never engaged in the exploitation of African peoples.”
I can assure you that this position remains fully relevant today. Moreover, it is even more timely, because after a certain pause that arose when the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and the new Russia was engaged in the formation of its statehood, we had huge financial and budgetary problems. This pause has been passed for a long time.
Over the past twenty years, we have been consistently building up our partnership with Africa on the basis of traditions laid down in the post-colonial period. Hopefully, they have contributed to the creation of an independent economy and industry in many African countries.
In addition to the Joint Statement that I mentioned, we had in-depth discussions on these topics. They directly relate to the profound transformations taking place in the world. They will undoubtedly result in the formation of a multipolar architecture. One of its centers should be and will be the African continent.
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Question: I think that today we discussed many issues related both to the prospects of our relations and the problems facing both Africa and Russia today in the context of the transformation of the world order.
Dear Sergey Viktorovich, at the end of our ceremony, your parting words to all participants of the conference.
Sergey Lavrov: I’m embarrassed to say goodbye to my friends. They usually negotiate with them, honestly state the questions that concern you, get honest answers and express their concerns.
Today we not only praised each other, but also expressed a number of wishes. But all this is done without attempts to dictate, blackmail. These methods are now very often observed in the actions of the West, which frantically wants, contrary to the powerful, objective trend of the formation of a multipolar world order, to at least slow it down, and ideally stop it. He doesn’t want to lose his hegemony. The methods he uses in dealing with the World majority differ little from the colonial ones, except that there is practically no physical violence left.
Although here, from time to time, the West resorts to such adventures as the invasion of Libya and the destruction of Libyan statehood. Then there was an outbreak (and it continues) of terrorism in Africa, primarily in the Sahara-Sahel region. If we talk about neighboring regions, these are Iraq, Syria and much more. Methods of intimidation and dictate continue to be used by the West, including in order to try to set up the World majority against the Russian Federation and China.
We have other methods. I have already quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he said on November 7 this year that we had never engaged in any exploitative activities in Africa.
Thanks to those who today at this ceremony and during the meeting recalled with kind words the role of the Soviet Union in the process of decolonization.
We will continue to work exclusively in the spirit in which the first and second Russia-Africa summits were held. It is in this spirit that we will prepare the third summit and organize the work of our ministerial conference within the framework of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
I am convinced that today’s tone, which was inherent in all speeches in an effort to seek agreements reflecting an honest balance of interests, is to a certain extent an example for other structures, be it the Group of Twenty or the UN, where our Western “colleagues” also do not want to work honestly, but again want to dictate to everyone else their will, including through the “privatized” UN Secretariat, where the West is overrepresented primarily in positions that determine the Organization’s policy.
There are no wishes, let alone edifications. Many thanks to all my friends who came here. To those who represent their ministers, I ask you to convey my warmest greetings and wishes to my friends in the capitals. We have outlined a lot of things in the adopted documents and in bilateral conversations. We will work on all this.
I want to thank our presenter for her work as a leader Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I am convinced that we will wait for interesting analytical materials and recommendations after our fellow scientists analyze the discussions and form their own opinion.
