Russia's President Putin offers African countries ‘total support’
The conference presents another opportunity for Russia to promote its vision of a "multipolar world" — a month after it hosted a BRICS summit of major emerging economies.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has promised African countries what he terms as "total support " in the fight against terrorism and extremism.
The speech was read out at a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to his African counterparts.
Facing isolation in the West following its large-scale offensive against Ukraine, Moscow has sought to establish new partnerships across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, positioning itself as a bulwark against what it terms Western domination on the global stage.
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"Our country will continue to provide total support to our African friends across various sectors," Putin stated in a speech delivered by Lavrov to other foreign ministers and senior officials.
The Kremlin leader, who is not attending the conference, noted that Russia’s relations with Africa have been strengthening "more and more" in recent years.
"I would like to reiterate that our country will continue to provide total support to our African friends in different sectors: ensuring sustainable development, the struggle against terrorism and extremism, combating epidemics, food problems and the consequences of natural disasters," Putin said.
Russia has been expanding its influence on the continent in recent years, including in military matters, with some countries already embracing this.
Moscow Times reported that Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said a partnership with Russia was a good fit for his country.
"The offer which has been made through cooperation with Russia is better suited to the people" of Burkina Faso, he told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the Sochi summit.
According to BBC, Rwanda is also one of several African countries that have already signed deals with Moscow to get help building a nuclear power plant.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, who is also in Sochi, told the AFP news agency hundreds of Rwandan students had graduated from Russian universities, including "those who specialise in nuclear science".
"We hope to be able to train a certain number of scientific managers specialising in this field," he added.
Russia support
In 2023, Russia provided Africa with over $5 billion in arms, according to the state company Rosoboronexport.
Several Russian companies also hold substantial investments on the continent, such as the diamond mining firm Alrosa in Angola and Zimbabwe and the energy giant Lukoil in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Congo.
Russia's narrative condemning Western "neocolonialism" resonates with some leaders across the continent.
"Russia is not a colonial power" and "has never been a colonial power," asserted Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit on Saturday as quoted by Moscow Times.
"On the contrary, it has stood shoulder to shoulder with African peoples and other nations around the world to help them break free from the colonial system," he added.
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