Minus twenty billion: goodwill gesture for Africa
Source: zakonvremeni.ru
Battle for Africa
African states are now on a special account. Perhaps, until 2022, they did not even suspect what kind of battle would unfold around the Black Continent.
The world is divided into ardent opponents of the Russian special operation and sympathizers. Both camps are trying to win African states over to their side. Events are unfolding rapidly. Sergey Lavrov has already traveled twice across the countries of the continent since the beginning of the NWO. Last July, I made friendly visits to Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of the Congo. January of this year was marked by visits from Eswatina (former Swaziland) and Eritrea.
Moscow is clearly restoring old Soviet ties by enlisting the support of countries in the UN General Assembly. From the same stories the deployment of an MTO point in Port Sudan - the thoughts of the local leadership, which have been dragging on since 2020, seem to have been resolved in favor of Russia. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko recently visited Zimbabwe.
Moscow is preparing to host the second Russia-Africa summit next summer. Preparatory activities are in full swing - not so long ago, the international parliamentary conference "Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World", which is considered a prologue to the summer summit, ended. The soft power of the Kremlin on the African continent is becoming more and more tangible.
Do not forget about the pragmatic economic interest of Russia. Of the latter, Nigeria in March bought out 30 percent of the monthly export of Russian gasoline. Before the start of the special operation, Europe was the main consumer of light oil products. Therefore, the visits of our diplomats to the Black Continent cannot be called only political actions. The goals they pursue are quite pragmatic and tangible.
Source: national projects.rf
Only here and others do not sit idly by.
Firstly, it is China, for which Africa has long and firmly been one of the key partners, more precisely, suppliers of resources. But Beijing also invests in local infrastructure more than all the others combined.
Secondly, Europeans, historically associated with local colonial heritage. France even decided to loosen its grip - Macron at the end of February announced his withdrawal from Mali and Burkina Faso. It is not known what was the true reason for the "noticeable reduction" - the weakness of Paris or the desire to please the local elites. The Europeans, who have long considered Africa their backyard, are now at a loss - the loss of positions is quite serious.
Algeria applied to the BRICS, and the Moroccans agreed on the construction of a nuclear power plant by Rosatom. And even more - the agreement prescribes "the design and construction of power and research nuclear reactors, as well as water desalination plants and particle accelerators."
The good old European racism does not add trust to Africans either. In one of his speeches, Josep Borrell compared the world surrounding Europe with the jungle, from which at any moment they can invade the wonderful garden of the Old World. Then, of course, he apologized, but the racist metaphors to the chief of European diplomacy will be remembered for a long time to come.
Before our eyes, a real battle is unfolding for the attention and favor of the African continent. And in any battle you have to spend money, and sometimes a lot.
The attraction of unprecedented generosity
Africa may well become the main victim of the consequences of the Russian NWO. The states of the continent are critically dependent on grain supplies, both from Russia and Ukraine. Actually, the whole essence of the notorious "grain deal" revolves around this thesis. Only now the Africans actually get leftovers from the master's table - over the past year, ships from Ukraine delivered no more than 3,3 million tons of grain to the countries of the continent. This is about three percent of exported volumes.
In its best years, Kyiv supplied more than a quarter of its exports to Africa. Now Europe has received the fattest piece - about 45 percent. The cynicism of the Brussels bosses' approach is astounding. Things got to the point that the price of wheat in Europe fell to the point that it was not profitable for local farmers to grow their own. Since December last year, the Poles have been futilely demanding the government to issue a tax on Ukrainian grain. The latest protests took place just a few days ago.
Last year, Russia sent 12 million tons of grain to Africa. A colossal imbalance illustrating Europe's relationship with its backyard. Borrell's words about the jungle around take on a new reading, they say, let them look for their own food - nature will feed the natives. Russia's generosity in this regard cannot be viewed solely in a political direction - a dozen million tons left for a reason. Africa paid.
But a fight is a fight, even if it's cold. And you have to sacrifice something. President Putin recently announced the possibility of supplying grain to Africa free of charge. This will happen if the Kremlin in a couple of months decides not to renew the “grain deal”, which is very controversial in its essence. Consumers will be compensated free of charge for the 3,3 million Ukrainian grain that fell out in this case. Only nothing is ever done in politics just like that - among Russian preferences there may well be a new military base or some other infrastructure facility. For example, another nuclear power plant.
Feeding the rapidly growing population of the continent is one thing, but providing agriculture with fertilizers is a little different. Russia has long been ready to send phosphorus, potash and, above all, nitrogen fertilizers to Africa free of charge. According to the President, Brussels deliberately puts obstacles, not allowing the resources frozen in Europe. Continuation of the story about the jungle - they themselves will find food and get enough, and whoever can't - well, natural selection in all its glory.
An equally important statement can be considered the expansion of quotas for state-funded places in universities for students from Africa. This was widely practiced in the days of the USSR, and then a large part of the elite of the Black Continent not only received a higher education, but also learned to think in the Soviet way. Many of them still keep warm feelings about our country. And this is the softest power that everyone is talking about.
The main irritant for the overly liberal public in Russia was the president's statement about the cancellation of $20 billion of debts from African states. Putin announced this at the Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference held in Moscow.
Here it is necessary to place several accents.
First of all, this is not the first time the Kremlin has forgiven third world countries for their debts. Africans last received such a gift in 2019, and nothing critical for the economy happened. Then the debts of Angola, Ethiopia, Libya, Algeria and Mozambique were written off. The modern list, I think, will not differ fundamentally. Cubans were also very lucky nine years ago when Russia “forgot” about $30 billion.
Secondly, no one is seriously considering repaying African debts. Hand on heart, does anyone believe that Mozambique can give a couple of billions to a creditor?
These are the realities of modern politics. Russia, in the best case, would return these same billions of years in forty or fifty. But right now I would have received the deaf malice of the leaders of Africa, and with it loyalty to the Europeans.
One has to pay for the multipolarity that is now being formed in the world. And it’s good that not from the country’s budget, but by writing off non-refundable funds.
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