Vladimir Putin has told African leaders that Russia is a better partner than the West, as the third Russia–Africa Summit opened in Moscow on Wednesday.
Delegations from 48 countries are attending the two-day summit, including 22 African heads of state. Burundi's President Évariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union chair, was among the leaders Putin welcomed.
What Putin said:
• Africa is "increasingly asserting itself as one of the key players in the global economy and politics"
• Some countries opposing a multipolar world are "accustomed to thinking in terms of their colonial past"
• He accused Western countries of "active attempts" to push Africans back into debt bondage through predatory lending
• Russian business, he said, "does not engage in the predatory, neo-colonial exploitation of natural and human resources"
What Russia is offering:
• Sharing technology and digital know-how, and producing locally rather than only buying raw materials.
• More local processing of raw materials to create jobs and tax revenue
• Support for a bigger African voice at the IMF and World Bank
• Joint transport and farming infrastructure projects
• Grain and fertiliser for more than the 40 African countries that already receive them
Putin said Russia shipped 13 million tonnes of agricultural products to Africa in the first nine months of 2026, and that around 40,000 Africans now study at Russian universities, a record number.
Western governments accuse Russia's Africa Corps paramilitary force of propping up military governments such as Mali's, which Moscow denies.
The summit, first held in Sochi in 2019, continues on Thursday, with one-on-one meetings on trade, security, arms deals and grain.
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