Debts of African countries totaling more than $20 billion were canceled last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 20. Putin also revealed that trade between Russia and Africa had reached almost $18 billion by the end of the year. According to the Russian leader, the majority of the world opposes the “neocolonial” ideology of the West.
Putin wants to boost trade between Russia and Africa
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in 2022 Moscow canceled the debts of African countries totaling more than $20 billion. During the same year, trade between the two parties almost exceeded $18 billion.
Speech At a recent international conference, Putin, whose country has been hit hard by Western sanctions, also spoke about the possibility of increasing the value of trade between the two regions.
“That figure is unlikely to suit us completely, but we know it is far from the limit,” Putin reportedly said.
In addition to boosting direct trade between his country and the African continent, the Russian leader also spoke about his envisioned global financial system that is not dominated by the US dollar. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Western countries responded by imposing sanctions on Moscow and cutting the country out of the global financial system.
To counter the West’s move, Russia has not only defended for an alternative to the dollar-dominated financial system, but has signed bilateral agreements with countries like China and India. Under the terms of some of the agreements, national currencies are used to settle trades.
‘Counter-commodity exchanges’
Meanwhile, in his message to African countries, Putin also talked about the development of what he called “counter-goods exchanges.” The Russian leader stated that a “more energetic transition in financial arrangements to national currencies” as well as “the establishment of new transport and logistics chains” can facilitate the development of the planned commodity exchanges.
As for what he called the “neocolonial ideology” of Western countries, Putin stated that the majority of the world still “defends the traditional moral norms and social principles of our peoples” and opposes the ideals that are imposed from abroad. .
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