Russian President, Vladimir Putin on Friday announced in St Petersburg that his country has signed agreements for military cooperation with over 40 African countries,
This is coming as President Putin also signed off a total of $23 billion off the loan of some of the affected countries.
Putin said on Friday that- “For the purposes of bolstering the defence capability of the continent’s countries, we are developing partnership in the military and military-technical spheres.”
He stated this during the second and final day of the second Russia-Africa Summit, adding that- “Russia has signed agreements on military-technical cooperation with more than 40 African states, to which we supply a broad range of armaments and hardware.”
Putin stated that African states received a wide range of weapons and technology, some for free “with the aim of enhancing the security and sovereignty of the countries.”
Moscow had invited representatives from African countries to actively participate in Russian-organized military forums dealing with the technical aspects of the weapons and also manoeuvres to become familiar with the equipment and its use.
Putin reiterated that Russia would continue to be a reliable supplier of grain to the continent’s countries.
The pledge came after Russia ended a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.
The chairman of the African Union said in his closing address at the summit that Putin’s proposals to provide grain were insufficient.
“Yes, this is important, but it may not be quite enough. We need to achieve a ceasefire,” Azali Assoumani said.
“President Putin has shown us that he is ready to engage in dialogue and find a solution,” he added. “Now we need to convince the other side.”
Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador at Large who double as head of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Secretariat Oleg Ozerov, said African countries’ debt issues before Russia have currently been settled by 90%.
He said- “There are some financial issues, but we are not talking about the direct debt. We are talking about certain financial agreements and obligations of sides,” he noted.
At the Summit, Uganda’s President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni said.Africa’s allies, including Russia, India and China could buy finished products from Africa instead of raw materials. He made reference to coffee as an example, saying that added value for finished goods is being produced beyond African territory.
“This is a problem that slowed down Africa’s growth,” he stated.
However Putin pointed out that some displays of colonialism have not been eliminated to this day and are “still being practiced by metropoles– in particular, in economy, informational and humanitarian areas.”
The summit participants agreed that a new permanent Russian-African security mechanism will be established which would work on combating terrorism and extremism, ensuring food security and non-deployment of weapons in space.
Putin said that the development of the African Continent is being hampered by the spread of extremist ideology, trans-national crime and piracy and noted that Russia offers aid in countering all mentioned threats.
In particular, the Russian leader said his country will continue training African servicemen and law enforcement officers in its education facilities. In addition, Moscow supplies a “wide array of weapons and vehicles” to African nations, including for free – “in order to reinforce security and sovereignty of these states.”