President Putin takes a poke at former colonisers during the 8th Eastern Economic Forum
The Pan Afrikanist Watchman
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has once again taken a swipe at the former colonisers for throwing Africa into a debt trap from which she cannot escape.
Addressing the Plenary Session of the 8th Eastern Economic Forum, Putin recalled how the colonisers have put all African countries in debt, which runs into trillions of dollars.
“In other words, they have created a financial credit system for Africa under which the African countries can never pay off their loans. These are not credit arrangements at all; it is a form of contribution,” he noted.
Depicting in graphic form the brutality and inhumanity of the colonisers, Putin remembered a picture he was recently shown which showed how as recent as 1957 the colonisers brought people from Africa in cages to European countries, for example, Belgium.
“It is an ugly sight, children put up on display in cages. They brought people in cages and put them up on display, whole families and children in separate cages.
“How can you forget this? Nobody in Africa will ever forget this. And now they are trying to issue commands and pursue their neo-colonial policy there!” he said of the double standards of the Collective West.
But as for Russia, Putin extolled its relationship with Africa, recalling the ‘openness’ and “desire to work with us” demonstrated by African leaders during the recent July 26th Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg.
Putin pointed out that this desire is not necessarily borne out of the realization that Russia did something for Africa, such as helping their people regain freedom and independence and fight against colonialism.
“The main point is that we have never acted as colonisers anywhere. Our cooperation has always been based on equality or a desire to provide help and support”, he said.
When people look at what happened in the past during their cooperation with Russia, or the Soviet Union as it was called then, and with other countries, their scales are tilted in favour of Russia, which we must certainly take into account and remember today, Putin added.
“We used and still use a completely different approach, which gives us certain advantages when working with our partners, including those with whom we had special relations during the Soviet era and those with whom we are relaunching relations now”, he pointed out.
