PUTIN TO AFRICA: Russia Is Your 'Natural Ally' As Moscow Pushes To Expand Global Influence And Ties

It is important that Russia and Africa are united by truly strong bonds of friendship and close partnership. We are natural allies in building a multipolar and genuinely democratic world order, free from diktat and double standards, and based on respect for international law and the fundamental principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. Let me recall the words of the outstanding anti-colonial leader and Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere. He said, Independence means self-reliance. It is on the basis of this approach that our country has always stood alongside African peoples and supported their struggle against colonial oppression. We provided comprehensive and selfless support to the countries of the continent in their pursuit of freedom and genuine independence, sovereign development, and the right to choose their own models of political, social, and economic development. I want to emphasize that Russia has always been, and remains, interested in African countries defending their sovereignty, growing confidently, and strengthening their economies and social sectors. We are ready to continue working together with you to achieve these goals in all these areas. Naturally, this also concerns economic cooperation. I would note that Russia's trade with African countries exceeded 27 billion dollars last year. Since our previous summit, this figure has increased by one and a half times. The momentum is good, but the true potential of our cooperation is, of course, considerably greater. Our business community has always approached cooperation with African partners honestly, respectfully, and conscientiously, doing business on an equal footing. They do not extract profits in the spirit of the colonial practices of former metropoles, but instead invest and reinvest their revenues in the development of your country's economies. They readily share their advanced technologies and expertise and extensively engage local subcontractors, creating new production facilities and jobs. And these are not just empty words. I say this with full responsibility. Many colleagues present here know this. When major projects are implemented, local contractors are engaged, and so on. Russia is a stable supplier of food and agricultural products to African markets. This represents a concrete and tangible contribution to ensuring food security across Africa. In 2025, in particular, we supplied more than 18 million tons of grain to Africa, and another 13 million tons in the first nine months of 2026 alone. Russian supplies of mineral fertilizers amounted to around 1.5 million tons last year, and this year they have already exceeded 2.2 million tons. We are convinced that with the use of modern agricultural technologies and proper organization of agricultural production, as you yourselves say, dear friends, Africa will in the future be able not only to feed itself, but also to become a major exporter of various food products. Russia is ready to share its expertise and technologies in agribusiness with African countries. Yesterday, my colleagues and I toured the exhibition organized for our forum, And you heard proposals from our colleagues, including the Ministry of Agriculture, on joint work in this sector. This, incidentally, applies not only to agriculture, but to virtually every other sector of the economy. For example, with the participation of Russian businesses, promising initiatives to introduce advanced Russian digital services are being actively implemented across the continent. And following our summit, we will adopt a declaration on Russia-Africa partnership in the use of artificial intelligence. It is also gratifying that the positions of Russia and African countries on the most pressing issues of global politics are largely close or coincide. We stand for an equal dialogue and for taking into account the interests of all states. Our country seeks to contribute in every possible way to strengthening Africa's role on key multilateral platforms. We advocate fair African representation in the global decision-making system, including in the UN Security Council and international financial institutions. We supported the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly last December, establishing 14 December as the International Day against colonialism in all its forms and manifestations. And of course, we welcome the UN decision in March this year, recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. It is important that Russia and Africa are united by truly strong bonds of friendship and close partnership. We are natural allies in building a multipolar and genuinely democratic world order, free from diktat and double standards and based on respect for international law and the fundamental principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection. Let me recall the words of the outstanding anti-colonial leader and Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere. He said, independence means self-reliance. It is on the basis of this approach that our country has always stood alongside African peoples and supported their struggle against colonial oppression. We provided comprehensive and selfless support to the countries of the continent in their pursuit of freedom and genuine independence, sovereign development and the right to choose their own models of political, social and economic development. I want to emphasize that Russia has always been and remains interested in African countries defending their sovereignty, growing confidently and strengthening their economies and social sectors. We are ready to continue working together with you to achieve these goals in all these areas. Naturally, this also concerns economic cooperation. I would note that Russia's trade with African countries exceeded 27 billion dollars last year. Since our previous summit, this figure has increased by one and a half times. The momentum is good, but the true potential of our cooperation is, of course, considerably greater. Our business community has always approach cooperation with African partners honestly, respectfully, and conscientiously doing business on an equal footing. They do not extract profits in the spirit of the colonial practices of former metropoles, but instead invest and reinvest their revenues in the development of your country's economies. They readily share their advanced technologies and expertise and extensively engage local subcontractors creating new production facilities and jobs and these are not just empty words I say this with full responsibility many colleagues present here know this when major projects are implemented local contractors are engaged and so on Russia is a stable supplier of food and agricultural products to African markets this represents a concrete and tangible contribution to ensuring food security across Africa. In 2025, in particular, we supplied more than 18 million tons of grain to Africa and another 13 million tons in the first nine months of 2026 alone. Russian supplies of mineral fertilizers amounted to around 1.5 million tons last year, and this year they have already exceeded 2.2 million tons. We are convinced that with the use of modern agricultural technologies and proper organization of agricultural production, as you yourselves say, dear friends, Africa will in the future be able not only to feed itself, but also to become a major exporter of various food products. Russia is ready to share its expertise and technologies in agribusiness with African countries. Yesterday, my colleagues and I toured the exhibition organized for our forum, and you heard proposals from our colleagues, including the Ministry of Agriculture, on joint work in this sector. This, incidentally, applies not only to agriculture, but to virtually every other sector of the economy. For example, with the participation of Russian businesses, promising initiatives to introduce advanced Russian digital services are being actively implemented across the continent and following our summit we will adopt a declaration on Russia-Africa partnership in the use of artificial intelligence. It is also gratifying that the positions of Russia and African countries on the most pressing issues of global politics are largely close or coincide. We stand for an equal dialogue and for taking into account the interests of all states. Our country seeks to contribute in every possible way to strengthening Africa's role on key multilateral platforms. We advocate fair African representation in the global decision-making system, including in the UN Security Council and international financial institutions. We supported the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly last December, establishing 14 December as the International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations. And of course, we welcome the UN decision in March this year, recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. If you like this video, then like, share and subscribe to Mirror Now.