Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Western countries were making “aggressive attempts” to drive Africans “back into financial bondage”, in a speech at the third Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, part of the third Russia-Africa summit in Moscow.

“Western countries are making aggressive attempts to drive Africans back into financial bondage, imposing on them the financial resources they so desperately need on extortionate terms, which force them to pay back many times over to service and repay such debts, to the detriment of their long-term development plans,” Putin said.

He said Russia had faced resistance from countries “accustomed to thinking in colonial terms”, which “resort to any, even the ugliest and most cynical means, including tariff wars, illegitimate sanctions, economic dictate, blackmail and interference in the internal affairs of others”.

“In the past five years, BRICS countries have accounted for over 40% of global GDP, while the Group of Seven has accounted for less than 30%,” Putin said.

He said Russian-African trade “exceeded US$27 billion last year”, up from US$18 billion in 2022, and that Russia was “one of the most reliable guarantors of food security on the African continent”.

Putin said the leaders were due to adopt “a plan of action of the Russia-Africa partnership forum for 2027-2029” today, “given the summit outcomes”.