African leaders have called for stronger economic cooperation with Russia, with an emphasis on investment, industrialisation, technology transfer and local processing of natural resources.
The call was made at the third Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in Moscow on October 28, attended by around 20 heads of state, including Mali’s transitional President, General Assimi Goïta, and Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, who represented President Ibrahim Traoré.
Speaking on behalf of the African Union, its current chairperson, Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, urged both sides to turn their partnership into tangible benefits for African populations. He called for a shift away from traditional trade in raw materials towards local processing, job creation and skills development.
Ndayishimiye also identified energy, agribusiness, infrastructure and technology as priority areas, while highlighting the need to diversify trade, strengthen logistics corridors and develop payment systems to support economic exchanges.
The forum also featured discussions on expanding cooperation in healthcare, education, agriculture and digital technology, as well as showcasing Russian technological solutions that could support development across the continent.
In his address, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a greater African role in international institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He also advocated a multipolar world in which African countries have the right to determine their own development paths.
Putin criticised debt arrangements that he said constrain African development, citing former Burkinabe president Thomas Sankara’s 1987 remarks describing debt as a form of neocolonialism.
