Compare the draft agenda for the July 26-29 “Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum” in St. Petersburg prepared by the Russian Foreign Ministry, with the agenda of President Biden’s “Democracy Summit” flop earlier this year, or any such multinational meeting organized by the West in recent decades.
The overall concept is “Technology and Security for Sovereign Development that Benefits People.” Subtopics under the rubric of “The New Global Economy” range from “Financing Major New Infrastructure Projects in Africa,” to “Identifying an Effective Strategy for Cooperation in Agribusiness"; “New Russian-African Logistics Routes"; “Creating a Payment and Settlement System Using National Currencies"; and similar real economic matters. Under “Cooperation and Science and Technology” are included “Nuclear Technologies for African Development"; “Achieving Technological Sovereignty through Industrial Cooperation"; “Bringing Russian Shipbuilding to Africa: A Modern Fleet to Develop the Entire Continent"; and so forth. Among the other sessions, “Stabilizing the Fertilizer Market To Eradicate Hunger in African Countries” and “Russia-Africa: Transferring the Best Educational Technologies for General, Vocational and Further Education” are included. There is much more, but you get the idea.
Now consider the most recent example of what China likewise offers Africa, as evidenced in the discussions and agreements resulting from the May 24-29 state visit of Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo to Beijing. When Presidents Tshisekedi and Xi Jinping met on May 26, they issued a joint statement on plans for expanding cooperation in education, scientific research, health, infrastructure construction, mining and agriculture, Chinese media report. China was already the D.R.C.’s leading trading partner and source of foreign investment; relations are now upgraded to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership,” involving greater coordination between the two countries. Global Times referred to the reported agreement for cooperation on minerals as aimed at helping the D.R.C. diversify its economy, and “build infrastructure and basic industries.”
