This article was originally published on the author’s Substack page, Die Multipolare Welt. It has been edited here for publication in EIR.

July 18—When Westerners think of capital cities, they probably think of London, Paris, Washington, and perhaps Berlin. But who thinks of Addis Ababa? Yet this East African metropolis of 3.5 million inhabitants is not only the capital for 135 million Ethiopians, but also the seat of the African Union (AU) and one of the ten BRICS capitals. On July 7, 2026, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Addis Ababa with a diplomatic delegation. He first met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos. Public statements spoke of a “warm atmosphere and mutual trust” in light of the “long-standing tradition of friendship between the two peoples.” Shortly afterward, the Russian delegation visited the headquarters of the African Union Commission and met with its Chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. For Foreign Minister Lavrov, this was a stroke of luck, as Youssouf had served for 20 years as Foreign Minister of Djibouti, located in Ethiopia’s eastern neighborhood, and thus possesses a similar wealth of experience to Lavrov, with whom he has developed a friendly relationship following numerous meetings. A joint declaration by the African Union and the Russian Federation, the “Joint Statement of the African Union–Russian Federation High-Level Consultations,” was issued after the meeting. Russia intends to significantly intensify its relations and forms of cooperation with the African continent. Lavrov’s trip to Africa was historically significant.

Africa’s ‘Second Awakening’

Anyone concerned with current geopolitical shifts of world-historical significance should take note of Foreign Minister Lavrov’s opening address. He stated that the current situation is not only extraordinary, but “without exaggeration, an historic turning point.” “As the world’s richest continent, Africa is experiencing a ‘second awakening.’ In the 1960s, when decolonization began, our country, the Soviet Union, played the most active role in this process. At that time, political independence was of paramount importance,” he explained. Even though political independence has been achieved in the vast majority of cases, “colonial possessions on the African continent have remained intact—despite numerous UN General Assembly resolutions demanding the full implementation of the decolonization process.”