In February 2024 Moscow hosted the international forum “For Freedom of Nations!”, which was dedicated to the struggle against neocolonialism. This term was coined in the mid-20th century to describe a system of subordination and exploitation of younger states by former metropolises, including those recently liberated from colonial political dependence. Unfortunately, we see how the Western world continues to restrain the development of younger states, blatantly interfering in their internal affairs in various forms. And we can clearly see how former metropolises are trying their best to maintain their privileged positions after decolonization.
De facto colonialism has long penetrated all aspects of African life and its consequences seriously limit the continent’s capacity to resist to global challenges. And if in the past it was direct oppression, now the West is resorting to more sophisticated forms of dependency, notably a growing debt burden, which not only limits the development of the states, but also challenges their sovereignty. According to UNCTAD, over the past 12 years, Africa’s total debt has increased by 183% reaching $1.8 trillion, which is four times as high as the national GDP growth across the continent. Often the loans are at higher interest rates than those offered to the so-called “golden billion” countries. It is hard to talk about the economic freedom and independence of a particular country, when it has to coordinate policies with its creditors while making decisions.
Today, the continent also faces a problem with domestic financing for development. Africa loses up to $150 billion annually due to the siphoning of assets to Western countries. This is exacerbated by unlawful restrictive measures applied against independent states. Today they are imposed on 9 African countries and the West has no intention of lifting them.
At the same time, former colonizers advertise the assistance they provide, which in fact falls short of international norms and standards. In 2023, for example, the volume of humanitarian assistance to many African countries was only 20-30% of what the donors had promised. This year the situation remains the same.
The West’s hypocrisy is most evident in matters of food security. For example, only about 3% of Ukrainian grain supplied to foreign markets under the much-vaunted “Black Sea Initiative” went to the countries in Africa and Asia, while the lion’s share of this product was allocated to countries that were by no means suffering from hunger, mainly in the European Union.
It should be noted that Western donors often invest in projects that are of interest to them in terms of profitability, with African countries’ pressing problems sidelined. In our view, this is unfair, especially given the West’s essentially exploitative colonial past with these states. According to calculations, over 50 years the West has drained over $62 trillion worth of raw materials from the Global South. Today, we also witness monetary neocolonialism manifested in the dependence of French-speaking African states’ monetary system, with 14 countries making their calculationsin the single currency created by the capitalists, the CFA franc. In other words, what we are seeing, is control of the economic system of these states by outside powers – the use of this currency is limited by external barriers, which becomes a real obstacle to development.
Unfortunately, the neocolonialists’ blatant interference also affects the worldview of many Africans. Their traditions and centuries-old ways of life are constantly undermined, including by reshaping of the basics of religions and beliefs.
More recently, on the pretext of caring for the environment and combating climate change, the West has in fact been seeking to gain virtually unlimited access to deposits of lithium, graphite, cobalt, rare earth metals, and nickel, which are essential for the transition to low-carbon energy. The “carrot” is the promise of aid for climate finance. In 2010 developing countries were promised $100 billion annually for a period of 10 years. However, they received a tiny part of what had been promised. In 2015, the same money was promised again in Paris, but nothing has changed. Western countries are building “dirty” manufacturing plants abroad, including in Africa, while forcing developing countries to buy expensive “green” technologies from them.
We are convinced that the struggle against neocolonialism will ultimately enable former colonies to achieve full sovereignty and effectively resist the imposition of unequal economic and political relations. In this regard, the efforts of the entire world community to complete the process of decolonization and to get rid of neocolonial dependence are needed more than ever before.
In our understanding, neocolonial practices are a dead end. Our choice is to create a multipolar, inclusive and sustainable system of international relations based on the norms of international law and the UN Charter. This implies the formation of a world order that will take into account the right of every nation to self-determination and reflect cultural diversity. In this regard, the Russian Federation counts on coordinated actions withinsuch multilateral associations as the SCO, BRICS, the African Union, ASEAN, etc. We consider the entry of the African Union into the G20 as an important achievement of collective Africa. We also support strengthening Africa’s position in global bodies such as the UN Security Council. We note that the current representation of African states in the UN Security Council does not reflect the number of African countries on the planet,nor the role that the continent plays in international life. This imbalance needs to be redressed.
At the same time, we believe it is necessary to develop horizontal connections between regional associations of different continents, creating a network of constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation. We assign one of the leading roles in this process to BRICS.
In conclusion, I would like to underline that this year, within the framework of Russia’ chairmanship of BRICS, our country has held and is going to hold a number of important international events aimed at building a balanced world community free from the legacy of the colonial system and based on the principles of inclusive multilateralism, sovereign equality, peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between countries with different political and social systems. I hope that together with our African partners we will successfully continue this important and necessary work for us.
Evgeny Terekhin is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Ethiopia
