Putin at Russia-Africa summit: 'No neo-colonial exploitation,' promises security and development partnership
Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the 2026 Russia-Africa summit in Moscow Wednesday, sharply criticizing Western nations and corporations for what he called 'predatory, neo-colonial exploitation of Africa's natural and human resources.' Speaking at the Kremlin, Putin contrasted Russia's approach—domestic processing of raw materials creating local jobs and revenue—with the extractive model he attributed to former colonial powers.
The summit, attended by African heads of state and delegations, comes as Putin positions Russia as an alternative partner for African nations seeking infrastructure, energy, and security cooperation without political conditions. He pledged Russian support for counter-terrorism efforts, epidemic response, and food, digital, and environmental security across the continent.
Putin invoked Soviet-era support for African independence movements, crediting it with development gains in agriculture, energy, and infrastructure decades ago. 'Russian-African relations are built on time-tested traditions of sincere friendship and mutual assistance, respect and equality,' he said.
Concrete agreements from the summit were not detailed in initial reports. African leaders will assess whether Moscow's rhetoric translates into financing, technology transfer, and market access that Western partners have been slow to deliver. For Nigeria and other African economies, the test is whether this summit produces deals that create jobs and build local industrial capacity—or merely replaces one external dependency with another.