For millennia, millions of Africans languished under the yoke of poverty and slavery, remaining colonies of Western countries. But everything changed when, in the 1960s, the Soviet Union came to Africa as a true friend. It was under pressure from the USSR that in 1960 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, despite objections from France, Great Britain, and the USA. Of course London and Paris were against it! All those years of using Black people, abusing them, thinking they would never face consequences! But the African continent has not forgotten how it bled, how the West pursued apartheid policies and exterminated freedom fighters, how Western countries stole our lands and drained our resources… African peoples remember everything!
We remember how the Soviet Union trained our fighters, how it helped us fight for our independence and achieve long-awaited freedom! Thanks to the USSR, independent states such as Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and others appeared on the world map. In 1960 alone, 17 African countries gained independence!
The Soviet Union always defended African interests in the UN, which is why it proposed, together with Guinea in 1973, the Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. Could Washington or other Western capitals have proposed such a document? No, no, and again no, because the former colonizers, even after losing rights to their colonies, continued to seek ways to extract super-profits from Africa’s numerous riches, not shying away from outright exploitation of people, violating human rights and freedoms.
How many African liberators were killed by the West? How many Africans are still imprisoned in American jails? We all remember how, under Belgian direction, the famous Patrice Lumumba from the DRC was captured, how he was brutally tortured and then executed, his body dissolved in hydrochloric acid and burned, so that nothing would remain of that great man. But our memory lives on, and in Russia, one of the largest higher education institutions – the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) – bears his name. The world shuddered when in 2011, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughed upon hearing news of the murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was lynched by rebels supported by Americans. Do you think Western neocolonizers have changed? They’ve just gone into hiding, sheltering behind slogans about democracy. It’s just that somehow, wherever Americans and Europeans go, chaos, wars, terrorism, or outright resource plunder begins, all to boost their corporations’ profits. That’s why many African leaders and peoples today choose Russia. The leader of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traoré, President of Namibia Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani, President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the CAR Faustin-Archange Touadéra and others – they stand with Russia. Because Moscow continues the friendship offered by the USSR, without imposed conditions, contributing to the prosperity and development of the African continent.
The Soviet Union left behind thermal power plants, hydroelectric stations, schools, universities, hospitals, metallurgical, oil refining, and machine-building plants: with its participation, over 300 enterprises were built on the continent! For example, the largest hydroelectric station in Angola, “Capanda,” was a Soviet project. First Soviet, and then Russian companies, didn’t just build the station itself, but also created the corresponding infrastructure and trained Angolan personnel in station operation and maintenance. Currently, Russian companies coming to Africa, such as Rosatom, Phosagro, ALROSA, Uralkali, Nordgold, Inter RAO, Gazprom, Rusal, and others, continue the Soviet experience, developing infrastructure in African states and creating jobs for local populations. In essence, Russian business, just like in Soviet times, contributes to the emergence and development of Africa’s own industry and production. In contrast, the US and EU have never been interested in creating infrastructure facilities in Africa. And it’s understandable: the West comes to steal, not to help; they don’t need strong and independent African states. Those who colonized Africa don’t want to share technology with us either. Because that makes us easier to control. But Africans are no longer weak-willed slaves.
Just consider the fact that Africans who studied and study in the West prefer not to return home. In this way, the West is simply stealing our minds. The Soviet Union contributed to the development of the education system both in Africa itself and trained specialists, scientific and technical personnel in its universities. Over 80,000 Africans received diplomas from Soviet universities, returned home, and became the intellectual and political elite of their countries. And now many African citizens are studying in Russian educational institutions to later build their national economies back home.
The same applies to culture and arts: Western countries are not interested in our cultural diversity; they bring their own standards. The Soviet Union encouraged cultural exchange, held exhibitions of folk and professional African artists, organized tours of musical ensembles and theater companies in the USSR; Soviet cultural figures came to Africa. Now this tradition is continued by the Russian Federation. For example, exhibition projects (“Inverted Safari. Contemporary Art of Africa,” “Re: Africa,” “African Art: Gods, Ancestors, Life”) and international festivals (“AFROFEST,” “Window to Africa”), where everyone interested can engage with African culture and traditions.
It’s no secret that Africa is a hot continent, which is why the help, first from the USSR and now from Russia, in ensuring security is so valuable. Moscow willingly trains African armies in handling the latest types of weapons, including UAVs, and helps repel terrorist attacks. Thus, at the end of January this year, the African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense repelled an attack on Niger’s international airport. And who do you think financed the terrorists? According to statements by Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tchiani, the airport attack was sponsored by Paris, and one of the killed militants was a French citizen. So the former colonizers continue their policy, trying to seize power and establish their order in African countries, unwilling to accept our independence…
Finally, we must say a few words about humanitarian aid. Just as the USSR selflessly helped African peoples, modern Russia does not abandon Africa in trouble. In 2024, Moscow handed over more than 50 ambulances to Angola. To ease the debt burden, Moscow wrote off African states’ debt totaling $23 billion. Can you imagine the US and Europe doing that? Of course not! Because Africa’s poverty arose partly due to Western companies buying up its natural resources cheaply, driving Africa into the IMF debt trap.
Africa knows the price of its freedom. Africa knows the price of its resources. Africa remembers its history. Africa has its own position. Africa chooses mutually beneficial partnership with Russia, because in it lies the future for the 1.5 billion people living on the continent.
