Russia Writes Off African Countries‘ Debts Totaling Over $20 Billion

• In 2022, Russia wrote off African countries‘ debts totaling over $20 billion.
• Trade between Russia and Africa reached nearly $18 billion by the end of 2022.
• Putin discussed the possibility of increasing trade between the two regions and developing counter-commodity exchanges to facilitate financial settlements.

Russia Writes Off African Countries‘ Debts

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 20 that in 2022 Moscow wrote off debts of African countries that totaled over $20 billion. Furthermore, trade between his country and the continent had nearly reached $18 billion by the end of the year.

Increased Trade Between Russia and Africa

Putin expressed his desire to increase trade between Russia and Africa during a recent international conference. He noted that while this figure may not be sufficient, it is far from being a limit. The Russian leader also spoke about his envisioned global financial system that is not dominated by the U.S. dollar as a response to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

Counter-Commodity Exchanges

In addition to increased direct trade, Putin talked about developing „counter-commodity exchanges,“ which he claimed would facilitate financial settlements with national currencies instead of the U.S. Dollar as well as create new transport and logistics chains for trades between Russia and Africa.

Opposition to Neo-Colonial Ideology

The Russian leader also expressed opposition to what he called „neo-colonial ideology“ imposed from outside sources, claiming that most of the world still upholds traditional social principles rather than those imposed from without.

Conclusion

Overall, Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed increased economic ties between Russia and Africa through writing off debt totaling over $20 billion in addition to boosting direct trade values up to near $18 billion by the end of 2022 along with creating „counter-commodity exchanges“ for settling trades with national currencies instead of relying solely on the U.S dollar’s global domination in order to oppose neo-colonialism ideologies imposed from outside sources