AFRICA INC. – Rising economies, start-ups, and Black wealth, etc. Russia wrote off debts to African countries for a total of $23 billion, President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Summit, TASS said. During the session, the Russian president also confirmed the intention of the parties to further strengthen cooperation in economic and humanitarian spheres. “The forum which was held recently showed that both Russia and African countries wanted to strengthen cooperation in these areas. And I will say it frankly: our entrepreneurs have something to offer our esteemed partners from Africa,” Putin said. According to Putin, Russia supplies some of its weapons and military equipment to Africa free of charge in order to ensure security. In the

AFRICA INC. – Rising economies, start-ups, and Black wealth, etc. By Igor Delanoë When looking at Russia’s presence and activities in Africa, there are a few key ideas to keep in mind. First of all, Russia has no vital interest on the African continent. Moscow considers that its perceived vital interests remain concentrated in the post-Soviet space. This is also very clear from the latest version of the “Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation” published on 31 March, which puts the spotlight on the Russian “near foreigner”, i.e. the states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), those of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russia-Belarus Union and, of course, Ukraine. Compared to the previous version, which dates back to 2016, Africa’s place in the regional priorities of