Hommam Al Nassim 
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Africa views Russia as a guarantor of security, stressing that Moscow is not afraid of fair competition in the African continent but is ready for it.
In an interview with New Eastern Outlook, Bogdanov explained: “Russia is not afraid of fair competition and is ready for it, presenting itself to Africa as a serious guarantor of stability and security, as well as presenting its traditional, newly developed and sometimes unique competencies.”
“Based on the reaction of our African partners, there is a growing demand for our country’s assistance in the Sahara-Sahel region and more broadly across the continent,” he added.
He noted that interest in Africa around the world is now great and constantly increasing, because there is ongoing talk about “the continent of the future with inexhaustible natural and human resources, and a market with increasingly high profit margins in several locations.”
“As a result, the competition between outside players for a place under the African sun is dangerous, and in addition to the traditional competitors represented by the collective countries of the West, there are more and more representatives of the ‘Global East and South’.
He pointed out that the competition for the African continent is now fierce between China, India, Turkey, the Arab Gulf countries, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, pointing to the large list of competitors that are candidates for increase and expansion.
Bogdanov stressed that Russia categorically does not accept Western attempts to dictate to Africans who they can deal with, noting that the positive point is that Africans themselves categorically reject such neo-colonial encroachments.
He added: “In building our cooperation and relations with African countries, we proceed from the principle that the African continent is not an arena of conflict between major international players, but rather a new emerging and diverse global pole and role model.”
Russia is ready to help strengthen the current potential of African countries, without setting any political conditions and without providing unwanted advice, he said, stressing that this is Moscow’s competitive advantage.
According to him, Russia’s priority is to support and strengthen the sovereignty of African countries and ensure the national security of the countries of the continent.
He concluded that the promotion in these areas, taking into account the cultural and historical characteristics of African countries in exchange for the neo-colonial Western policy, has become the overall idea of the St. Petersburg Summit and the ideological unification of public policy, stressing that this Russian position towards the African continent stems from considering it an emerging center of a multipolar world.
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