Sochi is a Russian seaside resort town famous for organizing many international conferences and sports events. It is also a pleasant venue for major international conferences where tourist attractions draw thousands of visitors from all corners of the world. Russian dignitaries used to pass their summer vacations in this resort town an ideal whether combines with modern health facilities to provide memorable moments to so many people.
More recently, Sochi has also become a conference town where diplomacy is conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, particularly at this time of the year. Last week’s Russia-Africa economic forum also took place in this town and wrapped after the participants signed major agreements in Russo-African relations in the context of the new global economic and political environment.
Why does Russia need a new kind of economic relation with Africa? The answer is simple. Russia is one of the strongest economic and political powers in the world. Despite the rocky journey that followed the end of the Cold War back in 1989, and its bumpy transition from a socialist to a market economy, Russia has now emerged as a major and influential power in the world. As a corollary to its new found status, Russia is seeking a global status commensurate with its economic, political and military profile.
The collapse of the postwar bipolar world and the emergence of different poles of influence in the world make it incumbent on Russia to come out into the world and take part in the global quest for economic or military alliances in accordance with its national interests. Russo-African relations go back to many decades particularly starting from the 1960s when African countries achieved political independence from colonial powers.
Russia has played a crucial role in encouraging and supporting Africa’s quest for independence by providing diplomatic, military or financial assistance to the anti-colonial and post-colonial struggles in Africa. Thus, many independence movements on the African continent found all round assistance from Russia which was then known as the Soviet Union.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ushered in a difficult period in Russian diplomatic, economic and political developments. The consequences of post- Soviet period had also negative impacts on developments in Africa. Many African countries had established strong ties with the Soviet state before 1991 and many of them depended on Russia to finance their economic developments that faced enormous problems in the post-independence period.
The Soviet Union was in ideological competition with the West and many African countries had opted for what was then called a non-capitalist path of economic and social development. They received enormous amounts of financial and technological assistance to finance their development projects and turned to the Soviet Union for assistance on the basis of their ideological orientation.
The collapse of the former Soviet Union was not only a difficult time for Russia. It was also a challenge for many African countries whose survival depended largely on generous Soviet assistance. A number of these countries were thus forced to change their ideological orientation and turn to the West in the post-cold war period.
Russia was too busy adjusting its politics and economics to the new global realties and worked hard to reconsider its relations with Africa. More recently, Russia has started to articulate a more realistic and constructive policies in order to boost its presence in the international arena. There were ideological, economic and political adjustments to be made both in Russia and Africa to properly respond to the demands of the new global realties.
The multi-polar world required that global affairs be conducted differently from what they used to be under the bipolar world. However, the neorealist approach required that there should be not one or two poles of influences but many. Thus Russia, together with the United States and more recently, China has virtually become the third pole of influence in global affairs. As Russia emerged from its post-1991 economic chaos, it was capable of competing in the globalized world where economic alliances play a more vital role in shaping the future.
The new Russian diplomacy has picked up from what Cold-War diplomacy has left off. Ideology has lost its importance in shaping economic relations and national interest came forward to claim its proper place. As Russia re-emerged as a global force to be reckoned with, it has also re-shaped its alliances in accordance with the principle of global interdependence. Africa has also found itself in the midst of these new global realities where economic development has assumed greater importance than military ones.
Ethiopia’s diplomacy has likewise evolved from what it used to be under the old bipolar system when security interests assumed greater importance than economic ones. Nowadays, Ethiopia is mainly focused on developing its economy by forging its relations with all countries of the world irrespective of ideology or economic policies. The term economic diplomacy assumed an unprecedented importance in Ethiopia’s foreign policy as a matter of urgency. Ethiopia needs to forge strong relations with big or small countries irrespective of their ideology or internal political orientation.
Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular have assumed strategic importance in the new global economy. Africa is struggling to rise from poverty and underdevelopment in order to assume its rightful place in global affairs. These new relations are however replete with opportunities as well as new challenges. On balance, the opportunities outweigh the challenges. Africa, including Ethiopia, is forging its economic alliances with countries that have the clout as well as commitment to assist Africa’s long overdue rise to economic prominence.
The continent is endowed with natural resources that make such relations possible because natural resources in Africa are turning from being a curse to a blessing. New world economic powers like China are keen to finance Africa’s economic development while traditional powers such as Europe and America are also engaged in Africa’s search for a way out of economic backwardness.
Russia is thus the latest addition to Africa’s quest for global economic development partners on a win-win basis. Russia’s interest is a direct response to changing global economic realities whereby advanced countries are assisting African countries without consideration to ideology or political orientation. A similar feeling was expressed at the Sochi forum by Russian President Vladimir Putin who said that his country is ready to cooperate with Africa without any precondition. It seems that economic pragmatism is actually governing Russian attitude towards cooperation with African countries.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Ethiopia date back to centuries while economic relations are recent. The 1974 Revolution in Ethiopia had provided unprecedented opportunities for economic and strategic alliance with the then Soviet Union. However, this relation could not last due to historic changes and when Soviet assistance ended back in 1991, Ethiopia owed the former communist country a debt estimated to more than 10 billion dollars.
However, the new Russian government decide to write off this debt as Ethiopia was struggling to overcome the economic difficulties it had been facing in the wake of its transition to a new economic system. Economic relations between the two countries had largely remained in the cold for many years. The Sochi forum was therefore an opportunity for Ethiopia to renew or give new impetus to Russo-Ethiopian relations by putting it into a new global perspective.
Some of the gains of the Sochi forum was that Russo-Africa trade volume is decoded to be Increased from the present 40 billion dollar to many fold in the near future. Russia has made debt cancellation to Africa worth 20 billion dollars. One of the distinguishing features of the Sochi forum was that Russia has made it clear that there is no condition attached to future economic relations between Russia and Africa.
Ethiopia and Russia have signed agreement of cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear power. As Rwanda president Paul Kagame reportedly said at the conference, Africa and Russia have ample opportunity to cooperate in the area of intelligence sharing and security as well as in science and technology. South African president Ceril Ramaphosa on his part said that the Sochi forum was successful in many ways as it links the history of past Russo-African relations to the present.
What has Ethiopia gained from the recent Sochi forum? Primarily, it has gained the confidence and determination of Russia to assist Ethiopia in its quest for economic development in the context of the new economic reform program. Secondly Ethiopia, as an African country, is going to benefit from the Sochi forum in many ways. Most of all Ethiopia has secured a debt cancellation of around 164 million dollars debt from the Russian side.
Economic liberalization in Ethiopia will certainly open up new opportunities for Russian investors. This would also mark a new transition from government assistance to private sector initiative by engaging Russian investors. Russia is widening the horizon of its cooperation with African countries and the coming few years will certainly witness a further consolidation and practical implementation agreements signed at the Sochi Russian-African forum where more than 3000 delegates including political and business leaders took part.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 3 November 2019
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
