Belarusian model of cooperation with African partners is fundamentally different from Western model

A big negotiating marathon took place in Southern Africa and the Middle East. This week turned out to be full of top-level contacts in two important regions of the world. Agreements were reached during the visit of the President of Belarus to the UAE and Zimbabwe, which laid the foundation for cooperation for years to come.

The state visit to the African country was a most eventful one. The Presidents of Belarus and Zimbabwe discussed the entire range of the bilateral agenda, from industrial and trade cooperation to education. Belarus is ready to train local specialists and train personnel. The third phase of the program to mechanize farms using Belarusian equipment was launched. Feeding the country was one of the main objectives of the incumbent President of Zimbabwe. The talks between the heads of states also made it possible to outline new directions of joint work. A solid package of documents was signed as a result.

There can be no planetary development without Africa. A number of countries in this region are developing very dynamically. The U.S. and China, Russia and Great Britain, and the entire European Union are not just present here, but actively compete. Belarus has long been systematically building its cooperation with African countries. But our model of work on the continent is fundamentally different from the Western model. What is most important is that we have no colonial intentions.

Sergei Aleinik, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus:

“We initially built our interaction with African partners on the modern paradigm of a multipolar world. We create honest, equal and mutually beneficial relations, we bring technology, train people, recognize the diversity of ways of development and offer cooperation projects. And at the same time, we do not impose additional conditions. The state visit of the President of Belarus to Zimbabwe just confirmed the perspective and the correctness of our chosen strategy.”

Sergei Aleinik added that this visit at the beginning of the year opened a whole series of planned significant bilateral events with the countries of the far arc. "This year's schedule in this direction is very intense. Many of the events will take place at the highest level."