Expert commented on Belarus’ interest in Equatorial Guinea and Kenya

Belarus sees an opportunity to implement the vector of its foreign policy and trade development in the Asian and African directions in the countries of the Global South – as stated by the Dean of the Belarusian State University’s Journalism Department, Aleksei Belyaev, in his talk with Alfa Radio

According to the expert, 2023 is the year of Africa for Belarus. “In fact, our political year began with the visit of President Aleksandr Lukashenko to African countries, and it ends with the same vector. At the same time, new states are not just new acquaintances. We see that more than 70 agreements were signed in Equatorial Guinea. We also hear the President's statements (and he does not like to throw words around) that Belarus will start digging and building something [in African countries] virtually tomorrow. Therefore, we are definitely implementing the vector of our foreign policy and trade development in the Asian and African directions. This is a clear turn to the Global South,” he explained.

Mr. Belyaev added that the role of the Global South in international processes is currently increasing dramatically, “We can see how it is crossing the main development opportunities. More than 50 percent of the world's GDP is already produced there, and the Global South has already surpassed the countries of the ‘golden billion’. At present, the importance of this vector is increasing politically, and we can feel that Africa has awakened. There has already been a lot of evidence this year of Africa's rejection of its colonial past and a break with its former colonialist owners – i.e. France, which has failed in a number of states. We hear the voices of African countries, and they demand that they be given more rights and opportunities at the UN. Belarus supports African states in this regard. Our country wants them to receive decent representation, including in the UN Security Council. On the other hand, it is a very important point for Belarus to diversify its markets and sources of possible raw materials, since the countries visited by our President – i.e. Equatorial Guinea – are certainly one of the serious commodity leaders. They have many raw materials of interest to us.”

The expert mentioned Kenya as an example, “This country needs Belarusian industrial support, it provides itself and others with agricultural and food resources, but at the same time it lacks the most necessary production facilities and things. Kenya is quite ready to become a consumer of our machinery, including agricultural one, which it needs to expand production. It is ready to be a consumer of our construction services, also becoming a hub for servicing Belarusian equipment on the African continent. Belarus has made these proposals to several African states this year, and certain progress is already in place.”