YAOUNDE, Cameroon—A new bilateral intercourse is growing between the diplomatically isolated Eastern European nation of Belarus and countries in Africa.
This is epitomized by the Belarusian president’s recent visit to the continent.
President Ruto expressed his country’s readiness to tap Belarus’s technology in agriculture, adding that the “immense opportunities” binding Kenya and Belarus must be exploited for the prosperity of the two countries.
Rules the ‘The Lungs of Europe’
Mr. Lukashenko has been in power for almost 30 years, earning him the nickname: “Europe’s last dictator.““Belarus is on a contact expansion mission in Africa and the Middle East. Kenya happens to be one of the African countries in its geopolitical radar,” Mr. Munene told The Epoch Times in a chat.
“The only strings attached are those of making both presidents look good as players on the international stage. Africa should take Belarus seriously as a country promoting its own interests and, while taking the views of others into account, should not be overly worried about what the conceptual West says,” he said.
The roadmap, designed for implementation from 2024-2026, covers 15 key areas of interaction, including cooperative projects, supplies of Belarusian machinery and its maintenance, agriculture, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and sales of medical equipment, as well as forestry.
“We will start digging the ground and tackling problems in Equatorial Guinea tomorrow,” President Lukashenko said.
Belarus has the technological expertise that Equatorial Guinea can explore to rise to a higher level, he added.
He insisted that Belarusians “are no colonizers” but rather, “friends.”
“As we share technologies in many areas where you need them, we will train your people how to use these technologies,” he said.
‘Africans Are Waking Up’
“There are countries that don’t want Africa to develop. Countries that bring instability, that invent all kinds of changes in order to exploit our resources,“ Mr. Mbasogo said. ”But Africans are waking up.“We already see that we have been deceived. We are disappointed. And where we had hope, we will be unable to get anything from our former colonizers,” he said.
Deals were also signed on launching the first phase of a regional center to promote Belarusian products in central and west African markets.
On the second day of his official visit, Mr. Lukashenko traveled from the capital city of Malabo to the mainland of Equatorial Guinea. President Mbasogo also invited his guest to see the planned capital of Equatorial Guinea, Ciudad de la Paz, a Spanish phrase for “the City of Peace.”
The two leaders traveled around the future capital in one car during which Mr. Mbasogo showed the Belarusian leader the African-American University of Central Africa, La Paz Oyala Hospital, and the Government House.
“You are truly a small country, but with enormous capacities,” Mr. Lukashenko said. “Some of the sites I have seen here are stunningly beautiful. I think it would be challenging for us to build such sites.”
“Belarus does have an embassy in Nairobi—but nothing in Equatorial Guinea,” Tibor told The Epoch Times in an email.
“Since it exports fertilizer and imports petroleum, there might be logic in deals with Kenya and Equatorial Guinea—but I’m sure it gets discounted petroleum from Russia for ‘good behavior,’” he said.
“The visit [shows] that Africa is not only an accelerator of economic growth and a provider of commercial opportunities for its external partners, [but that] the continent is [also] a launching pad for any international credibility,” Mr. Hounkpe told The Epoch Times in a chat.
He said Africa’s geopolitical influence—bolstered by its 54 countries—only allows countries such as Russia or Belarus to demonstrate that “they are not completely pariah nations. Belarus obviously appears as a supplementary country [teleguided by the] Kremlin, so this is no trivial [visit] for the West.
“Through Belarus, the United States, France, and the European Union, for example, will [feel uncomfortable] to know that Minsk is seeking to assert itself in Africa, especially in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing diplomatic isolation for both Moscow and Belarus,” he said.
But Mr. Munene of the Kenya-based United States International University, Africa, thinks that the West has “no reason” to be worried about the visit threatening its purported interests. “It, however, [should] feel threatened by the fact of others being independent to decide what their interests are,” Mr. Munene told The Epoch Times.
‘Already Got a Bad Record’
Thomas Cromwell, president of Washington-based East West Communications and an expert on nation branding who has worked with several African countries, says it is intriguing to understand why any African country will be interested in building close relationships with Mr. Lukashenko, who, he says, “has been isolated because of his relationship with Putin and has already got a bad record with the rest of Europe and also the world.”“I think from Equatorial Guinea’s point of view, they have to consider what the real benefits [of the visit] will be,” Mr. Cromwell told The Epoch Times in a chat.
“To me, it is mystifying why Equatorial Guinea will get closer to Belarus rather than Western European [nations] or developed Asia or the United States, which has probably much better and more developed technology, chemicals, technology, etc.—all the things [needed] to develop agriculture, food processing industries, etc. That is simply inexplicable,” he said.
Despite nursing the ambition to be a regional hub for business in sub-Saharan Africa, seen in its construction of excellent infrastructure including airports, ports, roads, and other things essential for doing business, Equatorial Guinea is not considered a “very business-friendly environment,” Mr. Cromwell said.
“It could be that Equatorial Guinea has very specific objectives: Belarus is known for its agriculture equipment, its tractors, and other heavy equipment of that nature. But again, I don’t think anybody will choose Belarusian products or its latest technology,” he said.
Mr. Cromwell surmises that the benefit of the Belarusian leader’s visit may only be short-term, to boost Equatorial Guinea’s agricultural production.
“All the other things related to [the visit], I doubt if Belarus can offer,” Mr Cromwell said.
Mr. Hounkpe believes it is high time that African countries sovereignly choose their external and diplomatic partners based on their “specific agendas and interests” rather than on the whims and caprices of other countries and powers.
“We are talking about industrial, agricultural, or health cooperation between Minsk and Malabo, for example, which will no doubt be beneficial for Equatorial Guinea,” he told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Munene identifies a new scramble for African resources, mostly through proxies, with the powers trying to “make their rivals look bad.”
“Their competitive interest in Africa, however, should be a source of concern for security in Africa,” Mr. Munene told The Epoch Times.
Worse still, he laments, is the control by institutions based in extra-continental centers that are more powerful than individual African states.
“It is ‘post-modern colonialism,’ more sophisticated than ‘neo-colonialism’,” according to Mr. Munene.
