Morning Star published on 27 July 2023 an article titled "Russia Agrees to Write Off $20bn of African Debt" by Roger McKenzie.
Vladimir Putin told the first day of the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg that Moscow is writing off $20 billion of debt to African countries.
Russia Business Today published on 23 October 2019 an article titled "Russia Writes Off Soviet-era African Debt Worth $20bn."
President Putin announced on the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in October 2019 that Moscow has written off more than $20 billion in debt accumulated by African countries during the Soviet era.
APIE News, a Pan-Africanism news portal, published on 23 March 2023 an extensive article titled "Russia's Politics of Writing Off Africa's Debt."
It details several earlier announcements by President Putin that Russia has cancelled over $20 billion in African debt incurred during the Soviet period primarily because of weapon deliveries. President Putin made such an announcement at a meeting of heads of state in South Africa on 27 March 2013, at a meeting of BRICS' leaders on 5 September 2017, and on the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit at Sochi in October 2019.
Eurasia Review published on 21 March 2023 an OpEd titled "Russia's Politics of Writing Off African Debts" by Kester Kenn Klomegah.
The author made most of the same points. The APIE News piece may have been based on Klomegah's OpEd.
Comment: The recent announcement in St. Petersburg of the cancellation of over $20 billion of African debt was one of the leading press takeaways, just as it has been time after time. I guess if you have good news, just keep repeating it year after year because most readers (and journalists) forget it is not new.
