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Ukraine-Funding West 'Never Wanted to Help Africa', Malian Expert Says

19:09, 23 June 2023

Gleb Chugunov

In February this year the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Director-General Robert Mardini said Ukraine's humanitarian activities are well-supported, while there is a "lack of funding for the vast majority of humanitarian settings," starting with Africa. He called on an international community "to ensure that no one is left behind."

Sputnik

The West is sponsoring the conflict in Ukraine, while making fine speeches about its aid to Africa without taking action, Malian geopolitical expert Abdoul Diallo told Sputnik.

"Someone who wants development doesn't finance a war. Someone who wants to eradicate poverty is never going to finance a war," said the expert, referring to the military and financial assistance provided by Western countries to Kiev.

Despite its many promises to help, "the West has never wanted to help Africa," he continued.

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The African continent is confronted with various crises, which "are often themselves created by the West in order to push us down, so that they can come in as firefighters and pretend to get us out of the crisis, when it is they themselves who are the cause of this crisis and these wars," Diallo stated.

The analyst has criticized Western countries for multiplying fine gestures but never taking action.

"If their intention was to see Africa rid itself of poverty, they should have acted rather than talked. We don't need fine speeches. What we need today is action," he stressed.

The expert outlined that, in this context, no one should expect "any major decisions" at the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, initiated by the French president and held in Paris from June 22 to 23.

"Emmanuel Macron [...], whom I myself call an immature child, only makes very fine speeches attracting people to hope. But in the end, it's a shipwreck, like the Titanic," commented the analyst.

In addition to the possible limited usefulness of this international meeting, some may take advantage of it to make politicized speeches, the expert said.

For example, the French leader allowed himself to accuse Russia of destabilizing the situation in Africa. However, for Abdul Diallo, "this kind of meeting should not be politicized."

He believes that, overall, the Ukraine issue is an example of politicization of instrumentalization, "with many Western countries taking advantage of it".