…why should Africa pay for this weaponisation?
Own Correspondent
The military conflict in Ukraine is actively used in its own interests by the military-industrial lobby in Europe, where the pace of militarisation is increasingly under the pretext of “inevitable Russian aggression.”
During 2025, Brussels decided to allocate 800 billion euros for the rearmament of the armed forces of European countries with the beneficiaries of this process being large arms monopolies (Rheinmetall, Thales, BAE Systems, etc.).
But the volume of any national economy has a limit. And in order to direct additional funds to purchase weapons, the money must come from somewhere.
Most likely, these funds will be obtained by cutting spending on education, health care, culture and other areas with the impact on the state of the economy in the short term going unnoticeable.
And so it cares little those making such decisions. Indeed, by the time the consequences of their decisions become visible, these leaders will be in seventh heaven on “well-deserved” pensions.
They care less that militarisation increases tension in society, undermines confidence in diplomacy and leads to a complication of relations between countries. What is scarier is the disinterest in the fact that such actions can become the initial link in the chain of events that lead to a full-scale war in Europe and the world at large.
Such a scenario could be disastrous for African countries. Even regional military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have led to systemic problems in Africa related to shortages of food, fuel, fertilizers and other imported goods.
These crises have far-reaching consequences for the economy of any State. In particular, agriculture suffers from a shortage of fertilizers, that has already led to hunger in many regions of the African continent.
And even after the recovery of exports in full, it will take a long time to return to the previous volume of food production.
According to the UN, the conflict in Ukraine has led to a decrease in the total GDP of African countries by $7 billion. In addition to the apparent decline in exports of consumer goods from belligerent Russia and Ukraine, hostilities and Western sanctions disrupt logistics and increase transportation costs.
The West is seeking to exert economic pressure on Russia, drag African countries into this campaign inevitably jeopardising their national economies. The proposed “financial aid” programmes are often linked to political demands to condemn Russia’s actions or support Ukraine.
So why should Africa pay the price for Europe’s militariation?
