Belarus’ Deputy PM explained how co-operation with African countries is progressing

Unlike Western countries, Belarus is going to Africa with its own technologies and proposals – as noted by Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Parkhomchik in his talk with the Belarus 1 TV channel

According to Mr. Parkhomchik, Africa is a very interesting region, and many countries are fighting for it today, “African countries have gained their independence, but today it is nominal, since the countries that previously ruled here still influence the economy, build and pump out everything that can be obtained. Our views on Africa are different. We are coming with our own technologies and proposals. We come and not just sell our equipment: we rather create technology, train people, try to provide service and support as much as possible. It is very important that these people need serious training – to operate tractors, combine harvesters and other equipment supplied to Africa.”

The Deputy Prime Minister explained which African countries can become potential partners of Belarus, “Our country is discovering Kenya for itself. Four months ago, the first agricultural machines were delivered there. Representatives of Kenya have visited Belarus, and their visits are so far of a fact-finding nature. A delegation from Nigeria also came, and we had a very serious dialogue – discussing the supply of our equipment to this country. A delegation from Morocco will arrive next month, and we will also negotiate the supply of our equipment there. We continue to work with Egypt and Algeria. Sudan is very interesting to us as well. In general, there are many countries that are interested in our equipment, even the distant South African Republic has received tractors from the Minsk Tractor Plant. At the moment, they are being tested, and there is confidence that the supply of our equipment to this country will increase dramatically.”

Mr. Parkhomchik added that the largest Belarusian vehicles are involved into the extraction of various minerals, which the African continent is rich with, “Our dump trucks are used in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, Algeria, and Morocco. The machinery operates, and we offer our services. Importantly, we are absolutely competitive with other manufacturers who offer the same equipment for working in quarries.”

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, food exports (which the President of Belarus once placed emphasis upon) may reach $10bn owing to African countries. “This task can be solved in the coming 2-3 years,” Mr. Parkhomchik said.