Russia-Africa Summit 2026 : President Putin paid tribute to Thomas Sankara during his speech today in Moscow, by saying: I would like to recall the words of the great son of the Burkinabe people, Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and first President of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara. He said: "Debt is neo-colonialism, in which colonizers transformed themselves into “technical assistants”. Under its current form, that is imperialism-controlled, debt is a cleverly managed re-conquest of Africa, aiming at subjugating its growth and development through foreign rules." He added: these words were spoken not so long ago, though not yesterday either – back in 1987. Unfortunately, little has changed since then. Thank you president Putin, for saying it the way it is.