NIAMEY, July 8. /TASS/. African countries want to manage their own natural resources, going through a kind of "second awakening" today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following his participation in the Russia-Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) ministerial meeting.

Lavrov pointed out that in 1960, the United Nations adopted the declaration on decolonization, and the bulk of African countries gained political independence.

"Another very important phenomenon is happening now. Having gained political independence, the African countries soon began to feel that they were still economically and financially dependent on the former metropolises. And today I would call this process the second awakening of Africa, when Africa not only wants to have political independence and international legal personality, but also wants to manage its own natural resources," he said.

"So that these natural resources are not exported to other countries, where the bulk, the lion's share of the added value is produced and appropriated, but that this added value is realized on the African continent. Russia is actively ready to contribute to this.".