ST. PETERSBURG, June 10. /TASS/. Africa is no longer a "sleeping giant", it is rising and will soon "roar like a lion", Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"Of course, different African countries are developing at different rates. But at the end of the day, you can see that Africa is no longer a sleeping giant. It is rising. It will roar like a lion and the small spineless states will be afraid," he said.

Mnangagwa stressed that Africa has the resources to be independent and to modernize. "What it needs is Africa needs is skills and global capital to assist it it to leap frog in modernization and economic growth," the Zimbabwean President added.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was held on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." SPIEF was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS was the information partner of the event.