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Comfortable Urban Environment Discussed at Russia–Africa Forum

On 27 July, a panel discussion ‘Infrastructural Development, Innovation and Comfortable Urban Environment’ was held as part of the business programme of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in the area of ‘Cooperation in Science and Technology’. The following participants joined the session: Nikita Stasishin, Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation; Yury Grishan, Mayor of Magadan; Joy Makumbe, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities of the Republic of Zimbabwe; Tafadzwa Muguti, Secretary of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province; Desmond Boateng, Chief Director, Ministry of Railways Development of the Republic of Ghana, and others. Zhanna Tolstikova, Director General, TV BRICS, moderated the session. 

As part of the discussion, experts spoke about best practices in infrastructure development. For example, Nikita Stasishin, Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation, shared the experience of the construction sector in Russia with the discussion participants. In particular, he drew attention to the fact that “today Russian developers compete not with the cost per square metre, but with the quality of the project.” This implies, among other things, the creation of a comfortable environment during the integrated development of the territory. Mr. Stasishin said, “On the instructions of the President, an infrastructure menu was launched. This is a huge amount of funds that go towards modernizing engineering, transport, utilities and social infrastructure.” At the same time, the Deputy Minister noted the need for a scientific approach to the development of territories: “We have created a huge scientific base with technical solutions for the development of both agglomeration of million-strong cities and single-industry and small towns. This is something we could share with African countries.” 

Joy Makumbe, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities of the Republic of Zimbabwe, has outlined how Zimbabwe is addressing the issue of migration from rural to urban areas. “This process is happening much faster than the housing sector planning. We have put in place programmes to enable urbanization of rural areas, and we are developing rural areas,” said Ms. Makumbe. Tafadzwa Muguti, Secretary of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province, noted the peculiarities of the province in terms of transport infrastructure development and spoke about the prospects for cooperation with Russia in this area: “One of the opportunities to improve transport infrastructure is to intensify partnership relations with the Russian Federation. Through cooperation with Russian cities, we could create new master plans for the development of municipalities.”

Full-fledged urban development is not possible without the construction of an extensive infrastructure linking not only settlements within the country, but also neighbouring countries. Desmond Boateng, Chief Director, Ministry of Railways Development of the Republic of Ghana, spoke about a large-scale railway construction project designed to connect West African countries. He noted that the project involves the construction of more than 4,000 kilometres of roads: “We are ready to negotiate with the Russian private sector to find the best ways to create an effective mechanism for mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of this large-scale project. Now 250 kilometres have been built, but when all the lines are built, the railway will provide links to Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, and other countries on the African continent.”

Heads of Russian cities also spoke at the event. Thus, Mayor of Magadan Yury Grishan noted that public-private partnership plays a big role in the formation of urban infrastructure. “This contributes to the sustainable development of the city, and thus to the improvement of the quality of life of the citizens,” he said. In turn, Head of Rostov Alexey Logvinenko spoke about large-scale construction projects, including social infrastructure facilities. “It is impossible to implement many projects without a stable economy. We take into account global trends. And today we see great economic potential in cooperation not only with new regions of Russia, but also with other countries. Platforms like the Summit are a good opportunity to establish new ties with foreign partners, which means new markets, jobs and additional budget revenues. I hope that the experience of Rostov-on-Don, the capital of the Southern Federal District, will be useful to both Russian and foreign municipalities,” said Alexey Logvinenko.

The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the Second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum. 

 

Official website: summitafrica.ru

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI