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New opportunities for cooperation in the creative industries were discussed at the 'Cultural Products and Brands for a Creative Economy' session at the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

On 27 July 2023, at the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg, the Innosocium Foundation, a social platform of the Roscongress Foundation, held a session entitled ‘Cultural Products and Brands for a Creative Economy’. Participants discussed new opportunities for cooperation, development of culture and art, expansion of cultural ties and implementation of joint creative projects between Russia and Africa in the creative industries. Particular attention was paid to the cultural identity of peoples and its potential to create competitive advantages and achieve socio-economic development goals.

Fedor Lukyanov, Academic Director, Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Chief Editor, Russia in Global Affairs Journal moderated the session. The following participants spoke at the discussion: El Hadji Ousmane Barro Dione, General Director, Daniel Sorano National Theater Company; Grigory Zaslavskiy, Rector, Russian Institute of Theatre Arts GITIS; Tinatin Kandelaki, Deputy Director General, Gazprom-Media Holding; Managing Director, Gazprom-Media Entertainment Television; Natalya Komarova, Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra; Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist, African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank); Nadezhda Prepodobnaya, Secretary of State – Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation; Alexander Sedov, Chief Executive Officer, State Museum of Oriental Art; Ekaterina Cherkes-zade, Director of the Centre for Creative Economy Development at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Other participants included Yuliya Kupina, Director, Russian Museum of Ethnography; Stella Londadjim Ngonyam, Candidate of Cultural Sciences; Ekaterina Naumova, Acting General Director, Roskino; and Olga Khomova, General Director, State Academic Capella in St. Petersburg.

“The creative industries sector offers great opportunities for national cultures getting closer and enriching each other within the framework of Russia’s developing cooperation with Africa, which is reaching a new level. The exchange of knowledge and experience and the establishment of effective partnerships in this promising area of economic cooperation will contribute to the successful implementation of joint projects,” noted Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.

El Hadji Ousmane Barro Dione, General Director, Daniel Sorano National Theater Company, noted: “Senegal has become a candidate for the Spirit of Fire International Debut Film Festival, as the country is interested in producing films offering insight into African culture. Government funds are being set up to support cultural industries that showcase the diversity of cultures. The continent’s 1.3 billion people have a wide variety of national traditions, and this provides inexhaustible opportunities for the development and mutual enrichment of the cultures of African countries and the peoples of Russia.”

“At this year’s Spirit of Fire International Debut Film Festival, India was the guest. We are looking forward to seeing our friends from Africa at the Festival. We are interested in partnership and development of relations in all areas related to creative industries. Yugra and Africa share a priority – preservation and development of traditions and knowledge of original peoples rich in cultural heritage. Yugra’s creative industries have their own image and voice. It is important for us to develop such joint activities, the products of which will be competitive, and do it in cooperation with African countries,” noted Natalya Komarova, Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra.

“It is important for us to continue building bridges in culture as a foundation for economic development. We see culture as a means of integration, and we want to emphasize the importance of this aspect internationally. Afreximbank can offer good entry points into African creative industries, development opportunities and investments with good returns,” said Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist, African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank).

“African colleagues are our loyal, trusted and very reliable partners. I am sure that a continent with a population of 1.5 billion people will enjoy watching our co-produced content. To do this, we need to create multicultural content. We need to negotiate favourable terms and create hubs for filming. We are ready to develop cooperation on a broader basis, building not just a single reality film, but a full-fledged relationship within the film and television industry,” Tinatin Kandelaki, Deputy Director General, Gazprom-Media Holding; Managing Director, Gazprom-Media Entertainment Television.

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