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Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

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Sports at the Russia–Africa Forum: World Friendship Games, a race and football stars

The Second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which will take place on 27–28 July in St. Petersburg, will provide a platform to enhance international communications in sport.

 

"Uniting people is one of the fundamental missions of sport, and it should remain so regardless of the situation in the world. With the support of Roscongress, the Forum will serve as a platform for the presentation of the World Friendship Games and other sports projects. This will create fresh opportunities for engaging in dialogue with counterparts from African countries, including sports ministries, Olympic committees, and sports federations. A rich sports programme has also been prepared for the Forum participants," said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of events for the Russia–Africa format.

 

On 27 July at 09:00, a session titled Sport: A Bridge of Friendship between Russia and Africa will be held, featuring Russian Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin, President of the International Boxing Association Umar Kremlev, President of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation Irina Viner, and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov. Additionally, Ministers of Sport and Heads of National Olympic Committees from African countries will also participate in the event.

 

The new flagship sports project, the World Friendship Games, which Russia will host in September 2024, will be showcased at the Forum's pavilion commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Ministry of Sport.

 

The Russian Olympic Committee is set to sign cooperation agreements with counterparts from the National Olympic Committees of Mali, Namibia, and Eswatini.

 

Three-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion Svetlana Kolesnichenko will lead the warm-up session for participants at the "We Are Starting" race, marking the opening of the Forum's first day. The race is scheduled to commence at 06:30 in Primorsky Victory Park. Participants can register for the event in their personal accounts. This is the third race in the Time to Act series, an initiative organized by RC Sport, the sports platform of the Roscongress Foundation, and the League of Heroes, with the support of the Ministry of Sport.

 

Russian and African football legends are set to join Forum participants at the Gazprom Arena for a gala match, organized by the Russian Football Union (RFU). Additionally, participants of the Forum will have the opportunity to visit the RFU stand at ExpoForum.

 

Teams from Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and Mali will participate in the Russia–Africa International Football Tournament among student teams. The sports programme will also feature a diplomats' match, where employees from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and African embassies will compete.

 

The events are supported by the general partners of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum: Gazprom, Gazprombank, Rosatom, Uralchem, and Uralkali. Strategic Partner: Rosseti. Partners: LUKOIL, NOVATEK, and Sberbank. National Partner: AVTOVAZ. Organizational Partners: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Russian Export Centre.

 

 

More information about the Forum's sport programme on the website:

summitafrica.ru/programme/sport-programme/

 

All the news about the Forum's sporting events:

t.me/Sport_Roscongress

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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