First Ministerial Conference
of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum

About the event

The First Ministerial Conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum took place on 9–10 November 2024 at Sirius University in the Sirius Federal Territory.

“During the two-day meeting, the heads of the foreign policy services examined various aspects of implementing the Partnership Forum’s Action Plan for 2023–2026 and also outlined new, promising areas of mutually beneficial cooperation,” said Anton Kobyakov, executive secretary of the organizing committee in charge of preparing for and holding events in the Russia–Africa format.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The event is attended by the heads of key services and aims to strengthen all-around cooperation between Russia and African countries in all its dimensions: politics, security, economics, science, technology, culture, and humanitarian issues.

SECTION-BASED BUSINESS PROGRAMME

Roundtables and panel discussions on the most pressing items on the Russian-African agenda were held on the sidelines of the Conference. Discussions about humanitarian cooperation between Russia and African partners were another thematic focus of the programme.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME

The cultural programme featured musical, exhibition, and sightseeing events that aimed to introduce people to the traditions of the peoples of Russia and African countries.

THE CONFERENCE AND BUSINESS PROGRAMME EVENTS WERE ATTENDED BY

1500 participants

40 ministers from African countries

54 heads of official delegations from African states and regional integration associations

20 panel sessions


“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