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Russia Prepares for Summit with African Countries

The Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of the second Russia–Africa Summit in the Russian Federation, which will be held in the summer of 2023 in St. Petersburg, has been allotted. Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov was appointed Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

A constructive and trust-based dialogue is maintained between the Russian Federation and the countries of the African continent, while the traditionally friendly relations continue to be strengthened. A whole range of mutually beneficial Russian-African relations are being developed. The agreements reached at the first Russia–Africa Summit, held in Sochi in 2019 with the participation of heads of most African states, are being consistently implemented. The second Russia–Africa Summit is designed to give a new impetus to trade, economic, investment, scientific, technological, and humanitarian cooperation, and thus further expand the range of Russian-African interaction.

“The development of a comprehensive partnership with African countries is one of the top priorities of Russia’s foreign policy. We intend to further strengthen friendly relations between our countries. It is this goal that the second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum will serve,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive Secretary.

The second Russia–Africa Economic Forum is planned to coincide with the Summit. It is expected that the heads of African states who arrived in St. Petersburg for the Summit will also take part in the Forum, along with representatives of Russian, African and international business community, government agencies, as well as African integration organizations. At the end of the first Russia–Africa Economic Forum in Sochi a significant number of trade and investment agreements has been signed, namely 92 contracts and memorandums of understanding. The total amount of the signed documents, information about which is not a trade secret, was RUB 1.004 trillion.

A full list of the Organizing Committee can be found on the official website.

“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