Second Summit
Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

News

Russian and African foreign ministers to meet in Sochi in November

Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and Africa and Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov held a meeting at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the heads of diplomatic missions from African states accredited in Moscow as part of preparations for the first Ministerial Conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum, which will be held at Sirius Federal Territory in November 2024. The Forum, which is being held to implement decisions taken at the Second Russia–Africa Summit, is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

During the meeting, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the African diplomatic corps about the conference programme, as well as its key organizational, technical, and protocol issues.

“Today, extensive work is underway to prepare the conference’s business programme. Representatives of 54 African countries, as well as the heads of regional and subregional integration associations, have already been invited to participate, ranging from the African Union to the Southern African Development Community, the Economic Community of West African States, and others. The Ministerial Conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum is an important initiative that aims to intensify comprehensive cooperation between Russia and African countries in all its dimensions: politics, security, economics, science, technology, culture, and humanitarian affairs. The declaration adopted at the Russia–Africa Summit resulted in the establishment of a new dialogue format, which will meet on a regular basis to exchange views on ways to implement the entire range of agreements reached with the countries of the African continent. We firmly believe that the Ministerial Conference in Sochi will be an important step in developing cooperation between Russia and Africa,” Adviser to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov said.

The conference will be attended by the heads of the relevant African ministries and integration associations, representatives of Russian and African businesses, government agencies, financial institutions, and public and scientific circles, as well as leading Russian and foreign experts and media representatives. The discussion will mainly focus on the development of trade and economic cooperation, investment partnership, joint work in education and science, ways to strengthen security and regional cooperation, and the expansion of cooperation between BRICS and African countries.

 

All news
Great African Expedition to embark from Kaliningrad
African adventures are calling: Russia and Africa strengthen tourism partnerships
Russian-African Agenda Projects to Be Presented at SPIEF
Roscongress Foundation Communication Strategy Highly Appreciated by Professional Community
All news

“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