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Russian Foreign Ministry Discusses Preparations and Agenda for Russia–Africa Economic Forum and Summit

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and African Countries Mikhail Bogdanov and Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Ihab Nasr, as a representative of the country chairing the African Union, held a regular briefing for the African diplomatic corps accredited in Moscow at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was devoted to preparations for the Russia–Africa Economic Forum and Summit. The briefing was attended by representatives from the Roscongress Foundation.

The Russia–Africa Economic Forum and Summit will be held on 23–24 October in Sochi’s Olympic Park and will be attended by more than 3,000 representatives of African business and high-level delegates from Russia and Africa.

The briefing provided a detailed description of the programme architecture for the upcoming events and also addressed certain organizational and protocol aspects of the stay in Sochi by heads of state and government of African countries and senior representatives of leading inter-African associations.

“The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum will plot a new course for the development of trade, economic, and diplomatic relations between our countries. I am certain that the events held on the sidelines of this strategically important event will attract attention from around the whole world. That is why the events are being prepared at the highest level with the involvement of all interested parties”, said Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the Russia–Africa Summit in 2019 and other events in the Russia–Africa format.

The next briefing at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled for late September 2019.

The architecture of the Russia–Africa Economic Forum programme is available here.

“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