Russia and Africa Expanding Cooperation

Adviser to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov chaired an interagency meeting in Moscow on preparations for the ministerial conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum, which will take place in November 2024 at the Sirius Federal Territory. The Roscongress Foundation is managing the events of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum.

“The Second Russia–Africa Summit held in July 2023 not only affirmed the mutual focus on further strengthening the full-format partnership, but also outlined the main directions of our joint work for the years to come. Based on the declaration adopted at the Summit, a new dialogue format was established – the ministerial conferences of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum,” Kobyakov said in his opening remarks.

The conference will include a plenary meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of all UN-recognized African states and the heads of the executive bodies of regional integration associations, bilateral meetings, as well as blocks of business and cultural programmes.

“The concept of holding a ministerial conference reflects the key cross-cutting issues that were recorded in the final documents of the second Russia–Africa Summit. In this new format of collaboration, we need to continue work to provide mutual support for the priorities of cooperation and national interests of Russia and African countries. The concept of the conference received support from our African partners,” Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum Oleg Ozerov said.

The business programme will include sessions and roundtables on current issues concerning Russian-African cooperation, including humanitarian affairs and interaction in such areas as education, healthcare, and epidemiological safety.

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

The ministerial conferences will be held on a regular basis to compare notes on the implementation of the entire range of agreements reached by Russia and African nations and to identify new priorities for cooperation. A Russia–Africa business dialogue will be held in June 2024 during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as part of the preparatory stage for the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum.

 

“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