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Russia–Africa Forum Participants to Discuss Mining Cooperation Opportunities

The exploration and mining of mineral deposits offers promising opportunities for the development of African countries and is one of the biggest potential areas for cooperation between Africa and Russia. Participants in the Russia–Africa Economic Forum will discuss opportunities for cooperation in the development of mineral resources at the session ‘Russian Geological Exploration in Africa: Looking to the Past and to the Future’, which will be held as part of the business programme on 24 October.

The discussion will be attended by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kobylkin, Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum of the Republic of Angola H.E. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, and Minister of Energy and Mining of the Republic of the Sudan H.E. Adil Ali Ibrahim. The session will be moderated by Rosgeo General Director and Chairman of the Management Sergey Gorkov.

Africa is exceptionally rich in mineral reserves. For example, it boasts the largest ore reserves of manganese, chromite, bauxite, gold, platinum, cobalt, diamond, and phosphorite and also has substantial oil, natural gas, graphite, and asbestos reserves. However, the continent’s subsoil resources have not been studied comprehensively, and countries need serious theoretical and practical knowledge in this area in order to utilize the natural resources. There is enormous potential here for cooperation between African countries and Russia. After all, Russian companies have unique experience in exploration and can provide invaluable assistance to their partners.

“Soviet and Russian specialists have been conducting systematic geological studies of African countries for a long time. In particular, our subsidiary Zarubezhgeologiya has carried out a wide range of work in Africa – from regional geological and geophysical surveys to the detailed exploration of deposits with a calculation of their reserves. We have discovered over 100 deposits of solid minerals and hydrocarbons in 25 African countries”, Gorkov said. “Having said that, we haven’t come close to fully discovering the resource potential of African countries. The geological exploration of the continent has only been conducted at 10 to 60% of the optimal level. Given the development of modern exploration tools, continuing the comprehensive study of the subsoil resources of African countries may lead to the discovery of new sites that are unique by world standards, both on land and on the continental shelf”.

The Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum will take place on 23–24 October in Sochi at the Sirius Park of Science and Art. The events are being organized by the Roscongress Foundation, and the co-organizers of the Russia–Africa Economic Forum are Russian Export Center and Afreximbank.

For a more detailed version of the Russia–Africa Economic Forum programme, please visit: https://summitafrica.ru/en/programm/

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“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