Russia Preparing for the Second Africa Summit

The second meeting of the Coordinating Council under the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum took place on 2nd February via video conference.

Participants included Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov;

Ambassador-at-Large and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Oleg Ozerov;

Head of the Cordinating Council, CEO and Chairman of the Roscongress Foundation Alexander Stuglev;

Executive Director of the Association of Economic Cooperation with African Countries (AECAS) Anna Belyaeva;

Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Abramova, as well as representatives of Russian ministries and agencies, leading companies and business associations.

In his speech, Mr. Mikhail Bogdanov pointed out the need for finalizing the event plan for the 2nd Russia—Africa Summit scheduled for 2022, as well as its concept and details.

Mr. Stuglev, Mr. Ozerov, Ms. Belyaeva, and others spoke about the status of preparatory works and plans for the near future.

In particular, Mr. Alexander Stuglev noted that 2021 would be pivotal for Russian-African cooperation. The Council is facing two major tasks - preparation for the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit and a series of Russia-Africa events that will pave the way for the successful high-level meeting.

The second meeting made it clear that the objectives of Russia—Africa cooperation can only be reached through coordination between all Russian stakeholders.

Other speakers included Senator, Member of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy and Chairman of the Coordinating Committee on Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa Igor Morozov;

Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Natalya Bocharova;

Director of the Department for Bipartite Cooperation Development (Ministry of Economic Development) Alexander Dianov;

Deputy Head of Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Pavel Shevtsov.

This discussion addressed a wide range of issues concerning the concept of the 2nd Summit, preparing and adopting the final documents and their further approval by the African partners.

Among other topics of the meeting were improving mechanisms for existing and planned projects with African partners that would use domestic and international experience, as well as developing road maps for cooperation in 2021–2022.

Participants agreed to approve the draft list of Russia-Africa events in view of the suggestions made at the first meeting of the Coordination Council.

During the video conference, the Association of Economic Cooperation with African Countries, the Roscongress Foundation, and National Brand signed a cooperation agreement to promote goods, services, and intellectual property in Russia and abroad.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah