Organising Committee prepares towards Russia-Africa Summit in October

By Kester Kenn Klomegah, GNA's Moscow Bureau Chief

MOSCOW, Russia, April 2, GNA - Under the Chairmanship of Yury Ushakov, an Aide to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Organising Committee on Russia-Africa Summit has held its first meeting in Moscow, Russia as a preparation towards the Summit in October 2019.

The Organizing Committee, established by a presidential decree, has been given the responsibility of preparing for and holding the Russia-Africa Summit in October 2019 in Sochi.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Economic Development, Industry and Trade, the Administration of Krasnodar Territory, Russian Export Centre, and the Roscongress Foundation among others.

Participants discussed issues related to organisational preparations for the Russia–Africa event as well as the participation of the heads of African states and representatives of the Russian and international business community, state institutions and governments.

They further discussed the main preparation stages of the business programme and the forthcoming meetings between the African leaders and the Russian business community, thanks to which Russia’s interaction with African countries will receive state and broad public support.

The Russia–Africa Summit is expected to be attended by about 3,000 businessmen from Africa, according to the official meeting report.

Anton Kobyakov, the Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, said: "It should be noted that this is an event of unprecedented scale, which has never been held before in the USSR or in Russia.”

“The summit will be a strategically important step towards creating the most favourable conditions to develop the trade and economic relations and diversify the forms and areas of Russia–African cooperation.”

“Economies of most African countries develop progressively, and Africa will play an increasing role in the system of Russia’s foreign economic relations in the long term, as the region becomes more and more attractive for trade and investment."

Krasnodar Governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, in his contribution at the meeting, stressed that: "Sochi has repeatedly proved its full commitment to hosting major international events.”

“We will do everything in our power to ensure the functioning of the entire urban infrastructure and to maintain an atmosphere of hospitality and a high level of service, which Russia has repeatedly shown when hosting guests from all over the world."

The Roscongress Foundation, together with Russian Export Centre, are the key institutions responsible for preparation and holding of the events for the general shareholder meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the business conference.

Afreximbank, being one of the Continent’s largest supranational financial institutions, has held the general meeting of shareholders outside of Africa only once in its history.

 “This undoubtedly shows the tremendous interest from the African side to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, and it will allow us to maximise the potential of these events to establish and strengthen bilateral and multilateral business relations," said Andrey Slepnev, the Head of the Russian Export Centre, who attended the meeting.

Mikhail Bogdanov, the Special Representative of the Russian President to the Middle East and African countries, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: "Africans pin high hopes on the Summit, particularly in terms of securing a course for developing constructive cooperation with Russia in solving global and regional problems.”  

The Summit is also expected to create fair and balanced system of international relations, ensuring peace and security including joint efforts to counter terrorist threat.

Bogdanov informed the meeting that a sizeable package of agreements in trade, economic and investment spheres and a number of other multilateral documents are planned to be signed at the summit. 

The final document of the Summit would be the Declaration, providing for a long-term partnership.

As a way to realising the target goals, a preliminary Russia-Africa Business Dialogue, as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), will take place on June 6–8, and will be followed by the annual shareholders meeting of African Export-Import Bank.

The Russian Export Centre became a shareholder in December 2017.

The African Export-Import Bank and the Russian Export Centre along with SPIEF will lay the foundation for continuing the dialogue between countries as part of major subsequent business events.

The Roscongress Foundation, established in 2007, is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organiser of international business conventions, exhibitions and public events.

The idea to hold a Russia-Africa Summit was initiated by President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Johannesburg in July, 2018.

Read Full Story