The second Russia-Africa Summit will take place in St Petersburg’s Expo Forum from July 26-29, 2023, with leaders from the majority of African countries expected to attend. The Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum due to take place will provide a platform for business meetings.
The Summit had originally been scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa in October 2022, but was postponed by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin last July, most likely due to complications emerging from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The organisers, Roscongress, describe the Summit as the “highest-level and largest-scale event in Russia-Africa relations” with the aim of bringing about a “new level of mutually beneficial partnership” between Russia and the continent.
“The goal of the event is to promote efforts to strengthen comprehensive and equal cooperation between Russia and African nations across all areas of society including politics, security, economic relations, science and technology, and the cultural and humanitarian spheres,” say the organisers.
The event follows in the footsteps of other “Africa +1” summits such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Japan’s TICAD and the US-Africa Leaders Summit.
The first Russia-Africa Summit took place on October 23–24 in Sochi, a resort on Russia’s Black Sea coast. Held under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development”, it was co-hosted by President Vladimir Putin and President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt.
Forty-five African Heads of State and two vice-presidents were in attendance, along with 109 ministers and the heads of the African Union (AU) Commission, the African Export–Import Bank and a number of regional economic communities.
Addressing the Summit, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the AU Commission highlighted the principles of the Africa-Russia strategic partnership and its potential for cooperation in agriculture, natural resource development, industry, trade, infrastructure and energy, as well as in the areas of military, peace and political cooperation. — African Business. – The Herald
