TRADE turnover between Russia and Africa reached $18bn in 2022, which is one of the results of the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa forum.
The second Russia-Africa Summit is taking place at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum on July 27-28, in parallel with economic and humanitarian forums.
The event is being held under the rubric ‘For Peace, Security and Development.’
The event is being organised by the Roscongress Foundation.
‘I would like to note that last year trade turnover between Russia and Africa reached $18 bn,’ Putin said.
‘This is one of obvious results of the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi,’ Putin added.
‘I am confident that we all can scale up trade more massively in the foreseeable future,’ he stressed.
The first Russia-Africa summit and forum was held in Russia’s Sochi in 2019, with representatives of all 54 countries of the continent, as well as eight major African integrations and organisations, participating in it.
Some 92 agreements totally worth 1.004 trillion rubles was signed in Sochi.
The joint declaration adopted at the summit set the goals and targets of further development of cooperation in all areas.
Moreover, a new dialogue mechanism, the Forum of Russia-Africa partnership, with a summit to be held once in three years, its top body, was defined.
Russia plans to set up branches of top Russian universities in Africa Putin said at a plenary session.
‘The opening of campuses of leading Russian universities in Africa is in the works.
‘Today, almost 35,000 students from Africa study in Russian universities and this figure is growing every year. The federal budget education quota for Africans has increased 2.5-fold over three years and will amount to over 4,700 people for the next school year,’ he noted.
He pointed out that the training of skilled staff ‘has been and remains’ a traditional area of cooperation between Russia and Africa.
‘I would like to mention that on the eve of our forum, on July 26, an agreement was signed at the St. Petersburg Mining University on creating a Russian-African consortium of technical universities entitled “Africa’s Mineral Reserves,” which will provide for joint training of specialists for the natural resources sector’ Putin explained.
The president noted that Russia will continue to assist Africa in developing not only higher but also general and vocational education.
‘To prepare teachers, instructors and technical personnel for schools and colleges, to set up joint schools for which adapted methodological materials based on a synthesis of Russian and African national education programmes are already being developed,’ he added.
Meanwhile African countries are asking that the delivery of Russian and Ukrainian grain to the continent be made easier.
Assoumani, President of the African Union, pointed out that Russia is doing a lot to solve the food problem. ‘This (grain supply) is a vital problem for us.
‘The suspension of the grain deal may have some impact on our cooperation. Russia is closely cooperating with us and is doing a lot to fight grain problems, (to solve) the food problem.
‘More than 1.9 million tons (of grain) have been delivered from Russia, the amount of deliveries exceeded $3 billion,’ he said.
‘The Ukrainian crisis is having a major impact, so resolving this crisis will save the lives of a large number of people who depend on these food supplies.
‘Our continent is currently being severely impacted by food prices. Therefore, we urge all stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of both Ukrainian and Russian grain to our countries,’ he pointed out.
The African Union head also added that African countries ‘are ready to cooperate with Russia in all areas to ensure peace and security on the continent.’
Russia exported almost 10 million tonnes of grain to African countries in the first half of this year, Putin said.
The exports totalled 11.5 million tonnes for the whole of 2022, he explained.
‘And this is despite the illegal sanctions imposed on our exports, which seriously hamper the supply of Russian food, complicate transportation, logistics, insurance and the remittance of bank payments,’ Putin said.
‘A paradoxical picture is emerging. On the one hand, Western countries are obstructing the supplies of our grain and fertilizers, while on the other hand, I will say it outright, they hypocritically blame us for the current critical situation on the global food market. This approach was particularly explicitly revealed during the implementation of the so-called grain deal,’ he said.
Russia’s share on the global wheat market is 20%, while Ukraine’s share is less than 5%, he said. ‘This means that it is Russia that makes a significant contribution to global food security and is a reputable, responsible international supplier of agricultural products,’ he said.
‘Russia has always paid and will always pay special attention to supplies of wheat, barley, corn and other grain crops to Africa, including as humanitarian aid through the World Food Programme.
‘Last year, agricultural trade between Russia and African countries rose 10% to $6.7 billion, and it has already increased by a record 60% between January and June of this year,’ he said.
Russia will continue to support needy countries and regions, including with its humanitarian supplies.
‘In principle, we are convinced that with the use of appropriate agricultural technologies and the correct organisation of agricultural production, Africa in the future will be able not only to feed itself, independently ensure its food security, but also become an exporter of various types of food. And Russia will only support you, I assure you,’ he said.
Russia is willing to share its expertise in agricultural production with African countries and assist them in introducing the most advanced technology, Putin said.
Africa is ready to work with Russia across all domains as it views Moscow as the continent’s special partner, AU Chairman Assoumani said on the Thursday.
‘It is obvious to us that Russia plays a special role in our partnership, and we are ready to work in all major directions in our cooperation with Russia,’ Assoumani said.
‘As you know, the African free trade zone was established to promote our cooperation at the summit in Niamey in July 2023.
‘Also, we are busy developing an African agenda until 2063. And all this, all these projects, should translate into new opportunities for both local and international businesses which are ready to invest in Africa,’ he concluded.
- Russia is ready to supply the neediest African countries with grain at no cost at all, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a plenary meeting of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
‘I have already said that our country can replace Ukrainian grain both on a commercial (basis), and as grant aid to the neediest African countries, the more so since we expect another record harvest this year,’ Putin reiterated.
Putin presented a list of potential recipients of free Russian grain in Africa in the next few months.
‘In the next three to four months, we will be ready to send 25,000 to 50,000 metric tons of grain for free to each of Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somali, the Central African Republic and Eritrea.
‘We will also deliver this product to consumers free of charge,’ the Russian leader concluded.
