May 24, 2023 Commemorative meeting dedicated to the celebration of Africa Day

On May 24, 2023, a solemn meeting dedicated to the celebration of Africa Day was held at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The cross-cutting topics of the event were the urgent tasks of preparing the second Summit and the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, as well as the current state and prospects for the development of Russian-African relations.

The ceremony was attended by heads and representatives of 23 African diplomatic missions in Russia. The meeting was opened by the Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Chairman of the Scientific Council under the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Irina Abramova. In her welcoming speech, the director of the Institute stressed that the African continent is of interest to both old and new players. She noted that sovereignty and security, as well as mutual technological development, are important for Russia and African colleagues.

There were speeches by the Special Representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and African Countries, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Bogdanov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cameroon, Head of the Group of African Ambassadors to the Russian Federation Mohammed Paba Sale, Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Evgeniy Primakov. The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Alexander Babakov.

Representatives of the African diplomatic missions in the Russian Federation - Ambassadors of the Republic of Guinea Nyankoy Aba and the Republic of the Congo David Maduka - also congratulated the participants on Africa Day. President of the Union of African Diasporas in Russia and the Association of the Ethiopian Community in Russia, Kinfu Zenebe Tafesse, said that more than 10,000 Africans live in Russia. According to him, they can become a bridge between Russian and African cultures.

In the second block of the meeting, the participants spoke about the preparations for the second Summit and the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. In this part, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Large, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Oleg Ozerov, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anton Varfolomeev and Deputy Director of the Roscongress Foundation Grigorii Velikikh.

In the third block, speeches were made by representatives of the Russian business community: Chairman of the Association of Economic Cooperation with African Countries (AECCA) Alexander Saltanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FESCO Transportation Group Andrey Severilov, Head of medical, scientific and educational projects LLC Information and Exhibition Agency "InfoMedFarm Dialog" Andrey Chernyaev, Head of the Department for Relations with Government Authorities and International Activities of UCC Uralchem JSC Konstantin Ivanov.

According to Konstantin Ivanov, Uralchem delivered 2.5 million tons of fertilizers to the continent. This is an unprecedented value, he stressed. The representative of Uralchem also said that the approach of the Russian company is noticeably different from its Western counterparts - Uralchem aims to train local farmers and involve government institutions in the consumption of the supplied technologies.

The event was held with the support of LLC Information and Exhibition Agency "InfoMedFarm Dialog".

Prepared by: Junior Research Fellow of the Centre for Global and Strategic Studies of the IAfr RAS Varvara Mitina.