Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAfr RAS) at the Second Summit Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum
On July 27–28, 2023, the Second Summit Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum were held in St. Petersburg, in which representatives of 48 of 54 countries and the five largest integration associations of the continent took part. The Forum opened with a Plenary session, at which the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin; Chairman of the African Union, President of the Union of the Comoros Azali Assoumani; President, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Benedict Oramah; President of the New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff; Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill. The plenary session was moderated by the Director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Irina Abramova.
Video: Plenary session at RUTUBE
On July 27, 2023, within the framework of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, the session “New World Order: from the Legacy of Colonialism to Sovereignty and Development” was held, which was organized by the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The moderator of the session was the director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Abramova.
Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev; Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky; Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Konstantin Mogilevsky; Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Multilateral Relations and Cooperation of the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia Jerobim Shaanika; Rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Torkunov; Director of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Lipkin; Former Advisor to the President of the Republic of Senegal on Economic Affairs, Director of Forum Tiers-Monde Cherif Salif Sy; Honorary President of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Asia and Africa Today”, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Vasiliev; Visiting Professor at North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov Maurice Ndubuisi Okoli; President of the Union of African Diaspora Zenebe Kinfu Tafesse took part in the discussion.
Opening the session, Irina Abramova invited the discussion participants to answer questions about the role of Russia and Africa in establishing a new world order, about modern manifestations of colonialism, and the features of cooperation in the fields of science and technology for overall socio-economic development. A.M. Vasiliev noted that the modern world is changing rapidly, and resistance to these changes causes bloody crises.
As part of the session, there was a presentation of the book “Africa: Colonizers’ Unpaid Debt,” written by a team of authors: Irina Abramova, Sergey Volkov, Valentina Gribanova, Tatiana Deitch, Tatiana Denisova, Natalya Zherlitsyna, Sergey Kostelyanets, Olga Kulkova, Andrey Urnov, Valentina Usacheva, Leonid Fituni, Vladimir Shubin, Andrey Elez. The book was published with the support of RT.
Book imprint: Africa: Colonizers’ Unpaid Debt. Coll. ed., rep. ed. Irina Abramova. – Moscow: Institute for African Studies RAS, 2023. – 122 p.
Video: New world order: from the legacy of colonialism to sovereignty and development on RUTUBE
On July 27, 2023, a session entitled “Stability of the fertilizer market as a guarantee of eliminating hunger in African countries” was held, organized with the support of Uralchem/Uralkali. The session was moderated by the Director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Abramova.
The meeting was attended by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa; Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwa; General Director of JSC UCC URALCHEM Dmitri Konyaev; Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Mikhail Yurin; General Director of EXIAR JSC, Senior Vice President of Russian Export Center JSC Nikita Gusakov; Chairman of the Arab Fertilizer Association (AFA) Mohamed Tahar Heouen; Governor of the Perm Territory Dmitry Makhonin; General Director of Shchelkovo Agrokhim JSC, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Salis Karakotov.
The participants discussed how to ensure access for African countries to stable supplies of mineral fertilizers and new agricultural technologies in the difficult conditions of modern world trade restrictions and what new forms of cooperation between Africa and Russia should be developed to reduce risks and obtain maximum mutual benefits.
July 28, 2023, Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, took part in the section “Promoting humanitarian policy on the African continent: best practices,” moderated by the Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Evgeny Primakov. During the session, Irina Abramova drew special attention to the fact that humanitarian cooperation can play a colossal role in building relations between Russia and Africa.
Video: Promoting humanitarian policies on the African continent: best practices on RUTUBE
July 28, 2023, Irina Abramova spoke at the section “Fundamental Science as the Basis of Technological Sovereignty,” moderated by Assistant to the President of Russia Andrey Fursenko. Director of the IAfr RAS Irina Abramova noted the importance of transferring high-order knowledge into specific technological solutions, which is an urgent task for both the Russian Federation and the countries of the African continent.
Video: Fundamental science as the basis of technological sovereignty on RUTUBE
July 28, 2023 Chairman the of Young Scholars Council of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, senior researcher, Ph.D. in Economics Vasily Sidorov spoke at the session “Building a Common Future: educational and scientific opportunities of Russia for Africa.” During his speech, the scientist spoke about the experience of participating in a joint Russian-South African grant, which was conducted by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The topic of the grant is International solidarity with the struggle against apartheid, and historical memory in Russia and South Africa. Based on the results of the work, books will be published in Russian and English. Vasily Sidorov emphasized the enormous role of joint Russian-African grants for the development of scientific cooperation between our countries.
July 28, 2023, Honorary President of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Asia and Africa Today”, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Vasiliev spoke at the session “The Impact of New Global Challenges and the Economics of Sanctions on the Media Partnership between Russia and Africa: Problems and Solutions,” where in his speech he noted that the most successful cooperation with Africa in the information sphere is possible if our or the common media pays the main attention to specifically African affairs with an emphasis on the positive. Russian politics must be presented in the most balanced manner, calling on media consumers to draw their conclusions. The creation of joint television centers with the transmission not only in English, French, and Portuguese, but also in widely spoken local languages - of course, Arabic, but also Swahili, Hausa (Fulani), and Afrikaans - can play a certain role. Also, Alexey Vasiliev noted that it is necessary to renew TASS representative offices in most African countries, which would make it competitive in the world media on African topics. Naturally, such initiatives require additional funding.
During the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FESCO Andrey Severilov and Director of the IAfr RAS Irina Abramova signed an agreement of intent for cooperation in the field of studying the cargo base of the countries of the African continent to determine the most promising logistics directions and routes.
