Russian President Vladimir Putin promises to provide “all possible assistance” to African countries

• Russian President Vladimir Putin promises to provide “all possible assistance” to African countries

• Russia, African countries pledge to accelerate mutually beneficial cooperation in multiple areas including nuclear science, energy, trade, investment, technology

• The first ministerial conference of the Russia Africa Partnership Forum 2024 concludes in Sochi

• First ministerial conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum brings together 1,500 delegates, including more than 40 ministers from across Africa.

• Russia and Rwanda sign a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders
• Developing Digital Cooperation between Moscow and African countries
• Moscow has, so far, signed military-technical cooperation agreements with 33 African countries
• Despite Western sanctions, trade turnover between Moscow and African countries has reached a record $24.5 billion

By: Muhammad Arif, Editor NSN.Asia

Sochi: Russia will continue to provide comprehensive assistance to our African partners across a wide range of sectors. This includes supporting sustainable development, combating terrorism and extremism, preventing epidemic diseases, resolving food security issues, and disaster relief efforts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made these remarks in his greetings sent to participants of the first ministerial conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum that concluded in Sochi on Sunday, with representatives adopting a joint statement pledging to strengthen cooperation between Russia and African countries in multiple areas.

The Ministerial Conference of the Russia Africa Partnership Forum was held at the Sirius Federal Territory on the Black Sea on November, from 9 and 10, 2024 and brought together 1,500 delegates, including more than 40 ministers from across Africa.

The new dialogue format was introduced following several Russia-Africa summits.

“African countries enjoy a growing prestige on the international stage. By pursuing a constructive and peace-loving foreign policy, they are playing an increasingly important role in addressing major international matters”, Putin stated.

“For its part, Russia attaches particular importance to strengthening traditionally friendly relations with its African partners. We are united by our aspiration to building a just multipolar world order based on genuine equality and the rule of international law, free from any form of discrimination, dictate and sanctions pressure”, he added.

Cooperation between the Russian Federation and African states is becoming increasingly robust and diverse, as evidenced by the detailed programme of the ministerial conference, he noted.

Over the course of two days, the heads of foreign policy agencies discussed various aspects of implementing the Action Plan for the Partnership Forum for 2023–2026 and identified new promising areas for mutually beneficial cooperation.

I hope that the conference will be successful and productive, and that the agreements reached will further enhance the full spectrum of Russian-African relations for the benefit of our nations.”

Moscow has so far signed military-technical cooperation agreements with 33 African countries

Speaking to reporters on Saturday at the Sirius gathering, Russian presidential adviser, Anton Kobyakov, said Moscow has so far signed military-technical cooperation agreements with 33 African countries.

“For Russia, the role of security provider for the countries of the African continent is a practical, vital necessity,” he stated.

“I believe that we have worked very successfully. We have adopted documents; our joint statement, which contains generalized assessments of the situation in the world… the state of affairs in our partnership – both in the economic, social, investment and security [spheres], and counter-terrorism,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the closing ceremony of the two-day event,

“These assessments are accompanied by specific agreements in each of these areas, creating several roadmaps that will be advanced in the near future, including in preparation for the second conference of the Russia-Africa ministerial partnership,” the top Russian diplomat added.

Lavrov also announced that Moscow had struck agreements in a variety of sectors with a number of African states during bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the ministerial conference.

• Booming Trade Turnover between Moscow and African countries

Despite Western sanctions, trade turnover between Moscow and African countries has reached a record $24.5 billion, the Russian daily Vedomosti cited Lavrov as saying in his speech opening the forum’s plenary session.

Moscow and partners on the continent continue to improve business support mechanisms, find effective logistics solutions, and “use new instruments for mutual settlements that do not depend on negative external interference,” he reportedly stated.

• Digital Cooperation between Moscow and African countries

Developing Joint digitalization programs between Zimbabwe and Russia will hopefully bring significant development in terms of increasing the efficiency of public administration, said Tatenda Mavetera, Zimbabwean Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, on the sidelines of the first ministerial conference of the Russia Africa Partnership Forum in Russia’s Sochi.

Africa hopes to adapt to its conditions the experience gained by Russia in the field of developing an e-government system, reduce costs in public administration, increase the digital literacy of the population, and the availability of digital services for low-income groups of the population who do not yet use the Internet, she added.

Rwandan’s goal is to shift focus from aid to trade and investment, fostering economic self-reliance. “Aid is a good thing, but at some point, you need to graduate from that aid and then engage in trade and investment,” stated Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe while speaking on the sidelines of the Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum is an essential platform for strengthening Africa-Russia relations, allowing Rwanda to participate in both multilateral discussions and bilateral dialogue, he added.

• Russia and Rwanda sign a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders

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Also, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe signed a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders on the sidelines of the event. The ministers discussed strengthening relations between the two countries, with a focus on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, and humanitarian efforts.