The second Russia-Africa Summit is set to hold from July 26 to July 29, 2023, at St. Petersburg’s Expo Forum. Representatives from across African nations are expected to attend.
Alongside the summit is the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, where business meetings will run concurrently during the forum.
The Summit was originally slated to take place in Addis Ababa in October 2022, but Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, postponed it last July.
Speculations are that the decision stems from issues arising due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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About Russia-Africa Summit
The Summit, according to its organisers, Roscongress, is the “highest-level and largest-scale event in Russia-Africa relations” with the intention of establishing a “new level of mutually beneficial partnership” between Russia and the continent.
The event is aimed at supporting initiatives to improve comprehensive and equal collaboration between Russia and African states across all departments of society, including politics, security, economic ties, science and technology, as well as the cultural and humanitarian domains.
The gathering follows past “Africa +1” summits like the US-Africa Leaders Summit, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and TICAD in Japan.
On October 23 and 24, the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit was held in Sochi, a resort city on the Black Sea coast of Russia. Presidents Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt and Vladimir Putin co-hosted the event, which had the theme “For Peace, Security, and Development”.
Attendees included 109 ministers, the heads of the African Union (AU) Commission, the African Export-Import Bank, and a number of regional economic communities, in addition to 45 African heads of state and two vice presidents.
In his remarks to the summit, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the AU Commission, emphasised the tenets of the strategic partnership between Africa and Russia and its potential for cooperation in areas such as agriculture, natural resource development, industry, trade, infrastructure, and energy, as well as in the military, peacekeeping, and political spheres.
A final statement that called for future summits to occur every three years was adopted.
The Economic and Humanitarian Forum
A Russia-Africa Economic Forum was held in conjunction with the first Russia-Africa Summit, and at its conclusion, 92 contracts and memorandums of understanding for 1.004 trillion roubles ($12.5 billion) were signed (the value of some agreements was regarded as a trade secret).
Over 6,000 people attended the Forum, including 1,100 business leaders from abroad, 1,400 from Russia, over 1,900 from other countries’ official delegations, and over 300 from the Russian delegation. There were 569 meetings held there.
It was decided to add a humanitarian component to the Forum’s 2023 iteration. A large-scale exhibition and a venue for business meetings will also be included.
Africa and Ukraine Conflict
Regarding the war in Ukraine, many African nations have adopted a neutral approach.
On March 22, 2022, during a UN vote, just over half of the African members (28) supported a resolution denouncing Russia’s invasion, while 17 abstained, 8 did not participate in the vote, and 1 (Eritrea) voted against it.
Africa has been severely impacted by the hikes in the cost of these commodities as well as the inflation in the price of fuel as a result of the war, as Russia and Ukraine are both significant exporters of grain and fuel.
At the time this article was written, a team of African leaders, including Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Macky Sall of Senegal, and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, had just finished a trip to Kyiv and St. Petersburg to promote peace.
“This conflict must cease… On June 17, President Ramaphosa stated in St. Petersburg that the matter must be resolved through diplomatic and negotiating processes. The African continent, as well as many other nations throughout the world, are suffering as a result of this war.
In recent months, South Africa’s neutral posture has come under scrutiny when the US ambassador accused Pretoria of transferring weapons to Russia, putting the country’s ability to trade with the US under the latter’s Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in jeopardy.
St Petersburg Expo Forum Expected Attendees
The US and its allies are allegedly attempting to “torpedo” the Summit and deter African nations from participating, according to Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, in an interview with the Russian publication Argumenty I Fakty published on April 4. The majority of African heads of state will still most likely participate, according to the organisers.
Oleg Ozerov, the general representative of Russia, stated at the international conference “Russia-Africa: Cooperation as a Path to Sustainable Development” in March, “We certainly expect the participation of most African states at the summit.”
Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, confirmed his participation in a 25 March interview with the Russian news agency TASS.
He assured the agency, “I will come to St. Petersburg in July. “We had very positive relations with the USSR, and we have very positive relations with Russia today.”