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Ambassador Sergei Berdnikov Writes On The Current State Of Relations Following
The Results Of The First Ministerial Conference Of The Russia-Africa Partnership Forum
By H.E. Sergei Berdnikov, Russian Ambassador
to Ghana
The development of Russia-Africa relations has received unprecedented momentum in recent years. An important milestone on the way to building long-term equal relations between the Russian Federation and the African countries was the holding of the first ever Summit and the first economic Forum
in the “Russia – Africa” format in October 2019 in Sochi.
The event was attended by representatives of all 54 countries of the African continent, 43 of them
were at the level of heads of State and Government. The Summit resulted in a declaration that recorded a common understanding between the leaders of Russia and Africa on many key international problems, as well as ways to solve them. In July 2023, the second Summit was held in St. Petersburg, which finalized the further model of interaction of the parties.
Not everyone liked the idea of rapprochement between Russia and Africa. Despite the successful implementation of an ambitious by scale and a far-reaching by design meeting, the new format of the Russian-African dialogue has encountered many Western critics.
However, as the old saying goes: “Dogs bark, but the caravan moves on”. And already on November 9th-10th this year in pursuance of the agreements reached during the St. Petersburg Summit of 2023, the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held at the Sirius University in Sochi. This event is intended to become a kind of coordination mechanism for the implementation of the tasks set by the heads of State and Government.
The high-level meeting brought together the heads of the foreign ministries of the Russian Federation and the African States, as well the leadership of the African Union Commission and the executive bodies of regional integration associations. The central element of the programme was a plenary session chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, H.E. Sergey Lavrov with the participation of 54 heads of official delegations of African States and regional integration associations.
The ministers “compared notes” on the most pressing issues of the international and Russian-African agenda, focusing on the implementation of the Action Plan of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum for the 2023-2026 period, clarified and agreed on promising areas for further enhancing cooperation. Four joint statements, including a political statement as well as three sectoral statements on international information security, counter-terrorism measures and the peaceful use of outer space, formalized common approaches towards addressing global problems and expanding cooperation with a focus on substantial preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit.
In addition to the Conference’s main programme, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also held 24 bilateral meetings with African counterparts on the sidelines of the event. A detailed photo report on the bilateral contacts that took place can be viewed by scanning the attached QR-code. The official delegation of the Republic of Ghana attended the Conference at the level of Deputy Minister of Foreign and Regional Integration.
On November 9th, 2024 Hon. Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong met with his counterpart – the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East and Africa, H.E. Mikhail Bogdanov.
During the conversation, the parties discussed current issues of the further development of Russian-Ghanaian relations, including the intensification of political dialogue, expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, economic, energy and other areas.
A particular attention was paid to the topic of Russian-African partnership in the context of the implementation of decisions taken following the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in July 2023.
No less significant was arriving of the official delegation of the Republic of Liberia. For the first time since the establishment of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum cooperation format, a delegation from Monrovia has come to take part in it.
On November 10th, H.E. Mikhail Bogdanov met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Liberia for International Cooperation and Regional Integration H.E. Ibrahim Al-Bakri Nie.
During a thorough exchange of views, the parties discussed a wide range of issues related to the further progressive development of Russian-Liberian relations, including maintaining a regular political dialogue and the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, economic and humanitarian fields.
A rich business programme of the Conference, which included 20 panel sessions and specialized events, also played an important role in the context of the development of multifaceted mutually beneficial cooperation.
Experts and distinguished guests discussed in detail such priority topics as food security and cooperation in the agro-industrial sphere, personnel training for real sectors of the economy, geological exploration, digitalization, cooperation in the fields of education, healthcare and youth policy. Representatives
of the Eurasian Economic Commission and a number of associations of the African continent discussed the beneficial integration processes. Specialized meetings were held on international information security, anti-terrorism, and the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Media representatives from Russia and African outlets took part in an event on measures to combat the neo-colonialism.
Summarizing the above, it can be confidently stated that Africa, despite the difficult geopolitical realities and existing socio-economic difficulties in its various countries, has finally set a course to resist the manifestations of neocolonialism carried out by a number of Western states.
As Minister Sergey Lavrov rightly noted in his speech: “Decolonization has taken place in a broad sense. But the real opportunity to manage your freedom and resources is an entirely different matter. This is where neocolonialism comes into force.”
Therefore, the participants of the Conference were paying a particular attention to the issues of strengthening the sovereignty of African states against neo-colonial practices used by Western countries, intensification of joint efforts in the field of counterterrorism (working out effective methods of combating terrorist groups; strengthening joint measures taken by the Russian Federation
and African countries to prevent the activities of international terrorist organizations), as well as ensuring food and energy security.
In this regard, we urge our partners not to stop there and continue to work together to build a common fair future for the benefit of the next generations
of the peoples of Russia and Africa.
SERGEI BERDNIKOV,
THE AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA TO GHANA