A few days ago, a major development in Russian-African cooperation happened in Saint-Petersburg, that is the Second Russia-Africa Summit that was preceded by the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
The event was attended by practically all African states with many of them represented at head of state or government level as well as thousands of businessmen and public figures from across the continent.
It offered a unique opportunity of a frank dialogue on a wide spectrum of issues facing both Russia and Africa in the rapidly changing world where old hegemonies and economic dominances are being replaced by a new multipolar world order with new leaders and new paradigms of international relations based on equality, mutual benefit and respect of sovereignty.
Hundreds of agreements, intergovernmental and commercial, were concluded that opened new avenues for concrete development and trade projects. A new vision of strategic partnership was formulated in the Declaration and the Action Plan until 2026 adopted by the summit that laid the foundation for a new chapter of Russia-Africa cooperation in the coming years.
In the comments on the summit that I read in the local press, I noticed a very erroneous tendency to judge the event from the perspective of global confrontation between Russia and the West in the traditional “Scramble for Africa” mindset.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Saint-Petersburg summit was about development and cooperation rather than confrontation and power play.
All the participants emphasised that it is perfectly natural for the two dynamically growing economic regions (Russia, world’s fifth largest and Europe’s largest (PPP) economy, is a region in itself) to gravitate towards each other to capitalise on their respective competitive advantages.
This especially so when the existing world economic and financial system is going through a period of cataclysmic turbulence. And all of them agreed that the Russia-Africa partnership could create unique synergies for the benefit of Russians and Africans.
Isn’t it symbolic that despite formidable outside pressures, more and more African states are turning to Russia for support and assistance?
As President Putin put it, “Representatives of African states displayed political will and demonstrated their independence and interest in developing cooperation with our country."
"We appreciate this and are convinced in the successful future of Russia-Africa relations. They rest on the traditions of time-tested friendship and historical experience of multifaceted productive interaction dating back to the early period in the process of African states’ formation," he said.
The writer is the Russian Ambassador to Kenya
