Dimitri
Medvedev, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation,
declaring open the Afreximbank Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
in Moscow on Friday.
Africa
and Russia must harness their immense resources to foster a greater
economic future for their people, Dimitri
Medvedev, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, has
said in Moscow.
Mr.
Medvedev, who was speaking on Friday while declaring open the Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank
(Afreximbank) held as part of the Bank’s 2019 Annual Meetings,
noted that Africa and Russia accounted for half the world’s
resources.
He
said that although Russia’s presence in Africa had weakened in the
1990’s, the country had since then done a great deal of groundwork
on joint projects in geology and mining, energy, industry,
agriculture, fishing and telecommunications.
“We
are promoting humanitarian ties, both as part of international
assistance to Africa’s comprehensive development and on a bilateral
basis,” added Mr. Medvedev. “In
this new era of Russia-African cooperation, the Government of the
Russian Federation will do everything in our power to make our
partnership a success”.
He
stated that globalisation had shifted growth to developing countries,
making Africa a more important partner for Russia, adding that Africa
could tap into Russia’s decades-old business and industrial
expertise to boost domestic capacity and exploit opportunities.
In
his own address, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank,
called on partners from all corners of the world who shared the
vision of a progressive African continent and of Afreximbank to “join
forces with us to push forward a new agenda for Africa”.
“The
Russian Federation represents one of such partners that Africa looks
up to,” said President Oramah. Russia could be a source of
investment goods that Africa needed to develop its infrastructure and
could transfer critical technology in digitization and in mining and
processing of raw materials. It could also be a source of non-debt
creating investments in key areas, such as rail, aviation,
healthcare, and petrochemicals.
“The
traditional international relationships of the African continent are
changing rapidly as we forge ever closer links with emerging partners
who are eager to assist the economic development of Africa through
sectoral and infrastructure investments across the continent and
embrace ever stronger trading links,” he said.
“Russia,
in particular, is forging a new relationship with Africa, as are
other South-South emerging partners, which, in tandem with the
African Continental Free Trade Agreement, gives me great confidence
that Africa is well positioned to ride this era of global trade
tensions that threaten to damage other continental economies.”
He
said that “A resurgent Africa is on a transformative journey of
industrialisation and diversification to ensure that we are not
over-dependent on our commodities and vast reserves of natural
resources. We are heralding a new era of intra-African trade and
global trade and investment relationships which will overturn the
historic constraints curtailing the past growth and development of
Africa’s economies”.
Closer
links between Africa and Russia are evidenced by the partnership
between Afreximbank and the Russian Export Centre, agreed in December
2017, which established a successful Africa-Russia institutional
platform. That platform is already delivering on its promise with
such successes as the provision of vital fertilizer to Zambia and
Zimbabwe, the implementation of mining projects with added-value
processing capacity in Sierra Leone, participation in Africa’s rail
infrastructure and the establishment of petrochemical plants in
Angola and Nigeria.
Amb.
Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African
Union Commission, delivered a goodwill message on behalf of the
Chairman of the Commission.
More
than 100 speakers, including ministers, central bank governors,
subject matter experts, business leaders, representatives of
international trade organisations, export credit agencies, African
and global trade development experts, and academics, spoke during the
three days of the meetings, which opened on 20 June. The Annual
Meetings focused on the theme ‘Harnessing
Emerging Partnerships in an Era of Rising Protectionism’.
The
Annual Meetings also featured the seminar and meeting of the Advisory
Group on Trade Finance and Export Development in Africa which ran
until 21 June; the closed session of the Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders on 22 June; the launch of the African Trade Report 2019;
the launch of the Afreximbank Export Trading Companies Strategy; and
a half-day programme of activities dedicated to Russia–Africa
investment cooperation. A number of trade agreements are also being
signed at the event.
The
2019 Meetings mark the second time they are taking place outside
Africa. The 2012 Annual Meetings was held in Beijing.
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