News

The dialogue ‘Strengthening Trilateral Cooperation’, which was organized by the Roscongress International platform, took place in Cairo on 19 December. The dialogue was part of the pre-event on the sidelines of the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum in Cairo. It started with a presentation by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD). The Roscongress International managed the dialogue on the Russian side.

The discussion participants included: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and Ambassador Abu Bakr Hefny Mahmoud, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Mali Bouréma Kansaye, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Konstantin Mogilevsky, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Roscongress Foundation Alexander Stuglev, Director of the Project Office for Education and International Cooperation at the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Valery Karezin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University Yevgeny Lyubin, Director of Investment Facilitation at the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA) James Michael Maziku, Managing Director of Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Gwen Mwaba, and Director of Credit Products for Banks and Financial Institutions at the Russian Export Center Group Viktoria Strizhakova.

The dialogue was moderated by Director of the Centre for African Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrey Maslov. “It’s nice that we are meeting for the first time in Egypt this year. The Russia–Africa format was launched six years ago with the first Summit co-chaired by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who at that time was also the Chairman of the African Union. Over this time, it has been a long journey that included summits and ministerial conferences of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum. The Roscongress Foundation has been consistently developing this format throughout these years by not only organizing events, but also a sustainable communication system that now functions as a full-fledged institution for the development of Russian-African cooperation,” Andrey Maslov said.

The participants discussed a wide range of issues concerning the development of the Russian-African partnership, including the expansion of economic and investment cooperation, the launch of joint infrastructure and energy projects, cooperation in education, science and personnel training, as well as humanitarian and cultural exchanges. They paid particular attention to the creation of sustainable dialogue formats that could help transition from discussing to practically implementing initiatives.

Abu Bakr Hefny Mahmoud noted the key role played by the BRICS New Development Bank in expanding financial opportunities for African countries. “We view the New Development Bank as a financially stable institution with a high credit rating that is capable of offering African countries more favourable concessional financing instruments complemented by technical assistance,” he said.

The Egyptian diplomat also pointed out the need to intensify bilateral cooperation, including discussions on Russian industrial enterprises in the Suez Canal zone, as well as prospects for cooperation in space – from remote sensing of the Earth to monitoring natural resources. He also noted the potential of debt-for-development swaps as an effective tool to support countries that are experiencing difficulties with accessing international financial markets.

During the dialogue, Bouréma Kansaye said that Mali has entered into a fundamentally new stage of cooperation with Russia, which is becoming one of the key factors in improving the country’s scientific, technological, and human resources sovereignty.

“Russia is a strategic and reliable partner for us. Our cooperation is taking on concrete forms and steadily developing in sectors that are crucial for Mali’s sovereignty and progress. Russia and Mali are rapidly bringing their educational systems closer together already today. The first meeting of the Russian-Malian working group on education and science clearly confirmed our mutual interest. And we are taking things a step further: in the near future, we will ensure full mutual recognition of diplomas – both Malian diplomas in Russia and Russian diplomas in Mali,” Bouréma Kansaye said.

Alexander Stuglev noted in his speech that the Russia–Africa ​​platforms help to create new formats of interaction between the government, business, and the expert community, and also to launch practical joint projects in key sectors of the economy.

The participants paid particular attention to the creation of a sustainable trilateral partnership platform based in Egypt that could become a regular mechanism for promoting joint initiatives and intensifying Russian-African cooperation.

“The dialogue platforms in the Russia–Africa format help us move from exchanging positions to implementing specific projects in energy, infrastructure, tourism, healthcare, and food security, and also create a foundation for long-term partnership and expanding interaction between the government and businesses,” Alexander Stuglev said.

The first and second Russia–Africa summits in Sochi and St. Petersburg, which were both organized by the Roscongress Foundation, created a mechanism for systematic project work between Russia and the African continent. The summits resulted in the signing of hundreds of agreements, many of which are now being actively implemented.

Alexander Stuglev noted that many joint Russian-African initiatives are a direct result of dialogues held at major international platforms, such as the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian Energy Week, the Let’s Travel! International Tourism Forum, and the ‘Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum’ International Economic Forum.

The discussion addressed projects in the energy and infrastructure development sectors, joint initiatives in tourism, programmes in healthcare and personnel training, as well as projects to bolster food security. Alexander Stuglev also invited Russia’s African partners to become part of the Roscongress International Cooperation Area at major international forums.

During the discussion, the officials confirmed their mutual interest in further expanding cooperation and expressed their readiness to continue a substantive dialogue at key international platforms. They noted that regular meetings and discussion formats will help to develop coordinated approaches and launch new joint projects that meet the long-term interests of Russia and African nations.