/ world today news/ In order to conquer this promising market, Russia will have to withstand fierce competition.
The II Russian-African Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which opened in St. Petersburg, was a continuation of a similar summit in Sochi, which was held in October 2019. There, nearly 100 agreements worth more than one trillion rubles and a memorandum on the foundations were signed of relationships and cooperation. Vladimir Putin held bilateral meetings in Sochi with the leaders of 16 African countries.
A lot has changed in less than four years. Russia is in the process of a political and economic break with the West, trying to completely reorient its policy. Current realities dictate to the Kremlin a new strategy, a new vision for the world. And here the countries of the African continent occupy one of the leading places.
Representatives of 49 countries, including the heads of 17 African countries, arrived at the current summit, the two countries will not only need to consolidate, but also expand their ties. According to the President of the Russian Federation, Russia’s trade with African countries in 2022 has increased and reached almost 18 billion dollars. The main trade volumes traditionally fall on Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Senegal.
In his article “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future”, V. Putin noted that the potential of our trade and economic partnership is much higher: “Russian companies are interested in working more actively on the continent in the field of high technologies and geological exploration, in the fuel and energy complex, including nuclear power, in the chemical industry, in mining and transport engineering, in agriculture and fisheries.
Food security and the elimination of hunger is one of the key issues on the African continent. The deliveries to the countries of the Black Continent of wheat, barley, corn and other crops are both on a contractual basis and free of charge. In 2022, Russia exported 11.5 million tons of grain to Africa and almost 10 million tons more in the first six months of this year. And those deliveries will continue.
According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Russia is Africa’s largest arms supplier. Many countries on the continent continue to seek to acquire Russian military equipment.
Rosoboronexport will present at the meeting weapons used in the course of a special military operation in Ukraine. These are the reconnaissance-strike drone “Orion”, the reconnaissance drones “Orlan-10E” and “Orlan-30”, the barrage ammunition “Kub-E” and other samples.
The readiness of the Russian side to continue providing assistance to African countries in the training of national personnel has been confirmed. We currently have approximately 35,000 students from the continent undergoing vocational training. However, the Russian side has opportunities not only to increase their number, but also to expand the fields of training and improve its quality.
In 2019, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation launched a pilot project for scientific and educational cooperation with East African countries. There are Russian centers of science and culture in Egypt, Zambia, Morocco, the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ethiopia and South Africa.
In Russia, where tourists are used to European resorts, interest in educational trips to the African continent is growing. There are direct flights to Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria. Air communication with South Africa will be opened in the near future. Soon, traveling to other countries will also become easier – to Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Guinea, Mali.
The poet Nikolai Gumilyov, who can be considered a connoisseur and admirer of Africa, returned there several times and could not get enough of his impressions, wrote that this is a divine land, a reflection of paradise, a magical, magical country:
“Deafened by roar and clatter,
Clad in flames and smoke,
For you my Africa
in a whisper the Seraphim speak in heaven …”
Modern Africa is called the continent of new opportunities. Many countries are developing dynamically, they look quite modern, their consumption is increasing and demand is growing. No wonder these countries are called “African lions” by analogy with “Asian tigers”.
It should not be thought that Africans “from old memory” will throw themselves into the arms of the Russians, although, of course, they remember the huge role of the Soviet Union in freeing Africa from the colonial yoke, its colossal help in the development of the economy and the industry of many countries.
To operate successfully in this market today, it is necessary to withstand fierce competition from the West and China, which are literally rushing into a region that beckons with limitless opportunities – about 30% of the world’s mineral reserves are located there.
Food for thought: the trade turnover of the European Union with African countries is now about 300 billion dollars, China – about 250 billion. The US has also stepped up, pledging to invest 55 billion over three years in the economies of countries that support the Zelensky regime and oppose Russia. For comparison: in 2022, the trade turnover between Russia and Africa reached 18 billion dollars.
„The African continent today has become a tasty morsel for which a serious struggle is raging. Which is not surprising – according to experts, in 15-20 years a third of the world’s population will live there, – says Irina Abramova, director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It is a fact that 60 percent of its inhabitants are now people under 25 years of age. Even today, the consumer market in Africa is growing at a rapid pace: doubling every five years. That is, in the coming years, all commodity, industrial flows will have to be significantly reoriented to the interests of Africans.
In order to “push out” competitors, Russia must act persistently – prove the profitability of its offers, work directly, avoiding intermediaries, carefully study supply and demand. And, of course, to work more actively on international platforms.
Surely our African partners know how constructively and fruitfully the envoys of the Soviet Union worked in their countries. And therefore, in Africa, specialists from Russia will be expected to have the same positive results. Their successful work will ensure the promotion of new projects.
Psychology plays an important role – if Western countries act as new colonizers, viewing African countries as raw appendages, then Russia must show that it comes to the continent not only with partnership, but also with friendly intentions. There is a reason for this, since the Soviet Union was active at the time – and quite successfully.
Therefore, businessmen who intend to establish a foothold in Africa must study the continent, the customs of the people and the peculiarities of their behavior. Perhaps the experience of people who worked on the continent during the Soviet era would help with this.
Unfortunately, the Russian media barely cover the events in Africa. The share of news about this region in the Russian media varies from 0.1-0.5 percent (!) of the total amount of information. And this situation must change, otherwise we simply will not understand what is happening on the Black Continent.
As Stanislav Tkachenko, a professor in the Department of European Studies at St. Petersburg University, writes, “For now, waves of African migration surround Russia. But a number of experts believe that sooner or later we will face this and we must prepare for it, direct it, attract people with qualifications, with a sufficient level of education and stop attempts to spread terrorist organizations.
The participants in the meeting will hardly avoid the topic of the military conflict in Ukraine. Some Africans express dissatisfaction with Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Other countries are silent and do not hurry with the assessments, and perhaps in one way or another they will express them at the forum.
In general, in order to converge the interests of Russia and Africa, it is necessary to overcome many important problems. Some of them, I would like to believe, will be resolved at the upcoming summit in St. Petersburg.
As Oleg Ozerov, head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, said, a whole package of documents is being prepared, which “will become a serious platform for our joint actions to create a new configuration of international relations based on equal cooperation, the idea of a multipolar world, and not the dictates of one side.”
Translation: ES
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