Second Ministerial Conference: Shaping Russian-African Strategic Partnerships -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

On December 19-20, Cairo (Egypt) will host the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. It will be the first event in this format held in Africa. According to official reports, African foreign ministers and the heads of executive bodies of African integration associations are expected to attend and contribute to discussions the best ways to boost Russian-African partnership and strengthen its strategic nature.

As frequently noted, the African continent has established itself and is set to play an even bigger role moving forward as a pillar of the emerging multipolar international order and is destined to have a major bearing on global politics, economics and finance. With Africa, Russia’s trade has increased from $18.2 billion since 2019 and stands approximately at $27 billion in 2024.

With education and training, Russia has been paying attention to training personnel for African countries. Since 2020, the number of African students studying in Russia doubled from 16,000 to 32,000 students, while the quota for Government scholarships awarded to African countries tripled to over 5,300 scholarships.

Regarding the potential of Russian regions to contribute more to expanding cooperation with Africa, regions to become part of this process by launching new promising undertakings for working together on practical matters. Despite the challenges, including logistics and financial restrictions, Kremlin has proposed regions Moscow, St Petersburg, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Stavropol territories, as well as Tatarstan, Yakutia, Rostov and Kemerovo regions.

In addition, stepping up cooperation between Russian regions and potential partners in Africa on the agenda. That Africa, as reiterated, is the continent of the future with its immense resources which can be compared to Siberia’s riches.

In any case, until recently these rich resources did not earn African nations any dividends. Having achieved political independence, Africa is waking up from its slumber, and now rising to take ownership of their resources. In practical terms, Africa is experiencing its second awakening, to strip off their dependency on the western world. It has largely remained dependent on their former colonial powers in terms of economic and financial matters.

A new and unprecedented dialogue format was created in 2019 with the launch of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Two summits took place in this format: in Sochi in 2019 and in St Petersburg in 2023. There was also the first Ministerial Conference in Sochi in November 2024. Therefore, the Cairo conference will have a preliminary performance review the joint Action Plan, by keeping with Russia’s 2023 Foreign Policy Concept and, within the unwavering commitment of the fundamental principle of “African Solutions to African Problems” as set forth in the African Union’s 2063 Agenda.

As indicated from above, the most important issues of multifaceted development are included on the Russian-African agenda, with a focus on implementing the action plan of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum for 2023-2026 adopted at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg in 2023. The conference will also focus on the development of trade, economic and investment relations and promising spheres of cooperation.

A thematic sessions will be held for the relevant Russian and African ministries and organisations on the sidelines aim at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in the economy and education. With discussions on the implementation of the Action Plan and concrete measures for its full implementation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with his African colleagues, will participate in the signing of special documents with representatives of Russian and African organisations.

The Ministerial Conference in Cairo, an institutional mechanism designed to coordinate the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level and give a fresh impetus to the multifaceted Russian-African cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit, has been described as a strategic landmark event for Russian-African relations. In other words, it is considered as an important part of preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for 2026 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.