Africa and Russia should harness their immense resources to foster a greater economic future for their people.
This is the word from Dimitri Medvedev, chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, speaking at the annual general meeting of shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
He notes that Africa and Russia account for half the world’s resources.
Medvedev says that, although Russia’s presence in Africa had weakened in the 1990s, 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,” he says. “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 states that globalisation has 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, Professor 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”.
He says: “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.”