Among the 40 African state delegations that will attend the Russia-Africa Summit, the participation of Angola and South Africa stands out. In the case of Angola, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will attend it on behalf of Angolan President Joao Lourenco. For South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa himself is attending, in front of a delegation in which the participation of the Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor and the South African Ambassador to Russia, Jeff Maqetuka, stand out.
The Angolan Foreign Minister, Tete António, was received on his arrival in St. Petersburg by authorities of the region and senior officials of the respective foreign affairs portfolios. The Angolan delegation will be joined by the Minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano Joao, and the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate for Europe, Maria Cuandina Tchilepa de Caravalho.
Russia sees Angola as a country with many economic opportunities and recognizes the role of the Angolan president in the pacification of the Great Lakes Region. Angola also seeks with his visit to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries, taking into account the role played by the Slavic country in the development and emergence of the nation, and the cooperation experience bequeathed by that same history.
The summit, which will be held in St. Petersburg with the slogan “For peace, security and development,” will discuss issues such as nuclear energy, environment and development, as well as issues related to grain exports. Regarding the latter issue, and no less important, Russia has reported that it will provide free grain to low-income African countries following the end of the grain agreement with Ukraine.
Millions of people depend on these grains: in 2020 alone, countries on the continent, notably Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Algeria, Kenya and South Africa, spent around $4 billion to import agricultural products from Russia, according to data from the Integrated Trade Center (ITC).
The Russian President also said that the Russia-Africa summit will address issues of multifaceted partnership and discussions of specific issues related to sustainable and progressive development of the countries involved in the meeting.
“Today, Africa is increasingly firmly established as one of the poles of the emerging bipolar world,” said the Russian president, highlighting the achievements that are beginning to occur in sectors of goods production, transport, education, health, etc.
Most African countries have remained neutral in the face of the war in Europe. And one of the countries that has been able to manage this circumstance best has been South Africa.
The South African country, as a member of the BRICS, also has its own interests at stake when it comes to participating in the summit. This will be another opportunity to advance the bloc’s economic and trade cooperation agenda. The bilateral meeting between the representations of Russia and South Africa, as they were announced as side meetings to the main event, would be a prelude to the BRICS summit to be held in the South African capital from 22 to 24 August this year, which will not be attended by Putin.
Even Russia's presence in Africa is small, with bilateral trade currently accounting for only 1 percent of foreign direct investment in the African continent, according to data from the United Nations (UN) Conference on Trade and Development.
This is the second Russia-Africa summit after the one held in 2019 in the resort city of Sochi with the same slogan of this year. The Russian president stressed that the summit will promote the concept and conception of a “Global South” and the role of Russia-Africa relations within it.