Ethiopia hosted a roundtable discussion on the Second Russia—Africa Summit and the Russia—Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

The main topic of discussion was trade, economic cooperation and partnership in the social and humanitarian sphere between Russia and Africa. Participants from 25 countries joined the event.

On 12 July this year, Addis Ababa hosted a roundtable titled “Towards the Second Russia–Africa Summit and the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum” with the participation of representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, AFROCOM, relevant ministries, industry associations and business associations. The discussion focused on the prospects for the development of Russia-Africa economic and social partnership relations.

Speakers included

Evgeny Terekhin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Ethiopia, Igor Morozov, Chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with African Countries (AFROCOM), Ilya Nesterov, Head of the Department of External Relations of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, Ekaterina Kiseleva, Deputy General Director for Development of Kundalinik, Alexander Makarov, General Director of TraceCORE, and Elena Myakotnikova, Director of SIBUR’s Climate Initiatives and Carbon Management function. In total, participants from 25 African countries joined the event.

“The Russia–Africa Summit is an event that plays a key role in the development of relations between Russia and Africa. It is thanks to this format of interaction that we will be able to achieve a whole new level of mutually beneficial partnership capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century in the shortest possible time,” emphasized Evgeny Terekhin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Ethiopia.

The upcoming summit will contribute to strengthening Russia’s comprehensive and equitable cooperation with African countries in all its dimensions, including politics, security, economy, science and technology, and the cultural and humanitarian spheres. During the meeting, separate emphasis was placed on such areas as agriculture, education, energy resources and digitalization of the economy.

“The digitalization of Africa is attracting particular attention from Russians. We live in a digital world and, undoubtedly, the future of civilization lies in the digital economy. For 20 years, digital transformation has been underway in all regions of Russia. Russia has the world’s best digital platforms for B2B, B2C, product labelling and educational services, and Moscow has become the best city in the world in terms of living comfort and digitalization of services offered. The other cities in the top three are Toronto and Singapore. We certainly have a lot to share with our African partners, especially since they are already prepared for a new experience. The African Continental Free Trade Zone has started operating, and many African countries, including Ethiopia, are creating science and technology parks and IT clusters,” said Igor Morozov, Chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with African Countries (AFROCOM).

Andrey Gutorov, Advisor to the General Director of Uralchem on working with foreign partners, said that the Uralchem-Uralkali Group intends to provide about 300,000 tonnes of fertilizer to developing countries (mainly in Africa) absolutely free of charge. This initiative is aimed at fighting hunger and preventing the global food crisis from worsening.

“Uralchem-Uralkali Group has a strong commitment to strengthening its position in Africa. Currently, our company is one of the main suppliers of Russian fertilizers to the African continent. Uralchem is applying an innovative approach in Africa, which consists not just of selling fertilizers, but also in transferring modern technologies for their proper use, including the training of qualified personnel. This strategy of mutually beneficial cooperation will allow African countries to increase agricultural productivity, create new jobs and provide the population with basic foodstuffs,” emphasized Andrey Gutorov.

At the roundtable, TraceCORE presented its state-of-the-art solutions in the field of digitalizing the economy. These solutions help to increase tax revenues by narrowing the tax gap and reducing the shadow and informal economy.

“The implementation of such solutions will result in a reduction of the VAT gap, increasing tax collection in the B2B segment by 150% nationwide. In addition, VAT revenues in the B2C segment will increase by 165%, and the shadow economy will be reduced by at least 30% in certain product groups. The country will be able to gain millions of new taxpayers,” said Alexander Makarov, General Director of TraceCORE. According to him, these new solutions can cover Ethiopia’s missing tax gaps, increase GDP and help repay the current government debt of USD 55 billion over a period of up to 10 years.

Ekaterina Kiseleva, Deputy General Director for Development of Kundalinik, emphasized the special role of the education system in every country’s economy, noting that digital transformation must necessarily include the digitalization of education: “The creation of a digital education ecosystem provides the country with countless opportunities for schools, students, parents and government. It creates a unified system with highly efficient internal processes and monitoring and analysing tools. It also reduces the digital divide, ensures equal access to knowledge for children across the country, saves time and budget, while making the educational process stable and continuous. The latter is especially useful during pandemics.”

Elena Myakotnikova, Director of SIBUR’s Climate Initiatives and Carbon Management function, said that SIBUR always analyses the risks associated with current and proposed sustainability regulations when entering new markets. According to her, the African market, which is of interest to the company in terms of petrochemical supplies and where SIBUR is developing its presence, has interesting ESG practices both among businesses and at the government level. “Our 2025 sustainable development strategy covers all key areas of the ESG agenda, including work in the area of climate impact mitigation. We are ready to share our experience with our colleagues and contribute to the well-being of the African region,” summarized Elena Myakotnikova.

The Second Russia–Africa Summit and the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum will be held in St. Petersburg at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre on 27–28 July 2023. The events are aimed at comprehensively strengthening cooperation between Russia and Africa and are designed to determine the trajectory of Russia’s relations with African countries in the long term. The Forum programme includes more than 30 panel sessions and thematic events on the most important issues of interaction between Russia and African countries.