Meeting with heads of African regional organisations

The meeting was also attended by Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States Sergei Lebedev and Chair of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Board Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you all once again.

We have just held what was, in my view, a very productive and engaging discussion on the issues and tasks involved in deepening the full range of relations between our country and African states in trade, investment, science, education and youth policy. I now propose that we exchange views in greater detail on the multilateral dimension of the Russia–Africa dialogue, in the format of our traditional meeting with the participation of leaders of the states chairing the main regional associations of Africa, as well as the heads of the executive bodies of those associations.

I must note that most of the integration structures operating on the continent are represented here. These include the African Union, the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Southern African Development Community, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Export-Import Bank. Taken together, in my view, this is a highly impressive list that speaks for itself.

This time we have also been joined by the Chair of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Board and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This will allow us to discuss opportunities for aligning the integration processes underway on both the African and the Eurasian continents.

First and foremost, I would like to emphasise that for our country, strengthening relations with pan-African associations is a natural continuation of our long-term policy aimed at maintaining an equal and mutually beneficial partnership with African states.

The African Union has been and remains Russia’s key partner among regional organisations. We have a three-year roadmap governing our cooperation in trade and economics, research and technology, social, humanitarian and cultural affairs, as well as on political and security matters. Recently, we embarked on an effort to launch sectoral dialogues between Russian agencies and respective commissions of the African Union.

In our view, forging closer ties between Russian banking institutions and the pan-African payment and settlement system created by the AU and the Afreximbank could also be useful. Russian financial institutions are interested in establishing contacts with the pan-African credit rating agency which was established this month within the African Union.

Of course, Russia is also committed to working closely with the African Union on a broad range of foreign policy matters and is open to dialogue on peace and security, as well as resolving and preventing crisis situations. We reaffirm our commitment to assisting our African partners in their efforts to combat universal challenges and threats we face in today’s world, including terrorism, cross-border crime and drug trafficking.

During out preceding meeting three years ago, Russia welcomed the African Union’s desire to join the Group of 20 as a full member. Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is gratifying that the G20 approved this decision two years ago, including thanks to Russia’s support. We will do all it takes to ensure a fairer representation for Africa, its countries and associations in the global governance institutions and the key international economic and political structures.

Russia is obviously interested in promoting partnerships with all other African integration structures which are represented here, and has been making steps in this direction. In particular, we endorsed a considerable set of intergovernmental and inter-agency documents ahead of this summit to promote cooperation with the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community, and the Economic Community of Central African States.

It is worth noting that Russia, much like the African states, is deeply engaged in regional integration. Our country was one of the founding architects of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – an initiative we are successfully taking forward with our friendly neighbours, which aims to establish unified markets for goods, services, capital and labour.

I should also mention that the EAEU operates a unified system of tariff preferences, offering African exporters significant advantages when they bring their goods to our markets. Forty-seven nations across the continent benefit from this system, 32 of them with a complete exemption from customs duties.

The Eurasian Economic Union is consistently working to identify new partners for trade agreements, including on the African continent. I believe the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, who is with us here today, would be pleased to discuss the prospects for such agreements with you.

Furthermore, as I have noted, two of Eurasia’s largest and most influential regional blocs are represented at this table: the EAEU and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). These organisations have accumulated a wealth of integration experience – expertise that could prove valuable to our African partners. We would certainly encourage African nations and organisations to develop mutually beneficial ties with both the EAEU and the CIS.

In closing, I would like to reiterate that the partnership between Russia and Africa’s regional organisations is a vital complement to our bilateral relations and to our direct engagement with our African friends. Such multifaceted cooperation fully serves the interests of all our nations, fostering broad-based, sustainable economic growth and prosperity. May I invite Mr Évariste Ndayishimiye, the current Chairperson of the African Union, President of the Republic of Burundi, to speak first. Please, go ahead.

Chairperson of the African Union and President of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye (retranslated): Thank you.

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

President Putin, excellencies, heads of state and government, chairpersons of regionоal associations, ladies and gentlemen.

I thank the Most Merciful God for bringing us all together. I thank our friend, President Putin, and the Russian people for their hospitality.

We have achieved big results since Sochi in 2009 and St Petersburg in 2023. The agenda that brings us together includes advancing cooperation with the regional organisations and integration associations on the continent. They raise issues that help us develop this cooperation for the sake of building a united, sovereign and prosperous Africa.

Our compass is Agenda 2063. Our target is a free trade zone on the African continent that will extend to 1 billion 300,000 consumers this year. These are the pillars of our cooperation. We want to support Africa and expand [the African Union] with new bodies to make it more effective for our communities. Moreover, we must work not only with each of our countries but with the entire group of regional associations and communities in Africa.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the relations between Russia and Africa are developing but they still match our shared potential. We would like to achieve a level of cooperation that goes beyond commodity exports. We would like to see a transformation and refinement of regional chains, better access to transport corridors, and more advances in healthcare and culture.

As concerns the EAEU and cooperation with Russia, it is a very important undertaking for us from which our businesses and the entire population would benefit greatly.

We would like to support the biggest and most important capital for Africa that matters much more than material resources. It is our youth. They are our compass. They need engineering education, cooperation in science and education in order to achieve valuable results. We are committed to innovation and responsible economic management. These are the goals we set up to 2063.

We would like to provide all Africans with an accessible water supply system and sanitation safety. There can be neither integration nor prosperity without security. Africa is committed to territorial integrity, dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts.

We adhere to the principle of African solutions to African problems. We are thankful to our partners who provide facilitation services and support the African Union and African regional organisations. Thank you for respecting our priorities. We also call on everyone in the world for dialogue.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

 Africa supports balanced and mutually beneficial partnership that allows us to diversify our exchanges and consider the interests and vision of every party.

I would like this Moscow summit to become a new milestone that paves a way for a more structured partnership that would be more productive and focused on the development of our continent.

Thank you very much.

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