Moscow, 21 March 2023 (TDI): The Second Russia-Africa Parliamentary Conference on ‘Multipolar and Just World’ was held in Moscow, Russia, from 19 to 20 March. More than 40 Official parliamentary delegations from African Countries participated in the conference.
The Second Parliamentary Conference took place under the theme of strengthening parliamentary cooperation with African countries in the context of the formation of the multipolar world, developing relations and common approaches in the field of economy, education, science and security.
The Conference brought together the representatives of the scientific educational and expert communities from Russia and African countries, State Duma deputies and senators, heads of federal agencies, chairpersons of Russian regional legislatures and business community representatives.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin also participated in the conference and addressed the delegations from African countries.
In his speech, President Vladimir Putin affirmed Russia’s willingness to cooperate with African countries in several areas, double its aid related to infrastructure, energy production, and debt relief, and share Russian technology and expertise.
Multipolar and Just World
While addressing the African delegations, President Vladimir Putin highlighted that Both Africa and Russia disregard neocolonialism.
“African people have shown heroic struggle for independence and it has been common knowledge that the Soviet Union provided significant support to the peoples of Africa in their fight against colonialism, racism and apartheid, how it helped many African countries to gain and protect their sovereignty, and Russian Federation continues its policy of providing the continent with support and assistance,” said President Putin.
Further, he added, “We are convinced that Africa will become one of the leaders of the emerging new multipolar world order, as there are all objective prerequisites for that.”
President Putin also stressed that Russia had always given and would continue to give priority to cooperation with African countries.
During the Parliamentary Conference, Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that Russia and African countries share a common goal of building a multipolar and just world based on respect for traditions, culture, and history.
The State Duma speaker noted that the conference brought together representatives of countries that know “the price of independence and how to decide for themselves how to live.”
Developing bilateral cooperation
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s commitment to further enhance cooperation with African countries by supplying food products, fertilizers, fuel, and other critical products.
“I should stress that our country conscientiously meets all its obligations on supplies of food products, fertilizers, fuel, and other products critical for the countries of the continent, thus contributing to ensuring their food and energy security,” Putin said.
Additionally, President Putin also announced that Russia has written off debts of African nations amounting to more than $20 billion. He also said that the trade volume between Russia and African countries is growing from year to year, and reached almost $18 billion in 2022.
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Furthermore, Russia reaffirmed the expansion of nuclear energy in the continent from the already built nuclear power plant Rosatom in Egypt to assist the energy needs of the continent.
It is also to be noted that during the conference, Russia affirmed to strengthen the cooperation in areas of Education, Medicine and Healthcare, Humanitarian aid for disaster relief, and Military and Defense capability of the continent.
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