The BRICS expansion (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) on the initiative of the African side may be included in the agenda of the second summit Russia - Africa, scheduled for July 26-29 in St. Petersburg. Ambassador-at-Large for the Russian Foreign Ministry and head of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Secretariat Oleg Ozerov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published on Monday.
"A number of African countries have expressed their intention to become members of BRICS, and some have already submitted official applications. Given that the BRICS summit is planned for August, this topic may also be addressed at the Russia-Africa summit at the request of our African partners," he said.
Broad agenda
Along with this, Ozerov pointed out, issues of bilateral relations, including in the economic sphere, will be discussed. "After the start of the SMO [Russia's special military operation in Ukraine] and the introduction of the most severe unilateral restrictions by the West against Russia, absolutely illegal, which are in fact sanctions against all partners of Russia, the question arose of how to establish cooperation in the new conditions. If before the SMO trade with African countries was conducted mainly through Western exchanges, now it is possible to organize direct deliveries of both Russian and African goods," he continued. - "At the moment we're talking about $18 billion [of trade]. There's an imbalance in trade."
Trade with the north and south of Africa predominates, while the territory from the Sahel to the south of the continent is not yet involved in a major trade turnover with Russia. And this is also one of the topics that will be discussed both during the general meeting and bilateral contacts.
In addition, according to the diplomat, during the second Russia-Africa summit "we will also talk about establishing our own production on the continent." "African countries would like to receive agricultural technology and equipment from Russia. This topic is also related to food security, and it will be discussed during the political summit as well as economic and humanitarian forum," - he added. - "In addition, we are ready to promote our technology in hydropower, building compact hydroelectric power plants that are easy to assemble and can be put into operation quickly."
Fair competition
According to Ozerov, proof that Africa is a promising direction, not just PR, political lobbying or seeking political allies, is the fact that China's trade turnover with Africa is approaching $150 billion.
"In this sense, China has surpassed both the European Union and the United States and has actually come out on top. What does this mean? It shows that this cooperation has good prospects. This is also why Russia is interested in Africa. It is a continent with a population of around a billion and a half, so it is a huge market. And even a country as big and wonderful as China is not able to cover all of its needs," he said. - "Therefore, we will find a formula for interaction with African countries and propose projects that we can implement without competing directly with China. Although there's always competition, it's part of the market mechanism," he said.
"African countries are also interested in cooperation with Russia, because they want to have alternative options, the ability to choose, to expand the number of partners. And Russia can really offer unique solutions to the problems that Africans are facing," the diplomat concluded.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a major declaration was being prepared within the framework of the upcoming summit, which will set out plans for interaction between Russia and African states in the medium term of several years. According to the head of the diplomatic office, the preparation of the event is at the finish line, more than half of the countries of the African continent have confirmed participation at the highest level.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS