ON MAY 27, THE INSTITUTE OF AFRICA OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HOSTED A SOLEMN MEETING OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL DEDICATED TO AFRICA DAY AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU)

Academician A. M. Vasiliev, Director of the Institute of Africa, Sergey N. Kryukov, Director of the Department of Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and Eloi Alphonse Maxim Duvoux, Head of the Group of African Ambassadors to the Russian Federation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Madagascar to the Russian Federation, addressed the audience with greetings.

The participants of the solemn meeting were also welcomed by representatives of the African diplomatic corps in Moscow, in particular, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Benin to the Russian Federation Gabriel Kochofa and representative of the Peoples ' Friendship University of Russia, PhD Adu Yao Nikeza.

The main report - "Russia and Africa yesterday and today" - was delivered by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Leading researcher of the IAfr RAS A. Y. Urnov.

Below are published speeches and materials dedicated to the" golden jubilee " of the Pan-African organization.

PRESENTATION AT THE INSTITUTE OF AFRICA OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ON MAY 27, 2013

S. N. KRYUKOV

Director of the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry

Russia Keywords:. African Union

On behalf of the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I sincerely welcome the participants of the meeting of the Academic Council of the Institute of Africa.

In our opinion, the topic of the conference is very relevant and of practical interest for shaping our approaches to building the entire range of relations with the countries of the continent.

May 25 marked the 50th anniversary of the African Union, which was preceded by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) until 2002.

Russia has done much to help African states achieve their independence, political and economic development, and now continues to provide assistance and support to friendly African peoples. We note with satisfaction the significant progress they have made over the past half-century.

With the establishment of the Pan-African forum, the independent States of Africa expressed their desire to join forces to ensure peace, security, stability and conditions for sustainable socio-economic development in the region. Currently, the African Union plays an important role in coordinating integration processes on the continent, strengthening political, economic and humanitarian cooperation among African countries, and coordinating their approaches to key issues on the global and regional agenda, including Africa's interaction with the main multilateral forums-the UN, G20, G8, BRICS, etc.

It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of the African Union to preventing and unblocking conflict and crisis situations on the African continent, as well as its efforts to ensure a more just and peaceful environment.-

What is the best place for Africa in the system of international relations?

Russia aims to further expand cooperation with the African Union in various fields. We assist the AU in developing its own peacekeeping capacity, and explore opportunities for Russian companies to engage in major infrastructure projects on the continent. We are developing a dialogue with the Afro-Union at all levels. In April of this year, the Chairman of the AU Commission, N. Dlamini-Zuma, visited Moscow. Hailemariam Desalegn, Chairman of the African Union and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and M. Sall, Head of the Steering Committee of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), President of Senegal, have been invited to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in September. We are confident that the expansion of our cooperation will be facilitated by the implementation of the initiatives put forward by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the BRICS - Africa Forum (which was held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Durban in March this year) to develop the cooperation of the five countries with the African Union, NEPAD, and the main sub-regional organizations of the African continent in the political and economic spheres. economic spheres.

It is no secret that Africa, on the one hand, is a continent of great opportunities and enormous potential, on the other hand, it is the most problematic region, both in terms of the overall military and political situation, and in terms of socio - economic development.

It would be premature to assume that the visible progress made recently by Africans in resolving numerous internal and inter - State conflicts is irreversible. It is well known that "pain nodes "in Africa often have increased" survivability", the ability to regenerate, cross-border overflow and grow in new forms. Territorial disputes, the desire to control resources, the struggle for power and finances, rivalry between ethnopolitical groups, inter-confessional tensions, and the unresolved "land issue"continue to be a breeding ground for the remaining significant conflict potential. In an objective assessment of the existing security risks and threats on the continent, one should not discount the traditional factor of external influence for Africa in the context of increasing competition in the world, primarily for energy markets.

The socio-economic situation in Africa, despite the rather impressive economic indicators of recent years (the average annual growth rate exceeds 5%), remains difficult. The scourge of the region is the chronic poverty of the majority of the population. The economies of most African countries continue to be overly dependent on raw material exports and highly exposed to external conditions. Effective economic integration processes are difficult. In most cases, the numerous decisions taken in this regard do not work or are initially declarative in nature. There are frequent outbreaks of local "trade conflicts" and open rivalry between individual countries.

And these are just the main problems and obstacles to achieving sustainable socio-economic growth in the continent's countries. But the threatening nature of such negative factors as the underdevelopment of the health care system, the widespread spread of infectious diseases, primarily HIV, is well known/AIDS and malaria, regular natural disasters (droughts and floods).

Despite all these risks and obstacles, Africa's importance in world politics is growing. In this regard, the interest in Africa on the part of the leading world Powers and "new" regional players is quite justified and understandable. Russia is not "on the sidelines" of this process: objective indicators show that in recent years our diverse partnership with the countries of the continent has gradually gained momentum.

In political terms, our relations with Africa, even during the well-known difficult period of the 1990s, have always been characterized by a high level of mutual understanding, trust and friendship. Serious damage, unfortunately, was on the-

At that time, our economic ties were useless.

In recent years, as the Russian economy has strengthened, the negative trend has been significantly corrected. Thanks to persistent efforts on both sides, the mutual trade turnover is growing (doubling in 5 years), Russian investments are expanding, and leading Russian economic operators are stepping up their participation in major bilateral and international projects implemented on the African continent.

The Russian Foreign Ministry is actively involved in this process. We provide its "diplomatic support" and provide the necessary support to Russian business structures operating in the African direction.

At the same time, it is necessary to recognize that Russian entrepreneurs have recently begun to enter the vast African market. The actual results are far from exhausting the existing potential and do not correspond either to our export capabilities or to the resources of this vast continent, which has enormous natural reserves.

There is political will to build up high-quality economic partnerships, including business ones, but it is necessary, first of all, to establish a more effective exchange of information about cooperation opportunities. There is no denying that Russian business structures have little knowledge of the African market, its needs, capacity, and other parameters. For their part, the Africans are not sufficiently aware of the capabilities of potential Russian partners.

I believe that our efforts should be focused primarily on finding new ways of partnership, increasing the impact of existing cooperation mechanisms, and implementing the largest and most promising projects.

In conclusion, I would like to note that for more than half a century, the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been a leading center of Russian African studies, conducting scientific research on a wide range of historical, socio-economic, and political problems of the African continent. This activity contributed to the establishment and development of friendly relations between our country and the young African states that were freed from colonial dependence.

The intellectual contribution of the Institute's staff to determining the prevailing trends in the development of the situation in Africa, which, like everywhere else in the world, is subject to rapid changes, is especially in demand today.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Institute for Africa work closely and fruitfully together. Deep scientific research and the personal creative contribution of the Institute's staff find active practical application in the work of our ministry, creating the basis for promoting Russian interests on the continent.

Scientists of the IAfr RAS actively participate in expert work on the implementation of joint economic cooperation projects by Russian businesses in the region, creating the necessary prerequisites for further penetration of Russian producers and capital into African markets.

I am confident that the scientific achievements of the Institute will make an important contribution to solving practical issues of expanding our cooperation with African States.

Permanent link to this publication: