MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. Owing to improvement of the business climate and economic growth, African nations are becoming attractive for investments, including high-technology spheres, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
Economic growth rates on the African continent are sustainably above the world’s average in recent years and experts forecast that the total gross domestic product (GDP) of African countries will reach $2.6 trillion. The business climate is changing on the continent, the Prime Minister said. "All these things have already made Africa attractive for investments, and not merely in producing industries but, which is of particular importance, in high technologies and telecommunications," Medvedev said.
"Another objective cause for us to move closer is the similarity of tasks our economies face," the Prime Minister noted. Russia and African nations have abundant natural resources. "According to certain estimates, this is a half of the resource potential of the planet, and we therefore need to more efficiently use these resources and at the same time promote cooperation in this sphere, just like cooperation in other spheres," he said.
Economic preconditions alone are not enough to reach the new quality in cooperation, Medvedev said. "It is also important to have a sincere internal desire," he noted. "Such a sincere desire is present from the side of the Russian Federation and from the side of African states. We see this at the most different levels, including the high and the top levels of cooperation," Medvedev said. The turnover between Russia and African nations surged by 17% last year "but it is still insufficient; more active efforts are needed," he added.