MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Sierra Leone counterpart Alie Kabba. This is the first visit of the Sierra Leone foreign minister to Russia since Julius Maada Bio became president of this African country in April 2018. Moscow thinks Kabba's visit confirms the plans of the new Sierra Leone leadership to step up cooperation with Russia.

The foreign ministers will discuss trade and economic cooperation, and exchange opinions on regional and international issues. In particular, they plan to discuss ways to settle crises on the African continent and prospects of reforming the UN Security Council considering Sierra Leone's chairmanship in the African Union's Committee of Ten.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Lavrov and Kabba are expected to discuss strengthening business partnership in developing mineral resources, fisheries, fuel and energy sphere.

Russian special envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov said after his visit to Sierra Leone that Moscow considers Africa as an important region of development. "New prospects are opening for us now. We think that Africa is the continent of the future, the world's treasury," Bogdanov said noting that African countries express increased interest in cooperation with Russia.

Another important aspect of cooperation is healthcare. For instance, Moscow finances the fight against Ebola in West African countries by allocating over $60 million.

The sides continue working together in the military-technical sphere as well. Russia and Sierra Leone signed a corresponding inter-governmental agreement last August.