MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. The West has never been so aggressive in seeking to undermine Russian-African relations as it is now, creating a challenging environment for the second Russia-Africa summit, which is slated for later this month, Yelena Kharitonova, a senior researcher at the Institute of African Studies, said on Tuesday.
The analyst presented a report titled "Russia and Africa: An Audit of Relations" at the Valdai Discussion Club, where she said that the first summit, in 2019, went under the motto of Russia’s return to Africa, meaning an intensification of diplomatic work, which was very effective in the Soviet times.
The outlook for a return to Africa was very optimistic in 2019, with an abundance of plans, but that was before COVID, the Ukrainian crisis and the special military operation, she said.
"The 2023 summit will be held in other conditions, which in some ways will be tougher because the opposition to our Russia-Africa project has never been so aggressive as it is now," Kharitonova said.
She said the focus of the upcoming summit is changing in view of the current geopolitical circumstances and the policies of former Western colonial powers that view Russia as a periphery resource-rich country, thus stripping it of the right to sovereignty along with Africa.
"This is a summit that comes under a different motto: reshaping the world. It is a kind of new national liberation struggle. It is a struggle for de-colonization," she said. "Both the African and the Russian side understand this. And while in 2019 we still had time to deliberate, to do things at a leisurely pace, now we are in a situation where we have to act decisively and quickly."
The researcher said that Africa thinks in terms of long-term strategic categories and the African Union's Agenda 2063 document is testimony to that.
"We must realize that even as Russia has been on the capitalist path of development since the 1990s - perhaps not of its own free will, but due to circumstances - there are issues related to the fact that we must talk about social responsibility, about justice, about long-term projects, about the fact that Africa needs to develop, not just trade," she said. "We will have to work out a new, very clear formula of interaction, which is in our mutual interest."
Previous experience
Laura Chkonia, a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at the Institute of Middle Eastern and African Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said that the Russia-Africa summit is the youngest compared with similar formats of other major actors in the region. She said that China and Africa had held their own summits before. The UN started working with Africa as early as 2000, and Japan as early as 1993. All this makes it possible to soak in the previous experience and offer Africa more to become better partners, Chkonia said.
"If we look at the declarations of some African summits: There is a basic memorandum, and it sets a certain direction. If we talk about Indian best practices: They have an action plan that is signed as part of the summit, which spells out the number of masters and PhD students that are given scholarships, and they even go into more detail by spelling out a specific amount of credit that is given to African countries. This creates a roadmap that allows them to stick to a certain plan," she went on to say. "We need smart declarations like that."
Besides, the experience of other countries, according to the analyst, shows that the productivity of summits is enhanced by holding them consistently. She pointed to Africa's partners in China, saying they have held a summit, as promised, every three years without exception.
"In order to stick to the plan, what do other formats do? They have declarations, plans. They set the date and venue for the next summit. Moreover, a tracking mechanism is put in place, who will meet and with whom in between these summits, how often, and sometimes even the issues of these discussions are planned ahead," Chkonia said. "I think we can learn from this."
"Africa is now becoming a place for everyone when you and I talk business, not only for large organizations," she continued. "The first chamber of commerce and industry in Africa will be opened very soon. So we have every reason to remain optimistic."
Great potential
Roger Tsafack Nanfosso, the rector of Cameroon-based Dschang University, also pointed to Moscow's great potential in Africa. He said that Russia now maintains political relations with 54 African countries and has diplomatic missions in at least 50 of them.
"This allows us to build strong relations between African nations and the people of Russia," he said.
According to the researcher, Moscow is effectively addressing the task of promoting its presence in Africa not only on the ground but also within international platforms, which also serves as a good groundwork for deepening Russia’s influence. He said that Russia has a very strong position at the UN.
"Russia has used this position to defend Africans to defend some African countries whenever there were some crises or predicaments," the Cameroonian analyst said.
He also did not forget to mention economic relations between Russia and Africa, which, he said, are based on mutually beneficial interest.
"Russia is helping with some economic projects, let's say through the African Development Bank and Russian banks, setting up its units and branches in a number of African countries. From an economic perspective, this helps to build up pro-Russian views among Africans," he said. "Russia, unlike other countries, acts on a mutually beneficial basis and does not look down on Africans."
The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum is scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg from July 27-28. The first summit was held in Sochi in October 2019 under the motto "For Peace, Security and Development."