MOSCOW/NAIROBI, July 24. /TASS/. The second Russian-African conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club will be held in Africa for the first time, namely in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The event will bring together around 40 experts from Russia and East Africa, who will discuss models of Moscow’s cooperation with African nations a year after the Russia-Africa summit took place in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg.
Organizers of the conference, titled "Russia - Africa: A strategy for cooperation in a multipolar world," hope that the outcome of the discussion would allow experts to prepare for the third Russia-Africa summit, which will be held in an African country.
"Building a fair, equal, multipolar world and unobstructed, unrestricted trade relations is equally important for both Russia and its African partners, as is taking into account the values of developing countries and their interests. The purpose of the conference is to compare positions on the entire cycle of these problems, and bring them to a point where Russia and African countries can apply similar approaches and implement similar paths of development in real politics," the event’s organizers said in a press release.
The opening remarks are expected to be delivered by Tanzanian Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Justice Pindi Chana, Russian Ambassador to the republic Andrey Avetisyan and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club Andrey Bystritskiy.
The list of special guests, participating on the Russian side, include Ambassador-at-Large and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Oleg Ozerov and Director of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Abramova.
Among experts from four African countries, participating in the discussion, will be Professor of Political Science at Cairo University Nourhan ElSheikh; leading researcher at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Dareskedar Taye; and Chairman of the Tanzania Investment Centre Binilit Mahenge.
The program of the conference spans over one day and includes four thematic sessions. The first one will be devoted to political dialogue between Russia and African countries at the present stage; the second one will look into prospects for economic cooperation; the third will address climate change; and the fourth will examine shared values and cultural cooperation.