MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Russia fully supports the African continent’s desire to strengthen economic sovereignty, Director of the African Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Bashkin said in his greeting to the participants and organizers of the first international business forum "Russia - Africa Expo 2024".

The welcoming speech was read out by the Department's Deputy Director Dmitry Suchkov.

"Russia, as a country with great potential and sufficient competencies in various areas of the economy, modern technologies, is ready to share its developments, knowledge and experience with African friends, and to carry out mutually beneficial trade interaction," he said. "We fully support the Africans’ desire to strengthen their economic sovereignty."

Bashkin noted that today Africa is a dynamically developing region with great growth potential, an attractive domestic market and expanding export potential. "In recent years, it [the African continent] has been surely strengthening its international authority, increasingly declaring itself as an influential participant in global politics in one of the centers of the emerging multipolar world order," the department director said.

"Given all these factors, it is quite natural that our country attaches particular importance to building a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with Africa, with which it has many ties - from the traditions of joint anti-colonial struggle to a similar vision of many key problems of our time and, very importantly, commitment to common basic values," Bashkin stated.