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Russia has never viewed Africa as 'raw materials base' — Lavrov

Russia is focused on implementation of investment projects that help African countries develop their own resources, enhance industrial capacity, and improve the quality of life of the people, the Russian foreign minister stated

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russia has never treated African countries as a source of raw materials, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an article for African media outlets timed to coincide with the second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

"Russia has never considered Africa as a raw materials base since we have plenty of our own natural resources. Our focus is on implementation of investment projects that help African countries develop their own resources, enhance industrial capacity, and improve the quality of life of the people," Lavrov stated.

He also noted that Russia has much to offer its African partners in the fields of energy, mineral resources management, logistics and transport, infrastructure development, and high-tech areas, including digital technologies and artificial intelligence. "Such initiatives are designed for decades to come, and it is hard to overestimate their social and economic importance. We have a good example in the past. Over 300 industrial and infrastructure facilities which have been working successfully to this day were built on the African continent with the support of the Soviet Union," the Russian foreign minister recalled.

The second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum will be held in Cairo on December 19-20. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, the event will focus on issues of deepening security cooperation.

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