SOCHI, October 23. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry supports a plan by the TASS news agency to open new offices across Africa and urges the agency to go ahead with widening its African correspondent network, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said at a session of the Russia-Africa summit on Wednesday.

The summit’s session focused on the role the media plays in forging ties between Russia and African nations.

"We enthusiastically support the TASS initiative to open agency offices in a number of countries in 2020. Among them are Nigeria, Senegal and Ethiopia," he said.

"It makes sense to consider the possibility of further expanding the TASS correspondent network on the African continent," added Bogdanov, who is also the Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa.

He mentioned Angola, Guinea, Tanzania and Madagascar among the potential host countries for future TASS offices.

On October 23-24, the resort city of Sochi will host the Russia-Africa Summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The leaders of all 54 African countries were invited to come, and at least 40 of them have already confirmed their participation. Eight major African integration associations and organizations are also involved in the event. On the summit’s sidelines, an economic forum will take place, which will be attended by the continent’s heads of state, and representatives of the business community and government agencies. The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the event, and TASS is the official photo host agency of the summit and economic forum.