L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

cial Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for
Relations with African Leaders, in the work of AU summits.
Inter-parliamentary links made an important contribution to the
further development of Russian-African relations. Visits to Russia
by parliamentarians from Gabon, DR Congo, Zambia, Madagascar,
and South Africa constituted noticeable events.
Religious organizations’ ties received a new impetus. The visit
to Angola, Namibia and South Africa by Metropolitan Kirill of
Smolensk and Kaliningrad served to strengthen the positions of the
Russian Orthodox Church in African countries and to develop interfaith
links.
The contacts held facilitated expanding the “geography” of Russia’s
interaction with Africa, and solving a number of specific issues
in bilateral cooperation, both with large and with small states of the
continent. Among Russia’s principal partners are Angola, Guinea,
Namibia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. There are quite good
prospects for the advancement of cooperation with DR Congo, Gabon,
Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Madagascar,
Mali and other countries.
Despite the unfavorable tendencies linked to the global economic
and financial crisis, purposeful work was conducted to reinvigorate
economic and trade cooperation with the countries of Africa, whose
current level, as we believe, does not yet match the available considerable
potential. Great significance was attached to raising the effectiveness
of the activities of bilateral intergovernmental commissions
(IGCs) in this context.
Considerable reserves lie in the promotion of direct economic
ties between representatives of small and medium-sized business,
including under the auspices of the constituent entities of the Russian
Federation. Fresh examples are the understanding reached
during the visit of a delegation of entrepreneurs from St. Petersburg
to major South African cities on the conclusion of a cooperation
agreement between St. Petersburg and Johannesburg, and the
study of the possibility of establishing twin-city relations between
Krasnodar Territory and the South African province of Kwazulu
Natal.
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