Valdai Club

Summit diplomacies can offer African countries a channel to explore different avenues of engagement by listening to the proposals on the table during one summit to another and strengthen cooperation with those that offer better terms of cooperation. By choosing to isolate one country from the summits simply because of great power politics should not be in the interests of African countries, who should approach international relations with an open heart and a sharp desire to improve the wellbeing of the people of the continent. The Second Russia-Africa summit did have numerous opportunities regarding this direction, even though some of these benefits were overshadowed by information warfare.

The geopolitical landscape has changed beyond recognition in the time since the first Russia-Africa Summit was held in the autumn of 2019, laying the groundwork for an ambitious programme to expand Russia’s cooperation with Africa.

Africa, beyond being a spectator to how external actors lay blame on each other or seek to take credit for their ‘humanitarian’ efforts to civilize the continent, believes there are many other issues that these countries should pay more attention to. This is where the role of higher education institutions comes in.