Valdai Club

The African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

Corinthia Hotel, 57 Nevsky Prospect, St.Petersburg, Russiag

© Sputnik/Alexei Drujinin

On July 25, 2023, St. Petersburg hosted the Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and African Countries: Established Traditions of Interaction and Prospects for Cooperation in a New World”. The one-day conference on the eve of the second Russia-Africa summit was held at the Corinthia Hotel, at 57 Nevsky Prospect.

More than 60 people from 14 countries have been invited to participate in the Valdai Club’s first African Conference, including guests from Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali, Russia, South Africa, South Sudan, and Zambia. Most of the guests are involved in the process of foreign policy planning in their countries. It can be expected, therefore, that the recommendations and results of the Valdai Club conference will have an applied nature and will fall on the table of leaders on the eve of the summit on July 27-28. The Valdai Club Conference actually became the final synchronisation of watches at the expert level in the run-up to the summit.

Materials

Norms and Values

Is Russia Returning to Africa?

Given that the adoption of the decisions of the Second Russia-Africa Summit was accompanied by the development of a mechanism for their implementation, and in light of the high professional level of the leaders and employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry who were called upon to coordinate it, there is every reason to believe that these decisions will be implemented, and that Russia’s cooperation with African countries in many areas will yield new prospects, writes Vladimir Shubin.

Vladimir Shubin

Norms and Values

The Second Russia-Africa Summit: Lessons Beyond the Economic Forum

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.

Israel Nyaburi Nyadera

Russia-Africa: Two Halves of the Planet’s Heart

Is it possible to conduct a political dialogue amid the wholesale reformatting of the global space? What is a natural partnership? How are Russia-Africa economic relations progressing? What is the fireproof safety net in Russia-Africa relations? Is it possible to transform the Soviet legacy into real policies? These issues were discussed by the participants in the Valdai Club Russia-Africa Conference held in St Petersburg on July 25, on the eve of the second Russia-Africa Summit.

Economic Statecraft

46 Years of Solitude: The Main Lessons of the Apartheid Sanctions Against South Africa

To bypass the sanctions introduced against South Africa, the apartheid government acted proactively, laid the necessary legislative foundation so that the work to circumvent the sanctions could be carried out under the cloak of secrecy, and showed a willingness to use flexible (and not always legal) schemes for the uninterrupted supply of strategically important goods, as well as for the export of raw materials and local products, writes Lora Chkoniya.

Norms and Values

Russia and Africa: Working Together for a Better World

It is in our hands to improve, expand, and consolidate Russia-Africa Relations. The five foundations of historical, political, economic, scientific and academic, and security offer us a good-enough pathway towards our common and shared futures, writes Rasigan Maharajh in the run-up to the Russia-Africa conference of the Valdai Club.

Rasigan Maharajh

Norms and Values

Russia and Africa: A Natural Partnership

Russia and the African continent are natural trade and economic partners. Russia strives to listen to the needs of Africans, building relationships on the principle of “development not at the expense of, but together with Africa.” We hope that the 2nd Summit, as well as the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum (St. Petersburg, July 26-29, 2023) will give a new impetus to Russian-African cooperation, writes Pavel Kalmychek, Director of the Department for Bipartite Cooperation Development, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Pavel Kalmychek

Norms and Values

Russia and Africa: Discerning Details in the Big Picture

In response to the Valdai Club report “Russia and Africa: An Audit of Relations” released in the run-up to the Club’s African Conference, Ricardo Santos from Mozambique discusses shortcomings in the interaction between Russia and the African countries and identifies ways to overcome them.

Norms and Values

What African Strategy for Russia?

We see a real increase in global competition for Africa, a kind of ‘race of billions’ in cooperation programmes with it. This, by the way, gives the African countries themselves the opportunity to choose, writes Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Message from the Chairman

Rising Out of the Ocean

Africa’s transformation did not start yesterday. Obviously, every interaction had by the numerous African nations with even more numerous states outside it, inevitably produced a reaction, making Africans more and more aware of their role and place in the world. This is only natural – without seeing others you will not know your true self, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

Andrey Bystritskiy

Norms and Values

Russia and Africa: An Audit of Relations

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.

Oleg Barabanov, Lora Chkoniya, Elena Kharitonova, Israel Nyaburi Nyadera, Dmitry Poletaev, Roger Tsafack Nanfosso, Nathalia Zaiser

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Photo

Photo Gallery: The Soviet Legacy in Africa: From the Past Into the Future. Fourth Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Culture, Education and Human Dimension: How to Bring Russia and Africa Closer to Each Other? Third Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Economic Relations: Three Years’ Audit After the First Russia-Africa Summit. Second Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Opening and First Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

Video

The Soviet Legacy in Africa: From the Past Into the Future. Fourth Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club (in English)

25.07.2023

The Soviet Legacy in Africa: From the Past Into the Future. Fourth Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club (in French)

25.07.2023

Opening and First Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club (in English)

25.07.2023

Opening and First Session of the African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club (in French)

25.07.2023

Infographics

Key Results Since the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit