By Andualem Sisay Gessesse- Ahead of the upcoming second Russia-Africa Summit scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg at the end of this month, Russian Chamber of Commerce hosted a roundtable in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and highlighted the potential business opportunities between Africa and Russia.
Entitles, “On the road to second Russia- Africa Summit”, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, AFROCOM (the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with African Countries), and directors of several Russian companies have presented business areas of cooperation African countries can consider.
Among the potential products and services of Russia African businesses are advised to consider include high-tech industries such as, commercial vehicles, light motors and electric bus, mine dump trucks, grader, agricultural machineries, oil and gas equipment, pumping equipment and generators. When it comes to agribusiness, Russian companies can supply the best fertilizers to African countries and support the continent’s effort to become self-sufficient in food production and ultimately shift to export.
In addition, Russian companies have also expressed their interest to work with African countries in areas of digital transformation that can bring significant change in tax collection and education systems of African governments. The energy sector, which includes development of nuclear energy for developmental purposes, and space technology are also mentioned as areas of cooperation between African countries and Russia.
“The BRICS payment system will allow transaction in the national currency using digital financial assets,” said Mr. Igor Morozov, Chairman of AFROCOM. In his presentation Mr. Igor Morozov stated that the BRICS Bank, which at the moment has 30 countries with 2/3rd of the world’s population, helps the member countries to use their own national currency in commodity exchange with another member country through counter barter trading system. The payment system will allow the countries to own the payment system, according to Mr. Igor Morozov.
BRICS stands for (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) the emerging economies block challenging the statuesque of trading using United States Dollars for international trade, among others. The BRICS system is expected to help many developing countries whose trade and investment is often negatively impacted by the shortage of hard currency, mainly USD, when it comes to cross border trade and investment.
Extensive banking system, leasing companies, private equity fund, and insurances businesses are the institutions for expanding mutually beneficiary partnership between Russia and African countries, according to Mr. Igor Morozov.
In addition to AFROCOM, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation represented by Mr. Ilya Nesterov, also expressed the interest of Russian business community to work with African companies for the benefit of both parties and the citizens of the countries.
The second Russia-Africa Summit scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg, Russia from July 27-28, 2023 with attendants from African countries including journalists, policy makers, business communities from both sides, and those engaged in humanitarian activities, among others.