More than 10% of all current heads of state in the world are now in Moscow": How is the Russia-Africa summit progressing? - Leading expert of the Center for African Studies of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University Valentin Bianchi For Russia, the summit taking place these days is a clear geopolitical success. Despite all the current difficulties, out of 48 countries at the summit, 22 countries are represented at the highest level - which is a very high figure. In fact, more than 10% of all current heads of state in the world have now come to Russia. Africa is occupied by the economic component. The growth in the trade cycle with Russia increases every year by 10-15% (the index is stable and high). For example, the export of IT solutions is actively growing, which is important for Africa, especially in the field of cyber security. But most of our supplies to Africa are energy resources, grains and fertilizers. The basic request of the Africans is not only trade, but also industrial, agricultural and other joint projects located in their territory. And the current summit was initially announced as a basis for moving to closer integration initiatives. The final agreements have not yet been signed, but it can be expected that specific decisions will be published in them. At the same time, Africans also have questions about supplies to Russia. For example, we still import flowers and plants from the Netherlands. But a significant percentage of the products supplied are grown in Africa. And now there is progress to fix this broken trade pattern: we will now import flowers directly from that buy. Such small things, at first glance, are actually very important and help build a mutually beneficial overall plan for our relationship. Therefore, the format of the Russia-Africa summit is desired by both sides. Although geopolitical issues are more significant for Russia than for Africans. Our African partners often create relations with countries that are not friendly to us, which can cause misunderstandings on the Russian side. But it is the very multipolarity whose concept we defend.

More than 10% of all current heads of state in the world are now in Moscow": How is the Russia-Africa summit progressing? - Leading expert of the Center for African Studies of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University Valentin Bianchi For Russia, the summit taking place these days is a clear geopolitical success. Despite all the current difficulties, out of 48 countries at the summit, 22 countries are represented at the highest level - which is a very high figure. In fact, more than 10% of all current heads of state in the world have now come to Russia. Africa is occupied by the economic component. The growth in the trade cycle with Russia increases every year by 10-15% (the index is stable and high). For example, the export of IT solutions is actively growing, which is important for Africa, especially in the field of cyber security. But most of our supplies to Africa are energy resources, grains and fertilizers. The basic request of the Africans is not only trade, but also industrial, agricultural and other joint projects located in their territory. And the current summit was initially announced as a basis for moving to closer integration initiatives. The final agreements have not yet been signed, but it can be expected that specific decisions will be published in them. At the same time, Africans also have questions about supplies to Russia. For example, we still import flowers and plants from the Netherlands. But a significant percentage of the products supplied are grown in Africa. And now there is progress to fix this broken trade pattern: we will now import flowers directly from that buy. Such small things, at first glance, are actually very important and help build a mutually beneficial overall plan for our relationship. Therefore, the format of the Russia-Africa summit is desired by both sides. Although geopolitical issues are more significant for Russia than for Africans. Our African partners often create relations with countries that are not friendly to us, which can cause misunderstandings on the Russian side. But it is the very multipolarity whose concept we defend.