Thandi Moraka, deputy minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), is representing South Africa at the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum (RAPF), in Sochi, Russia.
The meeting is currently underway in popular vacation city of Sochi, Russia. It is being hosted by the veteran Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and attended by more than 50 of his African counterparts, or their representatives. Also in attendance are regional bodies such as Southern African Development Community (SADC), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), East African-based IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) and COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa).
The RAPF is scheduled to take place over two days, from 9-10, at the conference of the celebrated Sirius University, the economic centre of knowledge for the Russian Federation.
Top of the programme of Day One includes a series of roundtables and panel discussions on “the most pressing issues on the Russian-Africa agenda. A separate thematic area will focus on humanitarian cooperation between Russia and its African partners,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.
Russia has increased its focus on cooperation with the African continent since the imposition of a barrage of unprecedented economic sanctions by the West following the outbreak of the Ukraine war some two years ago.
Africa pays a central role in the South-South relations and across the Global South, where Russia also plays a key role.
The inaugural Russia-Africa Partnership Forum seeks to build on the 2023 huge success of the Russia-Africa Summit held in St Petersburg and attended by just over 50 African heads of state.
The RAPF will be closed tomorrow by Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov, and conference resolutions communicated with the publics.
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