The Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum took place on 23–24 October in Sochi. The event’s motto was “For Peace, Security and Development”. This is the first time in the history of modern Russia that an event of this kind has been held at such a high level, and it is unprecedented in the history of Russian-African relations. Official delegations from African countries and business representatives expressed great interest in the further development of relations, and in deepening and intensifying Russian-African cooperation. Wide-ranging preparatory work was carried out in the run-up to the Russia–Africa Economic Forum, serving the purpose of strengthening and expanding interaction between Russia and Africa. Priority areas of economic cooperation in which concrete results can be achieved in the coming years were outlined. The main areas identified were energy, including renewables, infrastructure development and especially railway and housing construction, modern and high-tech extraction and processing of mineral resources, agriculture, digital technologies, oil and gas exploration, medicine, science and education. At the Summit a final declaration was adopted by the participants. The document outlines a set of goals and objectives for the further development of Russian-African cooperation in politics, security, the economy, science, technology, culture and humanitarian fields. It is worth noting that the declaration includes a new mechanism for dialogue, the Russian-African partnership mechanism, which calls for the Russia–Africa Summit to be held once every three years.
