Saint Petersburg (Russian Federation), July 29, 2023-As part of his diplomatic agenda, the President of the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) led a delegation from the Commission to the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit from July 26 to 29, 2023, in St Petersburg, Russia.
The delegation was made up of the Commissioner for Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, the Director of Cooperation and Resource Mobilization, the Head of the Analysis and Evaluation Service in the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, and the Administrative Assistant to the President of the Commission.
The delegation’s agenda was marked by H.E. the President’s participation in the opening plenary sessions of the Forum and Summit, and by his much-appreciated intervention at the working lunch between the President of the Russian Federation and African regional organizations. This agenda was marked above all by the effective strengthening of cooperation with Russia through the signing on July 28, 2023 by the President of the Commission of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ECCAS and the Russian Federation on the principles of cooperation between the two Parties.
On the bangs of the Summit, the Commission delegation took part in several panels of the Economic and Humanitarian Forum, during which the Commissioner for Spatial Planning and Infrastructures, representing H.E. the President mobilized by the Summit, made the region’s voice heard on business opportunities in the ECCAS zone. On this occasion, she presented the region’s flagship projects in search of funding.
This speech was very well received by the participants, who held bilateral meetings to further explore the prospects for collaboration with ECCAS, in particular with Gazprombank and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
The Commission’s participation in this IInd Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum also opened up prospects for cooperation in terms of sharing experiences with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and paved the way for various other horizons of cooperation to be explored between Africa in general and Central Africa in particular, with Russian state, supranational and sub-state entities. A panel dedicated to UEEA-Africa: horizons for cooperation, featuring a presentation by the ECCAS Commission, was also a high point in the delegation’s mobilization.
In any event, under the leadership of its Chairman, the Commission communicated its key messages of promoting and diversifying its partnerships, and seeking financing to support the socio-economic development of its member states through economic transformation and diversification based on certain pilot sectors, notably agro-industry, infrastructure and energy.
Thanks to the high-level mobilization of the ECCAS Commission at the St Petersburg meeting, a new stage in the building and consolidation of a mutually beneficial partnership between ECCAS and Russia has been reached.
Automatic Translation
