Russian agency to help organize African energy forum

Russian agency Roscongress Foundation will be “a strategic partner” of a forum on African energy to be held in South Africa in November
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Roscongress Foundation will be “a strategic partner” of the event in South Africa later this year

Roscongress Foundation will participate in organizing African Energy Week (AEW-2024), which will be held later this year in Cape Town, South Africa, the Russian government agency announced on Monday.

The energy forum, which has been held annually since 2021, brings together the region’s political and energy leaders, as well as global investors. This year’s forum, themed ‘Invest in Africa’s Energy,’ is scheduled for the first week of November.

“The Roscongress Foundation will be a strategic partner of the Forum,” the agency said in its press release. “A cooperation agreement between the Foundation and the AEW organizer, the African Energy Chamber, was signed at Russian Energy Week in October 2023,” it explained. The two organizations established “partnership relations” with the goal of “implementing joint projects and achieving mutually beneficial goals.”

Electricity is one of the key areas of cooperation between Russia and African states, according to Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

“Projects in this area are being developed with 16 African countries,” he said, as cited by Roscongress. “In recent years, business events held in Russia, including the Russia–Africa Summits and Economic Forums, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Russian Energy Week, have shown that representatives of the African continent see great prospects for cooperation with our country,” he said, adding that this vision “is mutual.”

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Kobyakov believes that AEW-2024 “will become a rallying point and will give an additional powerful impetus to the development of multi-format, long-term cooperation between Russia and Africa, and will continue the dialogue started at the Russian events.”

Participants of the gathering in Cape Town will have the opportunity to thoroughly examine investment opportunities in the field of oil and gas. Various projects will be highlighted, spanning from groundbreaking renewable-energy initiatives to crucial oil development ventures, setting the stage for discussions on sustainable development approaches not only for Africa but also for the global community, Roscongress Foundation said in its statement.

The collaboration with Roscongress provides “an opportunity for us to use natural gas and renewables like nuclear energy to improve the lives of Africans and help us make energy poverty history,” said African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk.

Last year’s energy forum in Cape Town attracted over 5,000 participants from nearly 70 countries, including government delegations from 24 countries and representatives of oil companies from 55 states.

Roscongress Foundation,which was established in 2007, is a socially oriented, non-financial development institution and a prominent organizer of both domestic and international events, following a directive from the President of the Russian Federation. Its establishment aimed to foster Russia’s economic growth, advance its national interests, and enhance its global reputation.