The Russian city of Sochi will host the first Russia-Africa summit on 23 October, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the current chair of the African Union (AU), and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will co-chair the summit, the statement added.
The summit aims to bring together all of Africa’s heads of state and heads of major regional organisations to discuss regional stability and development.
It will focus on fostering political, economic, and cultural cooperation between Russia and African countries.
The summit is expected to adopt a political declaration on the main fields of cooperation between Russia and Africa.
Al-Sisi and Putin will also inaugurate an economic forum in Russia on 23 October, with the participation of African and Russian officials, and representatives of major corporations.
The statement noted that the forum would conclude by the signing of several economic and investment deals.
Relations between the two countries have improved significantly since they started the regular consultations in the 2+2 format which group the defence and foreign affairs ministers of both countries, making Egypt the only Arab country to engage in such talks with Moscow. Russia adopted this format with five other countries.
Frequent mutual visits of both countries’ leaders also reinforced bilateral relationships.
