A panel session
on Russia—Africa investment cooperation was held in Moscow during the open
Russia—Africa Economic Conference, part of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings with the support of the Roscongress
Foundation and Russian Export Center. The discussion was moderated by Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Africa Consulting and Trading (ACT) Ibrahima
Cheikh Diong and participants included: Senator from the State of Ogun of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria Ibikunle Amosun; Founding Chairman of Petrolin Group
and Chairman of the African Business Roundtable Samuel Dossou-Aworet; President
and Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Opaia SA Agostinho Kapaia; Group CEO of
Notore Chemical Industries PLC Onajite Okoloko; Chief Minister of the Republic
of Sierra Leone David Francis; and Vice President of FORMIKA Group Anton
Atrashkin.
«In 2017, the
Russian Export Center (REC), part of VEB.RF, purchased shares in Afreximbank
and became the bank’s third-largest non-African financial institution or
organization shareholder. Afreximbank is currently one of our authoritative
partners, which allows for the successful implementation of projects in
Africa’s high-risk market. This year the REC has made its first joint deals.
ROSEXIMBANK added its confirmation on two letters of credit issued by the
African Export-Import Bank to the benefit of the subsidiary PJSC Uralkali. The
implementation of these deals helps finance the shipment of
Russian-manufactured fertilizers to Zambia, totalling approximately USD 45
million,» said Andrey Slepnev, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Export
Center (REC).
Russia is
developing a number of other projects in cooperation with Afreximbank,
including a project concerning the shipment of Russian ground transport and
projects to finance industrial infrastructure construction and modernization
projects in Nigeria and Angola.
At the end of
last year, REC, Russian Railways, and Afreximbank signed a memorandum of
cooperation. As a result, a trilateral working group was created and tasked
with studying export and investment project issues in the railway and related
industries and discussing forms of project and investment financing.
