Higher Truths: Why Africans Must Eye Russia’s technology

For many official delegates, industrial directors and business people were attracted primarily due to the huge untapped potentials in Russia’s industrial technology and emerging economic opportunities showcased during the International Industrial Trade Fair dubbed “INNOPROM – 2017” held mid-July in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals region. INNOPROM – 2017 has been described as a unique communication platform showcasing latest developments of industrial technologies and facilitating discussions of relevant issues on development of the sector in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the official opening ceremony of the industrial fair which indicated explicitly that Russia is open to long-term, mutually beneficial industrial and technology partnership. "It is very important to see the actual efficiency of these technologies and their practical results, such as better labor conditions, increased productivity, reduced costs, contemporary levels of management, and, finally, increased competitiveness of Russian products, goods, and services," Putin said.

For the past few years, Russia has created comfortable possible conditions for investing in the Russian economy and industry – first and foremost, in infrastructure projects and high value-added manufacturing. The industrial exhibition is an annual gathering of key Russian and international manufacturers, government officials, businessmen, representatives of academic and diplomatic community. BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) were prominently represented.

According media reports, this year’s industrial event brought together over 640 industrial companies from 20 countries. The main theme was “Smart Manufacturing: Global Approach” within which many topical issues were discussed and special regional forum such as s session on Russia-Africa, were held.

An increase in the number of African participants underscored a new level of interest in the industrial sector. The Russia Africa session attracted delegates from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The South African Embassy in the Russian Federation together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) mounted a stand, and SA Ambassador Simbada Thusi lead a delegation to the fair. A small delegation from Ghana including Chris Kisiedu (Director) and Bernard Blewu (Chief Operating Officer) from Centroid Supplies and Logistics Limited, and Evans Kojo Danyo (Chief Executive Officer) of EVANMIKE Multi purpose company Ltd were at the INNOPROM.

For most Africans, who were at Yekaterinburg in July, visited to experience for themselves the beautiful, fascinating and well-touching city, the venue for show-casing Russia’s science and technology. Some of them, however, told me in remarks that Africans seeking business partnership and other businesses have to travel and participate often in these first class international exhibitions and conferences hosted in Russia.

Ethiopian delegation led by His Excellency Dr. Alemu Sime, State Minister of the Ministry of Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia participated in the exhibition. The delegation has actively participated in the forum and has informed participants on the progress achieved so far in the structural transformation of Ethiopia.

Currently, Ethiopia is in structural transformation by focusing on industrialization and developing basic infrastructures – power, road, railways and water facilities. As a result, the economy has become sustainable and one of the fastest growing in the world for the last 15 years by registering a double-digit growth. Ethiopia is looking for enhanced partnership with Russian Federation private and public organizations in the field of energy, metallurgy, mineral exploration and mining, transfer of technology in which Russia excels. Ethiopia is also highly interested to accommodate Russian investors and technology to its export oriented manufacturing industry.

To enhance investments in this sub sector the Ethiopian Government has been developing industrial parks with proper locations, infrastructure, services as well as various incentives. Today many international known companies are directly investing in these parks and some countries are also establishing their own national parks. By informing this, the Ethiopian delegation has expressed its wishes to see Russian companies, participants of Innoprom-2017 in these parks or elsewhere in Ethiopia and all necessary supports will be given to them.

Optimism among Africans has been rising. “We highly value this as it offers us an insight into the scientific and landmarked achievements, and it is necessary to study emerging business opportunities. It’s very promising and if only African countries intensify the economic cooperation, more could be achieved with Russia,” James Thedelmiye, an African participant said.

In the opinion of Zimbabwean Ambassador Mike Sango, who also visited the fair, “INNOPROM has of recent included the Russia-Africa Forum on its sidelines. This Forum provides an opportunity for interaction between African and Russian business where they can establish contacts with a view to creating partnerships and investment in Africa. Apart from this interactive objective, INNOPROM exposes Africa to latest innovations in production technologies on display from global innovators. This helps them keep pace with these developments which if adopted can make their own products competitive on the global markets.”

As a further indication of optimism, Ambassador Sango explains that African ambassadors in the Russian Federation have been and continue to educate and inform their businesses that the west no longer holds monopoly over technological innovation and development as has been the perception in years past. For this reason, each year, the number of African governments and businesses attending the exhibition from Africa has been growing.

Zimbabwe has been to INNOPROM for the second year running. In 2016, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Chiratidzo Iris Mabuwa, was at INNOPROM. This year the Minister, Mike Bimha, himself came leading a delegation from the energy sector, the mining sector, trade promotion and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe hopes to bring more business people at the next episode.

It was a wonderful experience for Rex Essenowo, Chairman of NIDO Russia, who explained in an interview that INNOPROM - 2017 proved that modernization is setting pace in Russia. Most of the technologies displayed are innovation and very suitable for Africa. As a global non-profit association, NIDO is the Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization.

“There are a lot more new Russian technologies with more emphasis on cost effectiveness, energy and ecological friendly which can also enable African countries develop her resources more effectively. It's always good to reach out and Russia remains a powerful link to providing soft landing solutions in heavy industries and other important economic development areas,” he said.


Essenowo suggested further that “We need to create new opportunities for African government and businesses to access and explore the Russian and the CIS markets. To this regard, we have to raise the level of awareness and expand our reach, so that African people can reap the dividend of international cooperation with creation of new jobs and solving technological problems, while developing our economies.”

For most African participants, the exhibition proves very useful for networking and discussing business and further serves as an important study platform useful for deepening knowledge about the modern industrial production and achievements already recorded in the economy and to seek possible ways of transacting business in Russia.

The B2B Export Group of Companies, the organizer of the African session that noted on its website that the VII Russian-African session held within the fair is “in the spirit of global integration the forum engages political, business, academy and other important thought leaders in collaborative efforts to shape trade and industry development between Russia and the African continent.” It pledges further to work together to define challenges, solutions and actions, always keeping in mind the best interests of our people and their needs for safety and prosperity. *Kelvin Dewey Stubborn contributed to this report.

Source: Business Africa

The very first ever AFRO BLOGGERS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION,  took place on Friday the 2nd of November 2018 at SRH Hochschule, Berlin, Germany attracting the very best and passionate of African Bloggers who travelled from as far as Nigeria, Finland and many other countries and cities.

The theme of the event was OUR IMAGE, OUR VOICE, OUR STORY  AND WAS INSPIRED BY Mr Samson Itodo, The Afro Biz Germany as well as other initiatives who partnered to organized this amazing event

It was a profound pleasure to be one of the Key speakers at  THE ever AFRO BLOGGERS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION to talk about “THE SPIRIT OF DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICAN COMMUNITIES”

The Special Guest of honour was HE AMB YUSUF MAITAMA TUGGAR-   The Nigerian High commissioner to Germany.

The event also had some profound guests and speakers including Mr Femi Awoniyi, founder of African courier,  others included Grace Evaly (Nollywood icon in Germany), Robert Quarshie (Founder of Fintech), Binta Fatty from The Gambia (Advocate for FGM ), Elvis Fuamba, who came in all the way from Finland  (The Chairman of Afrofinns), Nzie Fanny (Business entrepreneur and make up artist), Steve Odhiambo (Business Entrepreneur) and many other passionate bloggers making a huge impact in their various cities

Their was also a panel discussion moderated by Sannissi Cisse, with some amazing panellists with many years of experience in their chosen fields

The panellists included Carol Kay, Marianne Balle Moudoumbou, Yomnas Endrias, Femi Awonii and Obayuwana Christorpher

All in All, THE AFRO BLOGGERS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION  was a huge success .

By T.T.F

Russia Failing in Efforts to Invest in Africa

By

 Kester Kenn Klomegah

For the past two decades, Southern African leaders have been looking for external support and genuine foreign investment in infrastructure, agriculture and industry. Besides these economic spheres, the leaders plan to boost significantly business ties with foreign partners and seek effective ways to strengthen exports on foreign markets.

In this regard, Southern African countries welcome investors from all over the world. Russia has a long history of bilateral engagements with the Southern African countries, which constitute the Southern African Development Community.

The Memorandum of Understanding renewed in October 2018 envisages strengthening ties in a broad range of fields and it further shows that SADC remains comparatively as one of Russia’s key regional partners in Africa.

According to official documents, Russian Foreign Ministry [MFA] first signed a Memorandum on Cooperation with Southern African countries on September 1, 2003 during an indepth meeting held between then Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and SADC Executive Secretary Prega Ramsamy.

That agreement primarily aimed at strengthening the diplomatic relations and coordination between the Russian Federation and SADC. The document outlined the most promising areas, as well as the forms and methods of mutually beneficial cooperation in the trade-and-economic and scientific-and-technical areas, transport and communications, energy and mineral resource development, public health, education and culture.

It sets out the mutual desire of Russia and the SADC member countries to step up the many-sided ties between the parties, including the importance of intensifying political contacts at various levels. Both sides as a top priority task emphasized in the document the necessity of making the maximum use of the existing considerable potential.

Since 2003, Russia has had a staggering economic profile in the African region. Indeed, 15 years have elapsed and not much significant have been achieved due to multiple factors, highly experienced experts say in separate interviews as reported here.

Stergomena Lawrence Tax, Executive Secretary of SADC, said “Russia and Africa have been partners for many years, and expressed a desire to achieve a new level in the relationship.”

According to SADC Executive Secretary, Russia has not been visible in the region as compared to China, India or Brazil. But, for past few years, it is encouraging that Russia has made enthusiastic efforts towards repositioning itself to be a major partner with Southern Africa.

Stergomena Lawrence Tax, a Tanzanian by birth and educated in Japan, was appointed in September 2013 at the 33rd Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe, Malawi. She is the first woman to hold the position in the history of the regional bloc, SADC.

Rex Essenowo, Member of the Board of Trustees of Nigerians in Diaspora Europe [NIDO] and Senior Executive of Asian Africa Trade, a Moscow based business lobbying NGO, pointed to Russia’s tremendous growing interest in the Southern African region. Similarly, he first welcomed the new development that the agreements have been renewed after 15 years, but this time, there should be some level of commitment – not just signing the Memorandum of Cooperation.

He noted that the key issue emerging from many policy experts is a fresh call on Russian Government to seriously review and change some of its policy approach currently implemented in Africa. The experts called for more commitment towards development-oriented policies that would help the continent overcome its development problems.

Essenowo, however, expressed optimism that “if Russia intensifies efforts in understanding the African development needs, there could be smooth flow of effective operations. It is important to note that financial commitments, investment guarantees or some sort of financial stimulus plan are needed to improve trade and investment programmes, so as to make policies more effective than mere declaration of interests.”

“In addition, African financial banks and related economic institutions must get up to the task. There is nothing much to talk about without adequate funding and effective management of our resources. We should expect a boost in trade balance between Russia and the SADC region, even with other key regional blocs like, East and West Africa,” the Trade Expert concluded.

Professor Gerrit Olivier from the Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria in South Africa, noted that Russian influence in Africa, despite efforts towards resuscitation, remains marginal.

“What seems to irk Russians, in particular, is that very few initiatives go beyond the symbolism, pomp and circumstance of high level opening moves. It is still not clear how Southern Africa sees Russia’s willingness [and intention] to step up its role in Africa, especially with China becoming more visible and assertive on the continent,” he questioned.

While, given its global status, it ought to be active in Africa as Western Europe, the European Union, the United States and China are, it is all but absent, playing a negligible role, Olivier added.

“At present diplomacy dominates its approach: plethora of agreements have been signed with Southern Africa and various other countries in Africa, official visits from Moscow proliferate apace, but the outcomes remain hardly discernible,” Olivier, who previously served as South African Ambassador to the Russian Federation, wrote in an email comment from Pretoria, South Africa.

Alexandra Arkhangelskaya, a Senior Researcher at the Institute of African Studies and a Senior Lecturer at the Moscow High School of Economics said that Russia and Africa needed each other – “Russia is a vast market not only for African minerals, but for various other goods and products produced by African countries.”

Currently, the signs for Russian-African relations are impressive – declarations of intentions have been made, important bilateral agreements signed – now it remains to be seen how these intentions and agreements would be implemented in practice, she added.

Dr. Martyn Davies, the Chief Executive Officer of the South African-based Frontier Advisory [Pty], suggested to Russian officials the adoption of a model by China to readily fund its companies interested in investing in Africa. He explained that the Chinese model of financing various infrastructure and construction projects in Africa had enhanced investments by the Asian country into the continent. China, the world’s second-biggest economy after the United States, is currently Africa’s largest trading partner.

There are an estimated 1500 Chinese corporations doing business in Africa, most of which are private companies investing in the infrastructure, industry, agriculture, energy and banking sectors.

Davies said the main factor that had assisted this speedy market engagement between Africa and China was that Russian banks had “de-risked” the projects in Africa from a financial perspective, finally explained that “Russia’s banking sector operates quite differently.”

Kelvin Dewey Stubborn, South African based Senior Analyst on BRICS and African policy, observes that Southern African region presents attractive growth opportunities for both foreign private and public investment.

“It seems Russia has to change its approach, move forward to deliver on overarching pledges and promises, [long-overdue step] in order to win the hearts of Africans. Undoubtedly, African leaders are not looking for Soviet-era level of relationships. ”

He maintains that Russia is determined to support African peace and security initiatives, to end conflicts on the continent of Africa but how much its [Russia’s] overall economic footprint and influence will contribute to improving stability is less certain. As already known, Russia has shown interest in the settlement of various conflicts in Africa, primarily in countries such as South Sudan and the Central African Republic, and the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa.

Stubborn explained the hidden public interpretation that African politicians have become political tourists, passionately going forth and back for diplomatic consultations with little impact on the economic development in Africa. Russia has been engaging with African political elite for many years and this has to reflect on the economy.

According to him, “the world is witnessing how Western, European, Asian and the Gulf states are using economic diplomacy and effectively addressing development needs under the principle of mutual respect, equal cooperation, and mutual benefit for Africa. It’s completely a new era that requires comprehensive system of strategies, get engaged or get disengaged – a totally different reality, a new paradigm shift on the African landscape.”

For many policy practitioners such as these mentioned here in this article, Russia’s engagement efforts should necessarily include African experts, civil society representatives and the media – some aspects of public diplomacy as its aim is to appeal and attract partners rather than coerce them into a relationship in one form or the other. Russians have to find ways while dealing with investing into Africa’s future.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov has acknowledged that Russia’s economic cooperation is not as far advanced as political ties but would do well to raise trade and economic ties to a high level of political cooperation by promoting joint activity in order to make broader use of the huge potential of Russian-African trade and investment cooperation.

On the other hand, Lavrov indicated that “Russia is not only committed to long-term cooperation but also ready for large-scale investments in the African markets with account of possible risks and high competition. Equally important is African businesspeople who are looking to work on the Russian market.”

Russia ultimately intends to regain its leading position and influence in Africa. Quite recently, among the initiatives that were designed to strengthen overall ties between Russia and Africa, Lavrov informed that “Russia-Africa forum will be held at the parliamentary level in the near future, followed by a Russia-Africa business forum. All of that will serve as important steps for laying the way to a full-blown Russia-Africa summit, as discussed at the meeting of the BRICS member countries with their African partners in Johannesburg in July.”

The Southern African region is the integrated market resulting from a combined population of approximately 327 million people, and a collective GDP of US$ 600 billion [2016], which is supported by generally favorable weather conditions in most parts of the region.

Source: Modern Diplomacy/

Akon Seriously Considering Running For President Against Donald Trump in 2020

Akon who spoke with Newsweek, hinted on contesting against Donald Trump in 2020. According to him,  Donald Trump’s stance on a lot of things has him concerned about the future of the country.
“I’ve been thinking about running for 2020 very seriously. But I didn’t want to just do it because I feel like I want to continue doing what I’m doing and hope that builds me enough momentum [for people] to say, ‘You know what, if you run we’ll support you.’”
“I feel unempowered. Honestly, I feel it’s gonna be a fight. I feel like I should be always prepared for the unexpected. I feel very uncomfortable.” 
He continued, “And I feel a lot of Americans do; even some white Americans feel that way because they’re watching backlash of his decisions. It’s not what’s happening now, because it’s clear it’s creating a whole bunch of divide today. But I think tomorrow that impact is going to be so much more devastating.”
On how things were under previous President Barack Obama, before Trump took office in January 2017, Akon said;
“We really came a long way to get people to come together, and look at each other as humans, and work towards a common cause,” he told the magazine. “And now it seems like everything that was done is being undone, with gangs and race groups reemerging. It’s just horrible.”

China reveals zero hunger strategy for Africa by 2030

China, Russia and Turkey for a working and sovereign Africa. Photo : RR

Casablanca (ADV) – China’s President Xi Jinping has added more spice to the US$60-billion funding disbursed to Africa by revealing an eight-point agenda to end hunger and pull Africa out of poverty by 2030.

Unlike the UN millennium development goals that are already hitting a snag 12 years ahead of their 2030 timeline, President Xi is upbeat about China’s eight-point agenda for Africa.

The charismatic Chinese leader made the revelation of the development blueprint on Monday shortly after fulfilling his US$ 60 billion promise.

Expounding on the blueprint, he explained that significant phases of the strategy would be implemented over the coming three years with the first being the launch of an industrial promotion initiative.

This, he said, will build and upgrade trade and economic zones on the continent.

The second, Xi said, entails an implementation of a program of action on agricultural modernization intended to ensure food security in Africa by 2030.

To attain this, he said 50 agricultural assistance programs will be rolled out, and 500 senior agricultural experts will be sent to Africa.

“We have also decided to give RMB 1 billion for emergency humanitarian food assistance caused by natural disasters on the continent,” Xi said.

Xi also promised to settle local currency loans and to facilitate bond issuance by African countries in China which he said are tangible measures that will increase confidence in African economies.

Particularly beneficial is the announcement that China will offer 50,000 scholarships to African students, and train 1,000 high caliber Africans in ten social and development planning workshops.

In comparison, experts say all the 28 European Union states put together have not offered 1,000 bursaries for African students compared to 50,000 by China.

Speaking at the event, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed admiration of China’s success story in attaining the SDGs and appealed to African countries to emulate China’s example.

Here is what he said: «China has seen remarkable economic ascendance, becoming the second largest economy in the world, and the third largest foreign investor.

It (China) has met almost all of the Millennium Development Goals. There are valuable lessons from its impressive growth model that can be used by Africans as a catalyst for development,” Ramaphosa said.

Source: © Bur-csa – N.A – ADV