Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will join a host of other African leaders in Russia for the 2nd Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
The upcoming Forum happening on Thursday and Friday in St Petersburg, is set to diversify the scope and nature of Russian-African cooperation, in turn setting the course of its long-term development.
It will also discuss issues related to achieving Africa’s food sovereignty.
“Russia is a supplier of products that ensure food security: grains, fertilizers, and their components. This issue is becoming more and more acute. According to the latest UN report, the number of hungry people in Africa is growing. But, during the Second Russia–Africa Summit, we will also discuss establishing our own production on the continent, and African countries would like to receive agricultural technology and equipment from Russia. This issue is also related to food security, and it will be discussed within the framework of both the political Summit and the Economic and Humanitarian Forum,” said Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Public discussions taking place as part of the event’s business programme will deal with the most pressing issues on the African-Russia agenda. Taking into account the full extent of cooperation between African nations and Russia, which extends beyond economic activity, a decision was taken to expand the 2023 edition of the Forum with a significant humanitarian element.
The event will include a large-scale exhibition and a platform for holding business meetings.
According to reports, after the summit, President Museveni will head to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, where he will inaugurate a hub for promoting Uganda’s tourism, trade and investment potential in line with bolstering commercial diplomacy in Eastern Europe.
Last month, President Museveni called upon the government and people of the Republic of Serbia to support Uganda’s flourishing agricultural sector.
President Museveni made the request yesterday while meeting a group of officials from the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) led by Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo at Nakasero State Lodge.