More robust trade relations between Russia and Africa predicted

Africans and their Russian counterparts should be looking forward to an increased and very robust trade relationship in a mutually beneficial atmosphere by the year 2023.
This was delivered by some experts at the 2019 African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Annual Meeting held in Moscow, Russia on Thursday.
They predicted that the trade turnover between Russia and Africa would double within the next three years.
Kanayo Awani, the Managing Director of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative, said the total export volume of both countries in 2018 grew by 18 percent and reached 17.5 billion dollars.
He said the volume of their non-energy non-commodity exports within the same period also grew to 14.3 billion dollars.
According to him, Egypt, the Republic of South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Algeria, Nigeria, and Kenya are key African consumers of Russian non-commodity exports.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Export Centre (REC), Andrey Slepnev said “the African continent currently has enormous potential as a sales market. Many African countries are enacting economic reforms, demand is growing for high-quality and competitive products.”
“Russian businesses are interested in this niche, and our goods are already competitive in terms of price and quality. We plan to increase export volumes in the next few years,” he added
According to Slepnev, a Russian Industrial Zone is currently being built in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone which is the first such infrastructure mega project inaugurated by the Russian Export Centre.
“Residents of the industrial zone will have several key advantages: proximity to vital transport canals, a number of trade agreements with Egypt, maximally simplified business regulations, and a single point of contact for solving any problem or addressing any issue. In the next five years, this 525-hectare area will be transformed into a comprehensive industrial park for Russian companies.”