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Liberty Pazvakavambwa
On the shores of the Black Sea, and in the Russian city of Sochi, the Russian Federation received more than 50 leaders and presidents of Africa, at the first Russian-African summit in 2019.

The groundbreaking platform introduced a new and unprecedented stage of cooperation and partnership that Russia has been pursuing over the past eight years.

Russia-Africa Summit 2019, provided the first major step towards the elevation of Russia-Africa relations.

The Africa-Russia summit was established as a way to counter a socio-political and economic system, which was crafted by the West to force homogeneous thinking and behaviour.

This is in line with goals enshrined in one of the 2019 resolutions which read;

“Develop an equitable dialogue taking account of the interests of African States and the Russian Federation based on multilateral world order, (one which is not dominated by a single power and system. A world which is run on consensus under auspices of the UN).

“Oppose revision of the universally recognised principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter, as well as the practice of adopting unilateral measures and imposing approaches that undermine common interests of the International community in general.”

Invitations to participate in this summit were sent to heads of all African countries, and among the invitees was President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.

The engagement provided a nexus point for Russian businesses that wanted to invest in Africa and some countries are already counting dividends.

The organising committee of the event, which comes every third year, included among notable figures, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Advisor to Russian President of the Russian Federation, Anton Kobyakov, Ambassador-at-Large in the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Head of Secretariat of the Africa-Russia Partnership Forum, Oleg Ozerov, and Chairman of the Africa-Russia Partnership Forum, Alexander Stuglev.

The committee met on March 29, 2021 in Moscow to discuss prospects for further development of relationships with African states by way of following up on resolutions of the first summit which was held on October 24, 2019.

Addressing the preparatory meeting of the forthcoming Africa-Russia summit, President Putin noted that the first summit “gave a strong momentum to the development of friendly relationships between the Russian Federation and African countries.”

Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Russia Mr Sergei Lavrov gave the indication that the summit is already being prepared and filled with meaningful content, and that roadmaps for African-Russian economic, scientific and humanitarian cooperation are being drafted.

The last time the summit happened, there was notable progress.

Russia has concluded several cooperation contracts with the Republic of Zimbabwe in the military field, as well as diamond and platinum projects, and this is what President Mnangagwa wanted.

On this issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said:

“Moscow seeks cooperation with Zimbabwe in the military field and is looking forward to opportunities in the diamond sector and the full implementation of a joint platinum project worth three billion dollars near Harare.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Zimbabwe in March 2018 in a rare high level visit by a Russian government official, in a vote of confidence in rapidly growing relations between Zimbabwe and the Russian Federation, in such areas as mining, commerce, defence and security, tourism and energy.

Minister Lavrov, had previously held several meetings with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and senior government officials, during his visit to the African continent, and signed an agreement to establish a special economic zone for Russian companies in the field of manufacturing.

A Russian consortium agreement that includes the arms giant Rostec Corporation entered into a partnership with a Zimbabwe group in 2014 to develop a $3 billion platinum project near the capital.

Lavrov’s upcoming visit is expected to revive the mining project, which is one of the largest single investments in the country since its independence in 1980.

Zimbabwe has the second largest deposits of platinum after South Africa, and the Darwendale Project is the largest single reservoir in the world.

President Mnangagwa is fighting to attract foreign investors to stimulate the economy, and has pledged to undertake reforms to protect investments, which is what we hope for in the near future.

The Zimbabweans who responded favourably to prospects of the mutual cooperation between Zimbabwe and Russia back in 2019, now want to see more feasible results.

The country which has a long and painful history of unfulfilled promises from various partners, today hopes that the assurance of friendly intentions from the Russian diplomats will soon convert into real actions that can change the situation in the developing Zimbabwean market.

The areas of partnership should definitely be broadened; and it is for the Russian Foreign Ministry and other state bodies to develop other directions of cooperation that will exceed the security and business sphere, namely developing more education, humanitarian and cultural projects.

One of the strong spheres inherited by the Russian Federation from the USSR is the education sector. Russia has wide experience in teaching the Russian language on the continent.

For the past two decades, Russian teachers have been promoting the Russian language and literature in Tanzania, Kenya, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Zambia and other African countries. Also our fellow African citizens can be certified to teach Russian to their compatriots.

Knowing the Russian language can open various opportunities for the Zimbabwean people from getting quality education in any field in Russia, to building up business and cultural ties with the Russians.

Russia is a huge country with long-standing agrarian experience and it can share the knowledge and techniques that can help Zimbabwe to revive this vital area. Both countries are effected by various sanctions that impede their progress.

Sending Russian agriculture specialists to Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean students to Russia, joint projects aimed at raising the quality and quantity of Zimbabwean agricultural products, cooperation in the sphere of post-production seem to be attractive and mutually profitable ways to diversify and deepen the already existing relations between the two countries.

Zimbabwean market offers a wide space for growth in terms of the international cooperation and Russia has been giving strong assurances on the possibility of collaboration.

The future looks bright on Zimbabwe-Russia collaborations on the economic front.

Russia has a history of assisting Zimbabwe from as far back as the liberation struggle.

l Liberty Pazvakavambwa is a media consultant, and a film researcher based in Zimbabwe.