Second Russia-Africa Summit: President Biya Makes Cameroon’s Voice Heard

It was a gruelling two-day gathering for some 17 African Heads of State and over 30 high-level delegation leaders from the continent who from 27 to 28 July, 2023 joined Russian President, Vladimir Putin to seek ways of reinforcing ties between both continents. President Paul Biya who arrived in St Petersburg early morning on 27 July at the head of a delegation of cabinet members took an active part. He attended the Thursday evening reception offered by their host alongside First Lady Chantal Biya. Mr Biya made a statement at the opening plenary on Friday during which he highlighted the common challenges that Russia and African have overcome over the years and later held bilateral talks with President Putin. Friday was thus a long day that started at 8:00 AM local time, for President Biya and ended at above 10:00 PM local (8:00 PM in Yaounde) for the Head of Sate. And Cameroon is leaving the Summit having signed a visa exemption agreement with the Federal Republic of Russia for holders of diplomatic and service passports as well as other attractive partnership deals. Thus, the Second Russia-Africa Summit segmented into two parts opened on Thursday with a plenary on Economic and Humanitarian issues between Russia and Africa at the Expo-Forum Conference Centre moderated by the Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institution for African Studies, Irina Abramova. Its main topic was: “Technology and Security in the Name of Sovereign Development for the Benefit of Humankind” while day two of the Summit was entitled: “For Peace, Security and Development.” Apart from President Vladimir Putin who chaired the plenary session of the forum on the 27 July, also present at the event were the Chairperson of the African Union and President of the Union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import bank, Benedict Oramah and the President of the New Development Bank, Dilma Roussef ( also former President of Brazil), among others. Participants expressed views on financial, trade, investment, educational and social agendas in Africa and Russia within a rapidly changing global context that requires constant readjustments. These mutations warrant constant improvements in the wellbeing of the population by ensuring better living standards through the provision of solutions to human challenges. Useful and constructive proposals plus practical agreements and contracts, according to many present, came out of the forum’s industry-related sessions on energy, logistics, transport, agriculture, finance, and healthcare. They also talked of new mutually beneficial joint projects for both Russia and Africa. Explaining why Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered grain-deal intended to help Africa get out of the food crisis caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Putin cited a number of measures taken by his country on a humanitarian basis to bail out Africa, insisting that Russia is aware of the importance of food uninterrupted supply to Africa because, “This is vital for their socioeconomic development and for maintaining political stability.” A similar sense of common vision marked discussions at the second plenary on Friday as all speakers including President Paul Biya; host President, Vladimir Putin; the interim leader of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore; the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera, as well as President Azali Assoumani, among others. Cameroon Counting Gains The first-ever one-on-one on Russian soil between President Paul Biya and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin that took place in St Petersburg on 28 July, 2023 during the bilateral meeting that both countries held was like a summit within a summit. President Putin was visibly elated that Mr Biya personally led Cameroon’s delegation to the Second Russia-Africa Summit and declared Russia’s willingness to ensure greater cooperation with Cameroon. He qualified their meeting as an additional impetus to the nearly 60-year diplomatic relations between Cameroon and Russia noting that it is has already produced some results with 2,000 specialists from Cameroon having undergone training in Russia with 814 others currently studying and 47 of them on scholarship while Russia was getting ready to double the scholarship offer to 100 for Cameroonians who want to pursue higher education in the Federal republic of Russia. The pronouncements had already taken another concrete dimension a day earlier on 27 July, 2023 when the Minister of External Relations, Mbella Mbella signed on behalf of Cameroon a mutual visa-exemption agreement Russians for holders of diplomatic and service passports and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov signed a similar document for his country. Both in his improvised statement at the plenary “For Peace, Security, and Development” and the start of bilateral talks between Russia and Cameroon on Friday 28 July, President Paul Biya sounded hopeful about the role of Russia in partnering with Cameroon, in particular and Africa as a whole. In his position as an elderly statesman in Africa Mr Biya noted that: “At the same time, I would like to thank you on behalf of all African nations for organising this summit, which, of course, will help promote mutual understanding between Africa and the Russian Federation. Perhaps many are surprised at the Russian Federation’s interest in Africa today. In this regard, I must stress, and everyone knows this, that in the 1960s we achieved independence after a long struggle, and back then Russia provided huge and sincere assistance to Africa.” Cameroon at the Second Russia-Africa Summit, therefore, did not only come with a strong delegation of Cabinet Ministers, but left with a reinforced vision of bilateral cooperation between both countries and an added drive for the African continent to continuously diversify partnerships for mutually beneficial ties.