African Nations and Russia Sign More than 500 Deals Worth $12 Billion at Sochi Summit

Oct. 24, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Russia-Africa Economic Forum and Summit held at Sochi Oct. 23-24 has resulted in the signing of a large number of agreements worth more than 800 billion rubles, Russian presidential adviser Anton Kobyakov said today. “The number of signed agreements, memorandums, and contracts is more than 500; the overall worth of only those that we know about at this moment is more than 800 billion rubles. This is a little more than $12 billion. But the meetings continue,” Kobyakov said, Sputnik reported.

Earlier, Russia announced it is writing off more than $20 billion in debt that African countries accumulated during the Soviet era. “It was not only an act of generosity, but also a manifestation of pragmatism, because many of the African states were not able to pay interest on these loans,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS on the eve of the summit. While addressing the Russia-Africa forum in Sochi on Oct. 23, he called for trade between Russia and African countries to double in the next four to five years, RT reported.