Moscow strengthens transport ties with three African countries
The move followed high-level meetings between Russia's deputy minister of transport, Dmitry Zverev, and officials from several countries, including the three African states, held on the sidelines of the Global Forum on Transport Connectivity in Istanbul, Türkiye, last week, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, an agreement was reached with each of the countries to establish a joint 'Working Group on Transport' to facilitate 'regular dialogue between relevant departments and the intensification of joint projects aimed at strengthening transport connectivity.'
Moscow has recently stepped up cooperation with several African nations across multiple sectors – including aviation, road, rail, and maritime transport – after declaring the development of mutually beneficial partnerships with the continent a foreign policy priority.
South Sudan's minister of transport, Lam Akol Ajawin, told Russian media on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last month that his country was interested in studying Russia's experience and adopting its technologies in the transport sector. In May, Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in logistics and transportation with Russian officials.
A direct shipping line connecting the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk with Nigeria's largest port city, Lagos, was announced in April by Moscow's trade representative to the African country, Maksim Petrov. The project, expected to launch in mid-2025, is intended to deepen trade ties between West Africa and Russia. Last December, the Russian shipping firm FESCO launched a container route from Novorossiysk to Kenya's main port, Mombasa, with a shipment of Kenyan tea.
During talks in Istanbul on Saturday, the Russian deputy transport minister and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdessamad Kayouh, discussed the possibility of increasing flight frequency between Russia and Morocco amid rising demand, local outlet Morocco World News reported.
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