Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. “Rosgeo”, a Russian state holding company which owns the geological exploration enterprises of the Russian Federation, is negotiating several oil and solid minerals contracts with African countries, in particular with Sudan and Algeria, the head of the company Sergey Gorkov told Sputnik on the sidelines of the forum.
The head of Rosgeo pointed out that in the case of Algeria, the creation of mineral maps is under discussion, and as for Sudan, not only mapping, but also more regional geological explorations are underway.
Last year, the company signed a contract for gold prospecting and the creation of a geological map with Sudan. It also signed contracts with the Central African Republic and Angola.
This April, Gorkov noted that Rosgeo has no intention to downsize its activities in foreign markets despite the political situation and sanctions against Russia, and that he personally sees good prospects for collaboration with Asia and Africa.
In late February, Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in response to the Donbass republics asking for protection from Ukrainian attacks. Following that, Western countries issued sanctions against Russia and a slew of Western companies left the Russian market. Energy companies were among the exodus, and halted cooperation with Russian state-controlled energy giants, such as Rosneft and Gazprom, terminating contracts or leaving the market entirely. However, the sanctions only led to higher fuel prices, causing the cost of living in Western countries to soar, while Russia has moved to cooperate with other nations.
Energy Cooperation to Be Among Key Topics at the 2023 “Russia-Africa” Summit Cooperation between Russia and Africa in the energy sector will be one of the key issues at the “Russia-Africa” summit in 2023, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian foreign ministry Oleg Ozerov told Sputnik on the sidelines of the same event.
The diplomat noted that Russia is capable of building oil refineries – small, medium and large. However, there is a need for discussion before Russia can start the development of refining capacities in African countries, as well as the need for favorable conditions for Russian investments.
The second “Russia-Africa” summit is scheduled for the summer of 2023. The first “Russia-Africa” summit was held in 2019 in Sochi with the participation of the heads of most African states.
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