The special representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and African countries, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Bogdanov disclosed that Russia has written off debts to African countries worth $20 billion. Bogdanov stated this in an interview with TASS regarding the results of the first Russian-African ministerial conference, confirming that the funds are being redirected to projects for development. “About $20 billion has been written off, we now have a refinancing program to redirect debt to development projects,” the deputy minister said. The first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held on November 9-10 in the Sirius Federal Territory. The event was attended by about 1,500 delegates, including 45 ministers from countries on the African continent. The Russian side will open embassies in several countries on the African continent, including Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: “We have a whole list of countries where embassies were closed.” He emphasized that in some African countries, such as South Sudan, the Russian side agreed to open an embassy, but for various reasons this was not done. “Now, hopefully, that is also in the plan – to open a representative office in Juba, South Sudan.” He added.
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