Russia Assists Africa in Energy Development

Oct. 19—Tatyana Dovgalenko, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Africa Partnership Department, said in an Oct. 15 speech at the Russia-Africa session of the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow: “We are ready to lend a helping hand in the spirit of continuity, and we are not laying claim to Africa’s resources. Our country is rich in its own resources…. We are focused on building potential on the continent.”

Moscow aims to support Africa’s transformation into “a distinctive and influential center of global development,” Dovgalenko said, noting that this “is impossible without energy sovereignty, because energy is the lifeblood of any economy.” Russia would also train Africans as part of its assistance, she added.