H.E. Dr Omar Alieu Touray, President of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission Attends the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia – Africa Partnership Forum, at Sirius Federal Territory, Sochi – Russian Federation
The first high-level ministerial meeting of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum opened on November 8, 2024 in the Sirius Federal Territory of the Russian Federation. The forum kicked off with a bilateral meeting chaired by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov Mikhail Leonidovich, and attended by delegation leaders including ECOWAS Commission Chairman Omar Aliu His Excellency Dr. Touré and his delegation.
The President was warmly welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and took the opportunity to explain the objectives of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum to the ECOWAS delegation. The Minister emphasized the important role played by regional organizations such as ECOWAS in promoting socio-economic development, peace and security of their members. The Deputy Minister reaffirmed the Russian Federation’s strong commitment to support and cooperate with Africa and its entities to achieve these goals.
In his response, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Dr. Omar Aliu Toure thanked the Deputy Minister for the warm reception extended to his delegation since their arrival. The ECOWAS Chairman briefed the Minister on the progress achieved by the organization in the areas of regional integration, peace and security.
On the second day, the theme of the first group meeting was “Russia-Africa: Fighting Terrorism Together”. A special report by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, His Excellency Amb. Abdel-Fataou Moussa recorded the Russian The historical trajectory of solidarity with African countries in the fight against terrorism. In addition, the Commissioner also introduced the background of the current expansion of terrorists into coastal countries. The Sahel region provides fertile soil for terrorists. He further revealed that various initiatives have been taken in the ECOWAS region, including the possible activation of counter-terrorism units. In conclusion, the Commissioner noted that ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States are closely linked by geography, history and culture and are therefore destined to work together to combat terrorism in West Africa that poses an existential threat to the entire region. Therefore, an attack on any Sahelian country is considered an attack on other countries in West Africa.
Likewise, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Dr. Omar Aliu Toure, also participated in the second Eurasian Economic Union Group Meeting – Africa: Identification of Points of Cooperation between States and Integration Associations on the African Continent. The ECOWAS Chairman used the opportunity to showcase the important milestones achieved in the integration process and highlighted the core work of ECOWAS, which includes the promotion of peace, good governance and deeper integration. In response, he revealed that investment, intra-community infrastructure and energy disparities are key constraints to economic progress and are critical to integration, as are health and climate action issues. The President concluded by noting that addressing these challenges would go a long way in solving the problem of terrorism in the region, which is currently the center of terrorism in the world, and therefore called for effective cooperation with the Eurasian Group.
During the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, the President and members of the delegation continued to participate in various simultaneous bilateral meetings, plenary meetings and cultural meetings. silver. Dr Sani Adamu, Director of Peace Support Operations, was also a member of the ECOWAS delegation to the Sochi forum.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
