Fradkov Promises Africa Investment
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has completed a tour of southern Africa, having visited Angola, Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. In all those countries, he proposed expanding links in energy and mining in an effort to restore Russia's position in the region to what it was 30 years ago. His proposals were discussed in detail in all those countries, but no close cooperation was offered.
Fradkov was in Angola Friday, Namibia Saturday and South Africa Sunday and held trade negotiations in all of those countries. “With the strengthening of the Russian economy, we can afford to participate in international projects that we had forgotten about earlier,” he said. Negotiations in Angola, which has $71 million in official trade with Russia annually, did not go as planned, however. The main point on Fradkov's agenda in that country was the signing of a agreement already prepared on mutual defense and expansion of investment, but the parties were unable to decide whether the agreement should cover project already in implementation, particularly an ALROSA project at the Katoka diamond deposit.
Negotiations in Namibia were restricted to general terms. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba did not reject plans advanced by Rosatom head Sergey Kirienko to build an atomic energy plant in the country, but he did not Russian companies' licensing problems for uranium production.
In the Republic of South Africa, Fradkov met with Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and President Thabo Mbeki and led a meeting of the Russia-South Africa business council. ALROSA, Rosneft, Gazprom, Tekhsnabexport and Renova are among the Russian businesses active in South Africa. The formation of a consortium of Russian companies to create a unified hydroelectric system on the Congo River to serve Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo was discussed, as were South Africa's interest in Russian atomic and space technology.
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All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 20, 2007
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