The first Russian-African summit was held in Sochi in 2019. Over the past four years, the situation in the world has changed radically, today we are witnessing the transformation of all geopolitical and economic components of international relations. At the same time, Russia’s unambiguous position on interaction with the African continent remains unchanged. “We highly appreciate and will continue to dynamically develop the entire range of economic ties with Africa – both with individual states, with regional integration associations, and, of course, with the African Union,” Vladimir Putin writes in the article “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for peace, progress and a successful future.»

A landmark event of the past week was the second Russia-Africa summit, held in St. Petersburg, which contributed to the further development of mutually beneficial partnership between the Russian Federation and African countries. As part of the business program of the summit, a plenary session “Leaders of the pharmaceutical industry of Russia for the countries of the African region: ways of implementing cooperation” was held, moderated by the head of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Viсtor Dmitriev. The participants noted that the African continent is a multitude of states, each of which has not only its own national and cultural aspects, but also the peculiarities of the regulatory policy, which must be taken into account when entering the African markets. At the same time, it was emphasized that all parties are ready for negotiations, strive to apply an individual approach, take into account the interests of partners and expand cooperation in the pharmaceutical field. And we already have that experience, for example, Russian company Geropharm is successfully implementing projects on the availability of insulin therapy in Algeria and Morocco. Of interest is the activities of the Circle of Kindness Foundation, which also has a number of international projects.

The participants of the meeting agreed that for the successful formation, strengthening and development of business ties in the field of pharmaceuticals between Russia and Africa, efforts are needed both on the part of the business community and regulators, a discussion space designed to promote the exchange of experience, the development of mutually acceptable approaches to the requirements in development, production and promotion of medicines. “Pharma 2020 allowed us to make a serious step forward in the development of the Russian pharmaceutical industry. Today our products are competitive, and many foreign partners are interested in them. We consider the African continent as a large potential market, access to which will allow us to integrate science, education and production. The conditions for this have been created, and the last session was a vivid confirmation of this. I am sure that the contacts established at the forum will be developed in the near future,» Viсtor Dmitriev said, summing up the discussion.