Commercial ties are the most important aspect of Burkina Faso's relations with Russia, the African country's ambassador, Antoine Somdah, told Sputnik on Friday, adding that the authorities were working to boost Russian companies' presence in the country
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2020) Commercial ties are the most important aspect of Burkina Faso's relations with Russia, the African country's ambassador, Antoine Somdah, told Sputnik on Friday, adding that the authorities were working to boost Russian companies' presence in the country.
"Now, commercial aspect is the most important for us. We are currently working on it to allow Russia become a partner which is present on the ground," the diplomat added.
The diplomat recalled that Russia has traditionally cooperated with African countries in the Soviet period and as a sovereign state. And this cooperation was enhanced by the first Russia-Africa summit held last year in the city of Sochi, the ambassador maintained.
"The summit in Sochi gave a new dimension to it. The aspect of military cooperation existed for a long time, but the summit has reinforced all of it, brought it to a new dimension," Somdah noted.
The authorities are now working to implement the projects agreed upon during the summit.
"The private sector, the enterprises are in contact, they are the engine of this cooperation. At the state level it takes time to put in place the secretariat etc. We need a second meeting to see what we were able to achieve. As for Burkina Faso, I cannot say that everything works already; we are creating this new cooperation, which was born in Sochi," Somdah said.
Burkina Faso's top diplomat, Alpha Barry, was expected to visit Russia in March for talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov but the visit had to be postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Russia-Africa Summit held in October 2019 gathered the heads of state and government from over 40 African nations. More than 50 agreements worth more than 800 billion rubles ($10 billion) were signed over two days of the event.
