President Adama Barrow on Wednesday participated in the plenary forum of the first Russia-Africa Summit hosted to explore and strengthen economic and trade ties between Africa and Russia.

Mr Barrow joined more than sixty African Heads of State and Government and other leaders in business, development, and politics.

In his welcoming remarks, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin said the economic forum is designed to build “concrete avenues of cooperation and further development of the Russia-Africa Cooperation”.

Mr Putin stated that his country would seek to double trade with the African continent in the next five years, stressing that the current Russia-Africa trade level of $20 million is “not enough”.

“I believe, we have the powers to easily double the volume of trade within the next four to five years, at the minimum”, Putin said in a speech at the plenary forum of the Summit.

“We have many potential partners in Africa, lots of them. They have good development prospects and enormous growth potential.”

Later in the evening, President Putin formally welcomed the leaders with a State banquet.

Courtesy call with the new Mauritanian president

On the sidelines of the first-ever Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, President Barrow received in audience the newly elected Mauritanian president, Mohammed Ould Ghazouani.

The two leaders discussed means of strengthening the existing good relations between their countries.

President Ghazouani took the opportunity to thank President Barrow for attending his inauguration earlier this year while indicating that he was impressed with respect and dignity accorded to the Mauritanian community in The Gambia.

In response, President Barrow cited the new leader’s inauguration as historic and exemplary for Africa, in that, it was the first time to have a peaceful and smooth democratic transfer of power from one civilian government to another in Mauritania.

(State House Communication Team)