On February 12, 2008, the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a scientific and practical conference "Resources and Markets of Africa: Prospects for Russian entrepreneurs". Leading Russian Africanists presented about 20 reports on the problems of economic development of the continent's countries. Various aspects and features of African emerging markets, the main promising areas of Russian-African economic cooperation, and opportunities for Russia's participation in international and continental economic organizations were discussed.

Describing the economic situation in Africa, E. V. Morozenskaya (Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Center for the Study of Transition Economy Problems) noted that in many African countries it has significantly improved. This has been supported by high global export prices, increased aid flows, large-scale debt forgiveness and, most importantly, measures taken in a number of countries to restructure their economies. In recent years, economic growth in Africa has stabilized and is averaging more than 5% per year, and natural resources are still not drying up, so the continent's position in the external economic sphere may strengthen somewhat.

At a time when countries with rapidly developing economies are increasingly interested in Africa, the emphasis in strategic partnership with the West, especially with its traditional partner, the European Union (EU), is increasingly shifting from aid issues to trade issues. The EU insists on concluding bilateral free trade agreements with African states as soon as possible. However, removing barriers to EU exports could disrupt weak African markets and undermine the basis of their national budgets. Only a few least developed countries agree to this, and large states - Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, and Namibia - are afraid of direct competition with European economies.

With the growing impact of globalization, African stock markets with growth potential can become an important source of attracting financial resources to the continent. Along with the largest transnational corporations operating in Africa,-

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local banks began to appear (for example, in South Africa), capable of creating a network of foreign branches. At the same time, globalization increases the vulnerability of the African economy to global financial crises, speculative capital, the control of international banking groups over credit and foreign exchange markets in the region, inequality in global commodity markets and a sharp change in the foreign trade environment.

Describing the state economic policy in the field of budget financing, taxation, currency regulation, countering the shadow economy and corruption, E. V. Morozenskaya focused on fiscal policy, which is the most important instrument of state regulation in African countries. Most African countries, she noted, face difficulties in accumulating funds in the revenue side of the state budget, which provides financing for social development and the provision of social services. Public sector enterprises are not able to meet this task due to the chronic reduction of their funds and inefficient use of budget allocations. The effective process of expanding production and, consequently, the tax base is also hindered by the structure of taxes. For example, foreign trade duty rates are excessively differentiated and high. However, since protectionist support is often given to industries with low productivity incentives, it is more likely to slow economic growth.

Nevertheless, some countries in Tropical Africa have managed to increase their share of tax revenues. But more often it was the result of measures not so much to reform the tax system, but to increase customs duties. The latter leads to curbing the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) and inhibiting the development of production, which, in turn, contributes to a further narrowing of the tax base.

One of the new directions of economic policy in the countries of the continent was the creation of export-production zones (EPZs) and free trade zones (FTA). The first such zones were organized in the most economically developed countries-South Africa and Egypt. In Egypt, the objectives of all six zones were not only the storage of transit cargo, but also the creation of manufacturing enterprises with export potential. In the FTA, significant benefits are provided to create favorable conditions for foreign companies engaged in car assembly, assembly and production of electronic and oil and gas equipment, spinning and weaving production (exemption from income tax and import duties, reduction of electricity tariffs, exemption from currency control, legal guarantees in case of expropriation). A number of countries in Tropical Africa - Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Botswana, Kenya, Cameroon, Togo, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe-also made significant changes to investment laws in the 1990s and created EPAAS and FTA's. This promising area can enable least developed countries to gain access to foreign markets and join the processes of globalization of production.

The most important instrument of state regulation is monetary policy, which, along with the growth of real output and price stabilization, includes ensuring the maximum full employment of the population. The report addresses the complexity and social tensions of the African labour market I. B. Matsenko (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of Transition Economy Problems). Due to the acute imbalance between the rapid growth of the working-age population and the slow pace of job creation, the labor market is permanently in a state of crisis. It is compounded by the high proportion of people employed in rural areas, widespread underemployment, increased migration to cities, accompanied by the expansion of the informal sector, increased unemployment among educated youth and, as a result," brain drain", the huge scale of absolute poverty and the poverty of a significant part of the working population.

The huge and growing levels of unemployment (in some countries of the continent - more than 40% of the economically active population), underemployment and poverty have no analogues either in previous periods or in other developing regions of the world. The share of young people in the total number of unemployed is 60-80%, and the share of informally employed people reaches 72% of the urban labor force. Daily income of 49% of Africans - less than one

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two dollars a day. A specific feature of the countries of Tropical Africa is that more than half of the people living in poverty are people of working age (from 15 to 64 years). According to the ILO, it has the highest proportion of the working poor in the world: 46-62% of the employed population. This indicates an ugly, deformed labor market, characterized by a high level of poverty among working people, the lack of adequate measures in this area, or their inefficiency.

The report was devoted to the peculiarities of market economy development in African countries S. A. Bessonova (State University-Higher School of Economics). The formation of new commodity industries and corresponding markets on the continent - both internal and external - occurs as follows: first, by isolating autonomous intra-firm industries and turning them into independent new firms; and, secondly, by organizing new commodity industries based on import substitution, the commodification of natural and semi-natural farms.

The peculiarities of the development of the market economy on the continent are due to the fact that from 1/4 to 1/3 of households (not only rural, but also urban) remain natural and semi-natural, and a significant part of the markets are based on imports. It is the import of new goods that encourages the emergence of new markets: cars, modern means of communication, etc. The demand for them is formed by the solvent part of the population, whose needs serve as an impetus for the appearance of goods that are close to the conditions of economically backward countries (for example, a microcar created in India for $ 2.5 thousand). or a mobile phone for $ 20). In turn, African producers are able to actively respond to the changing needs of the global market, creating new export production (for example, the flower sector of agriculture in Kenya).

Almost all production and trade relations of African countries are firmly occupied by Western multinational corporations. Therefore, the creation of new production and market infrastructure facilities, including small-scale production facilities, and the expansion of Russian exports adapted to local needs can be considered as possible directions for Russia's participation in the economy of these countries, along with the existing commodity production facilities.

B. B. Runov (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of Transition Economies) considered new forms of participation of African countries in the international division of labor (IDP). Drastic shifts in global production due to scientific and technological progress, a decline in the demand of the world economy for many types of raw materials and materials-traditional goods of African exports (with the exception of hydrocarbons, diamonds, cobalt and some other raw materials) significantly disrupted the established positions of the continent's countries in the MRI, worsened the terms of trade, significantly reduced export revenues and increased external debt. The long-term systemic crisis of the sub-Saharan countries has set them the task of compensating for their loss of a significant place in the world markets of traditional resource goods.

In modern conditions, many functions previously performed by the national economy have been transferred to the networked world economy, including the formation of the sectoral structure of the economy. The ability to enter the global market not with the final product, but with its individual elements creates new trade niches for African manufacturers. However, in order to enter the "value chain", they must have competitive advantages (such as scarcity, originality of the product or service) and trained personnel.

One of the main conditions for the continent's integration into the global economy is the availability of modern infrastructure, especially information and communication technologies (ICTs). The widespread use of ICTs in various fields can contribute to the introduction of elements of a post-industrial economic system in African countries, reduce the cost and accelerate technological progress, and most importantly, build "connecting bridges" in the form of information and knowledge flow, unity of communication language and fundamental value criteria for interaction in the business sector.

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Topic of the report G. E. Roshchina (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of Transition Economy Problems) - structure and trends of foreign capital inflows to Africa. High and rising prices for oil, metals, and other minerals have forced TNCs to maintain relatively high levels of investment in both existing and new extractive industries (mainly in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, and South Africa). Despite this, Africa's share of global FDI flows remains low , at 3%. And the 34 African least developed countries accounted for only 1.4% of global FDI flows. Investment in Africa comes mainly from European countries, with France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands leading the way. Recently, American TNCs have been very active, acquiring branches in South Africa that were sold during the apartheid period, investing heavily in the exploration and development of new oil and gas fields in Angola and on the entire west coast of Africa. In their total FDI, the share of resources directed to the service sector (banking, finance, transport, trade) and manufacturing is increasing.

The potential for profitable FDI in Africa is quite high: over the past decade, many Countries in the region have lifted most restrictions on foreign investment and revised legislation to fully integrate FDI into their economic development strategies. In addition to liberalizing investment regimes, they apply special incentive measures - tax, customs, etc. For example, Egypt provides investors with "tax holidays" for up to 15 years when building cheap housing, Guinea and Kenya offer special tax discounts when investing in less developed areas, and Lesotho encourages labor-intensive production. In most cases, the priority is given to enterprises of the export sector and agribusiness. Currency restrictions imposed by Governments in the event of an unfavorable balance of payments situation now generally do not affect transfers of income from foreign investment. In many African countries, foreign investors are legally guaranteed the right to repatriate their capital and profits, and in Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania, any currency transactions are taken out of control. central banks. The role of legal support for the effective functioning of markets and the development of the competitive environment as a whole is increasing.

Developing the topic covered, L. N. Kalinichenko (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of Transition Economies) spoke about the prospects for improving the business and investment climate in Africa. According to the World Bank report (World Bank. Doing Business 2007. Washington, 2007) , in 2005-2006. They implemented reforms aimed at attracting capital investment and simplifying procedures for organizing business activities, strengthening property rights, easing the tax burden, access to credit, and reducing the cost of export-import operations. Out of 175 countries ranked by the degree of activity in this area, Ghana ranked 9th, Tanzania ranked 10th, South Africa ranked 29th, Mauritius ranked 32nd, and Namibia ranked 42nd.

Held in 2007. The World Economic Forum for the Development of Africa (World Bank / AfDB. The African Competitiveness Report 2007. Washington, 2007) four African countries - South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt (SANE) - were compared with Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). According to analysts, the economic potential of SANE is sufficient to become "poles of growth" in Africa, involving other countries of the continent in the development orbit (by analogy with the "key industry" that can give an impetus to the economy of an individual country).

At the same time, groups of factors hindering the growth of business activity were identified: macroeconomic (inflation, imperfect tax regulation, high interest rates), microeconomic (corruption, illegal economic activity, etc.), infrastructural (underdeveloped energy and transport networks, lack of productive capital, etc.), labor (lack of qualified personnel, labor shortages, etc.). legislation).

All these negative factors are also typical for the economies of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which are members of the East African Community (EAC). N. F. Matveeva (In-t Africa,

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Center for Studying the Problems of the Transition Economy). She also referred to the unsatisfactory state of transport, undeveloped hydropower potential, chronic energy shortage, the predominance of firewood and charcoal in fuel consumption, and the harmful impact of various anthropogenic factors on the natural resources of the sub-region. According to the speaker, the prospects for the development of the economic base of the EAC member countries depend on increasing the volume of international aid and loans, attracting private capital, transferring railways to concession, combining energy systems, the expected increase in oil production as a result of the launch of the second oil refinery in Dar es Salaam, and the development of industrial reserves of fossil coal and natural gas in Tanzania, oil and uranium in Uganda).

In the report on emerging financial markets in Tropical Africa V. P. Morozov (Akad. narodn. The Plekhanov Institute of Economics) reported that most of the 21 regional stock exchanges operating in Africa have seen a dramatic increase in volume and scale of operations over the past decade: in Ghana, by 80% in some years, in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mauritius, by 50%. The growth of foreign investment in Africa, he noted, was facilitated by the removal of restrictions on the import of entrepreneurial capital and, to a lesser extent, portfolio investments (while maintaining the approval and registration procedure), as well as the introduction of new conditions for the conversion of foreign currency (through central or authorized banks), while maintaining different payment regimes for residents and non-residents.

Many countries have introduced new rules that have loosened control over foreign capital transactions. The number of both bilateral and multilateral agreements on the protection and promotion of foreign investment has increased significantly. In accordance with the set of rules developed by the IMF and the World Bank, the policy of stimulating and protecting new investment inflows is now increasingly focused on legal guarantees, such as "fair and equal treatment", "essential respect for and protection of investors 'rights", special clauses on compensation for political and other risks, on the right to free transfer of capital and profits. The legislation of a number of countries significantly loosened or completely removed restrictions for non-residents on the import of entrepreneurial capital in those areas of business that were previously assigned only to national investors. At the same time, the capital repatriation regime has been significantly relaxed.

The attraction of foreign investors is facilitated by the measures taken by African countries in recent years to restructure and convert external debts and improve their long-term policy in general. Thus, the implementation of government debt obligations in the form of promissory notes and bonds is one of the means of creating national investment funds. However, the potential opportunities of the secondary loan capital market are not yet fully exploited.

The presentation was devoted to the evolution of the EU's policy towards the members of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) over the past decade, of which 48 are African (71 in total). L. P. Kalinina (Institute of Africa, Center for Research on Russian-African Relations). The first and second Yaoundé Conventions and the four Lomé Agreements, which provided for the use of export revenue stabilization systems to compensate ACP countries for deficits caused by fluctuations in prices on world markets, were replaced by a new convention, an agreement signed in Cotonou (Benin) in 2000. According to it, trade relations between the EU and the ACP countries are built on the basis of WTO principles and rules. As a result, almost half of ACP members lost the right to use preferences for trade with EU countries immediately, and the rest-in December 2007.

Now African countries are doomed to lose out: although the EU offers them duty-free access to its markets for all their exports, except sugar, a virtually duty-free counter-influx of cheap European goods into Africa, including EU-subsidized agricultural products, will put uncompetitive African production on the brink of ruin. In addition, the removal of customs barriers, which the EU insists on, will significantly reduce the budget revenues of African countries. Most of them you will find-

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They oppose the conclusion of five-year economic partnership agreements in the presented version, offering temporary agreements to protect their own producers.

New trends have been observed in the past few years in US policy in Africa. In the report M. L. Vishnevsky (Institute of Africa, Center for Policy Assessments) it was noted that the continent of Africa, which is rich in natural resources, is increasingly becoming a competitive area for major States of the world. At present, the United States, like Russia, is interested in maintaining peace on the continent and in strengthening regional security. At the same time, competition remains between them in sales markets, in the areas of capital application and for the possession of sources of raw materials. In particular, Russia is already ahead of the United States in the sale of weapons and special equipment, gaining access to the development of energy and mineral deposits of interest to Americans.

Currently, the United States is increasing its interest in exporting oil and petroleum products from Africa. This is dictated, firstly, by the aggravation of the global energy problem and the desire to reduce the cost of transporting oil to the United States, and secondly, by the attractiveness of the oil business in Africa for the United States in light of the growing role of the continent as the largest supplier of energy resources. The latter account for 87% of all U.S. imports from Nigeria, Angola, and Gabon, and by 2010 West African oil will provide 25% of U.S. demand for this product.

To protect its interests on the continent, the United States enters into agreements with individual countries within the framework of the Economic Growth and Trade Opportunities in Africa Act (AGOA Act) adopted in 2000, which aims to create favorable conditions for the promotion of African goods in the US markets in exchange for granting most-favored-nation treatment to American TNCs in Africa.

Competing with the United States in Africa, Britain and France actually opposed the AGOA Law with their support for the NEPAD project put forward by African states (New Partnership for Africa's Development)- At the same time, the United States and its European partners in the Group of Eight have recently shown some restraint in their relations on the African continent in the face of the "Chinese threat" - a clear increase in China's interest in economic cooperation with African countries. China's rapidly growing production capacity requires more and more mineral resources for its development, especially oil, whose own reserves are limited.

Russia, having large reserves of hydrocarbons and other raw materials, can in principle do without importing them from African countries. But the location of the main deposits of Russian mineral raw materials in the polar regions requires significant material costs for their development, making it economically unprofitable, and the import of some types of African raw materials is promising.

Report T. L. Deitch (Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Center for Research on Russian-African Relations) It was devoted to the experience of developing African markets by Chinese capital. China's rapid economic growth rate (11.4% in 2007)encourages it to drive out the "old players" with renewed vigor. Due to China's growing interest in energy resources, primarily oil (the country is the world's second-largest consumer of oil and third-largest importer after the United States and Japan), its main trading partners in Africa are oil-producing countries. African oil accounts for 28% of Chinese oil imports. The main supplier is Angola (the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria), the second is Sudan, whose oil industry is monopolized by China, India and Malaysia after the departure of Western investors. China imports 50 to 60% of Sudan's oil.

China's trade with Africa totaled $ 55.5 billion in 2006 and $ 70 billion in 2007. The total amount of FDI invested in Africa by 800 Chinese companies reached $ 6.6 billion by 2006. They were mainly directed to the development of mineral resources, primarily oil, as well as iron ore, copper, manganese, cobalt, phosphates, platinum, and coal.

China has opened 11 investment and trade promotion centers in Africa, whose functions include securing payments, customs duties, insurance, and advising entrepreneurs. Under the auspices of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, a Group of Trade and Economic Cooperation was established.

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and technical and economic cooperation and coordination of relations with African countries. In a number of countries, there are permanent trade missions of the PRC, exchanges with the participation of local and Chinese businessmen. In 2005, the China-Africa Chamber of Commerce was opened in Beijing.

The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China is taking measures to improve investment cooperation with Africa. A $ 5 billion fund has been created to cover the risks of Chinese enterprises investing in Africa. Agreements on mutual protection of investments have been signed with 28 African countries, and on the abolition of double taxation with 8. China is in talks with Southern African States to set up a free trade zone.

The success of China's strategy in Africa over the past decade is due, in particular, to the willingness of Chinese companies to take risks operating in war-torn and conflict-torn countries (Liberia, DR Congo, Sierra Leone). This allows them to earn higher returns on invested FDI, and also entails an increase in political influence, which also contributes to business activity. China willingly acts in countries that are subject to Western sanctions (Sudan and Zimbabwe), which brings it economic and political dividends.

In the report V. V. Lopatova (Institute of Africa, Center for Research on Russian-African Relations) emphasized the emerging trend at the turn of the 21st century. trend in the development of Russian-African cooperation mainly in the mining and oil and gas industries. Russian companies participate in tenders announced by African countries, the creation of joint mining companies with the participation of African capital, and the acquisition of existing enterprises. As the world's largest exporter of mineral raw materials, Russia no longer has large reserves of many types of minerals and is increasingly dependent on their imports. Currently, significant investments in productive assets of African countries with unique ore reserves and mineral content are made mainly by large Russian companies: in the oil and gas sector - Lukoil, Gazprom, Rosneft, Tatneft, Stroytransgaz; in the mining and metallurgical sector-Rusal. Norilsk Nickel, Alrosa, EvrazHolding, Renova, and Metropol. In recent years, they have invested in the real sector of the African economy, mainly in the fuel and energy complex (oil, gas, uranium) and in the extraction and processing of solid waste. minerals (bauxite, diamonds, manganese) - amounted to approximately 10 billion rubles. dol.

A new phenomenon in Russian-African relations is cooperation in the financial sphere. Thus, under the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and South Africa, close business contacts are established between Vnesheconombank and South Africa's Nedbank Limited and Industrial Development Corporation. It provides for joint financing and bank support of investment projects in various industries, as well as support for investment projects that stimulate the development of export industrial production in South Africa, Namibia and Angola. With the participation of Angolan capital, Vneshtorgbank of Russia has created the VTB-Africa joint financial Institution to facilitate lending to Russian entrepreneurs interested in entering the Angolan and neighboring African markets in Equatorial Guinea, Mali and Nigeria.

As noted З. S. Novikova Africa has the world's largest reserves of bauxite (27%), cobalt and copper, as well as deposits of lead and zinc, tin, mercury and antimony, as well as rare metals. Their development is actively engaged in Western companies. At the same time, Africa's non-ferrous metallurgy, as it did 30 years ago, continues to play a significant role in providing raw materials to the Russian aluminum industry. Rusal imports 53% of the required alumina, including 25% from Guinea, where it is granted the right to manage the Debele mine and a controlling stake in the Aluminum Company of Guinea. Rusal plans to modernize and double the capacity of the existing plant and build a new one based on the large Dian-Dian field in the Bokeh area.

Russian entrepreneurs are also interested in African nickel, as the domestic production facilities for ore extraction are fully loaded. Russia, the world's largest nickel exporter, is looking for new sources of raw materials: the company

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Norilsk Nickel plans to invest up to $ 1 billion in Africa. dol. to develop the highly profitable Nkomati field in South Africa and the Tati field in Botswana.

Russia, being the fifth largest producer of refined copper in the world, is beginning to feel a certain shortage of raw materials. Sintezneftegaz-Namibia, a Russian holding company, has acquired 85% of a Namibian company that holds licenses to search for non-ferrous, rare and precious metals in the north-west of the country.

V. K. Wiegand (Institute of Africa, Center for Research on Russian-African Relations) analyzed the volume and commodity structure of imports to Russia from 11 African countries, which are its main trading partners on the continent (they accounted for 80% of $ 1 billion in 2005). the total value of Russian imports from 25 African countries). The speaker noted that the main part of these imports is currently made up of agricultural goods. South Africa may become a supplier of mineral resources to Russia, in addition to Guinea (bauxite), in the foreseeable future, although this is associated with high transport costs. Russia could cover its deficit in chromium ore and titanium by importing from South Africa, which accounts for 30% and 45% of the supply of these strategically important minerals to the world market, respectively.

Other major African trading partners of Russia include Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Malawi, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia (imports from this country to Russia increased from $ 1.0 million to $ 16.0 million in 1999-2005, which is only 2% of the total volume of imports from Africa).. It is possible to expand the range of importers at the expense of Gabon (manganese), Angola (diamonds), DR Congo, as well as Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Nigeria, which create capacities for gas liquefaction and transportation to Europe.

Russia and Algeria became founders in 2001 (together with Iran) Gas Exporting Countries' Forum (GECF). This was discussed in the report V. Y. Kukushkina (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of North Africa and the Horn of Africa). GECF members (17 member countries and 1 observer), as well as OPEC members in the oil industry, exercise control over the world's resource potential in the gas industry. They account for more than 73% of the world's proven natural gas reserves (first-ranked Russia - 26.6%, 8th-ranked Algeria-2.5%) and 41% of global gas production. Almost the same indicators characterize the share of 12 OPEC member countries in the world's proven oil reserves (76%) and in its global production (43.3%).

Algeria's energy export strategy of the 1970s and 1980s, which was based primarily on the export of liquefied natural gas (in order to increase market maneuvering and expand the geography of supplies), was vulnerable due to extremely high capital and operating costs and could not withstand competition. In the 1990s, the strategy was adjusted by Sonatrak in favor of more economical deliveries via pipelines in accordance with long-term contracts (in the 2000s, more than 61% of gas is supplied in this way in terms of calorific value).

The example of Algeria demonstrates the difficulties faced by exporters in trying to turn the global natural gas market into a global one (similar to the oil market). Long contract periods, segmentation of natural gas markets, and high capital intensity, which forces producers to maximize the use of available production capacity to recover capital and operating costs, prevent widespread manipulation of export volumes in order to influence prices.

In the gas industry, it is impossible to coordinate production and export activities without coordinating development projects and investment programs. Cooperation is needed at the stages of designing and creating and/or expanding industrial production and export complexes rather than operating them. However, it is the proposed exchange of assets that is one of the most difficult problems for practical implementation. In addition, the liberalization of national investment markets, for example, along with the dismantling of gas - distributing "natural monopolies" in gas-importing countries, can intensify the oligopolization of other markets-in this case, the global gas market. To date, none of the Forum's member States has made public specific initiatives in the field of sectoral economic integration, although not all of them have been identified.-

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some of them, including Russia, are in favor of intensifying cooperation between natural gas exporters.

In the report A. A. Tkachenko (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of North Africa and the Horn of Africa) the problems of improving the effectiveness of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) were considered, taking into account the existing experience of Russian-Arab business partnership, the most important component of which is various forms of economic integration. Among the latter, trade exchange is of key importance - a kind of" launching pad " for renewing cooperation on a bi - and multilateral basis.

Significant progress in this area, which was reflected in a noticeable increase in trade volumes in the early 2000s, cannot, however, satisfy partners for a number of reasons: mutual trade is often represented by only one or two goods, while some important traditional goods have lost their positions; Russian companies are being pushed out of such a traditional sphere of cooperation with Arab companies countries, such as the modernization of jointly created facilities, and promising investment projects do not always receive proper development; the Russian side is not always ready to participate properly in international auctions held in the region, especially since it is often unable to fulfill a number of conditions for participation in tenders due to the lack of necessary support structures; the impact of episodic business events on the There are few contacts, and the existing mechanism of support for Russian companies in the region is not effective enough - the representative offices of business structures are not numerous, and banks are not as visible as banks in Western countries that actively help their firms.

The speaker stressed that in order to overcome the "bottlenecks", qualitatively change the structure of Russian exports by increasing the share of high-tech industrial products and services, as well as in the interests of expanding the stable economic position of the Russian Federation in the RBVSA, which is little affected by the changing political and economic environment and reliably anchors it in the region, it seems advisable to focus on formation of a modern multi-level institutional framework (legal and organizational) and the use of modern integration forms of business cooperation. However, a decisive role in the Russian-Arab business partnership should be played by the recovery of the Russian economy and the trends that will prevail in the economies of its partners.

E. N. Korendyasov (Institute of Africa, Center for the Study of Russian-African Relations) noted that the expediency of expanding not only Russia's political but also economic presence on the African continent is increasingly recognized in Russian political circles and in the business community. Dmitry Medvedev's speech in Krasnoyarsk in February 2008 also called for increasing the activity of Russian businessmen in Africa.

The deepening integration of Russia and African countries into the globalizing world economy expands the opportunities for their bilateral and multilateral cooperation. However, there are still a number of barriers to the promotion of Russian capital in Africa. Among them are the lack of necessary information among Russian entrepreneurs about the potential of economic cooperation with the countries of the continent; the lack of a system of state support for Russian business abroad, mechanisms and tools for protecting and supporting Russian exporters and investors.

Imperfect market mechanisms, bureaucracy, and corrupt public services in African countries are also hindering: starting a business there takes an average of 62 working days, compared to 17 days in OECD countries. Dispute resolution in arbitration takes 581 business days and includes 38 procedures, and court costs reach 42% of the total value of the contested transaction. In Tropical Africa, entrepreneurs must make more than 40 tax and other payments to the budget every year, which requires 336 working hours (in EU countries-15 payments and 203 working hours). In addition, the cost of transporting goods is high: the cost of one imported container to Tropical Africa is $ 1,950. For export - $ 1,560. (in OECD countries, $ 890 and $ 810, respectively).

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Accelerating the innovative development of the Russian economy and expanding the scope of Russian business in Africa puts on the agenda the adoption of a state program of Russian-African cooperation, a set of measures for political and diplomatic support, advertising, information, and credit and financial support for the activities of Russian companies on the African continent.

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