AFRICAN FRUITS’ DEMAND HIGH ON RUSSIAN TABLES AND SHELVES
AFRICAN FRUITS' DEMAND HIGH ON RUSSIAN TABLES AND SHELVES
Fruits from African countries such as Tanzania are on high demand in Russia and this presents a huge opportunity for trade and collaboration between Russia and many African countries.
This came to light during the recent successfully held second Russia-Africa economic and humanitarian summit on July, 29, 2023 in Saint Petersburg when the President of the Russian Society of Friendship with Tanzania, the business ambassador from Delovaya Rossia in Tanzania Yury Korobov met with the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania Kassim Majaliwa.
Mr Yury Korobov, also known as YK, said the Russian market is wide and open from food products from Africa.
“We are talking about the supply to the Russian market, where there is always a demand for vitamins and healthy food, cheap fruits and berries grown under the rays of the African sun,” YK said.
Below is YK’s explanation of the business prospects between Russia and Africa:
As for cheapness, perhaps, it is not quite true. A kilogram of such product, I think, will not be cheap. But you need to understand, firstly, that the product will be very light, as a result, voluminous, and secondly, it will regain almost 100 percent while being placed in ordinary water. Then a low price is possible. To make Tanzanian fruits and berries as well as other products traditional for African climate more accessible to Russians, the Russian Society of Friendship with Tanzania is planning to create international trading Russian houses in Tanzania and Tanzanian ones in Russia very soon. These are specialized trade centers where on the basis of intergovernmental agreements comprehensive support is provided to exporters, also issues of customs control, logistics, cargo storage, investment attraction and general management of the process are resolved. This will become a locomotive for development of already established ties.The Source: Earlier you mentioned the Russian houses, do they remain or get transformed into trade centers with their advent?YK: These are different tools to expand the potentialities of our friendship. Trade centers and Russian houses will exist in parallel. Moreover, I suppose it is also necessary to open more consulates and representative offices of African countries in Russia in large cities, for dealing the centers of culture and business integration.The Source: Personally for you, is the meeting with Kassim Majaliwa the Prime Minister of Tanzania a more important event than participation in the summit?YK: For me, each of these events has its own significance. It should be noted that I met the Prime Minister during the summit as well. Therefore, the meeting in the end can be considered a continuation of the planned dialogue.Personal meetings with the leader of the country with which I head the friendship society are highly important and honorable for me. The meeting confirmed the general mood for further building up a strong partnership in various fields. After careful study of the project the Prime Minister expressed readiness to start implementing it on the Tanzanian territory, that will become an incentive to create new jobs, to improve the welfare of people from areas with a fairly low income today. He also emphasized that Russia and Tanzania, as well as many other African countries have a great joint economic future. The summit is also an opportunity to make sure again that I and the like-minded people are going forward in the right direction. It means, together with my country that considers Africa to be a macro-region with huge development potential in various sectors of the economy. I am glad that such summits are scheduled to be held every three years. The Source: How far do you think the policy of isolating Russia pursued by the United States and a number of European and other countries has influenced the happening events?YK: I am absolutely sure that the Russia-Africa summit is not a consequence of any sanctions or pressure from our external enemies. This is quite a normal process of establishing and developing the relationship that has even had roots since the USSR time. Some issues of our partnership such as food security or the use of peaceful nuclear energy may be a bit more acute. The issues in the field of education and business development, strengthening cultural ties have been evolving along the strategic trajectory outlined much earlier. Today, the situation has historically arisen when a move to a qualitatively new level of cooperation has become possible. I believe this is not the result of sanctions or pressure but a normal process of interstate relations evolution.The Source: Thank you Yury Anatolievitch for the meaningful and interesting conversation. In conclusion, I would ask you to address briefly to our readers and explain what prospects on the development of cooperation between Russia and Africa to expect?YK: The enthusiasm of the past meetings, the mood to build up partnership and above all, the certain steps outlined during the negotiations show that cooperation is developing based on mutual interest and common plans. I would point out that the Tanzanian delegation was one of the most representative at the recent summit. This means a lot. I will focus again on the international trade centers that we are planning to create in the near future. They will be not only the points of support for businessmen already involved in various projects (on both sides) but also springboards for those who intend to invest in Russian-Tanzanian partnership.I believe that I represent all Russian people in Tanzania by means of the Friendship Society, therefore I must forward to all the Russians the words of gratitude said to me by the Prime Minister at the meeting. To conclude, I would add, love Tanzania, the country of Kilimanjaro, far and hot, with a population of over 70 million people; that is ready to lend us a hand of friendship. Let exotic fruits from Tanzania delight every table. Become a guest there on occasion.
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