The Second Russia–Africa Summit has completed its work. Its main events were held in St. Petersburg on June 27-28. The Russian Geographical Society took an active part in them.
Unique documents from the Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society illustrating the significant contribution of the RGS to the formation and development of domestic African studies were presented at the main forum venue. More than 200 summit participants visited the Society’s headquarters in St. Petersburg on July 27, 28, and 29. Representatives of Burkina Faso, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Uganda, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, the Togolese Republic, Zambia, Germany, France, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Djibouti, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo were warmly welcomed in the historical building on Grivtsov Lane.
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As part of the cultural program of the summit, the Scientific Library of the Russian Geographical Society prepared an exhibition of books by Russian travelers who studied Africa in the second half of the 19th century. The guests paid special attention to the publication of the report of the expedition of mining engineer Egor Kovalevsky in 1847 on a trip to Egypt, Sudan, and Western Ethiopia. It was organized at the request of the Egyptian Muhammad Ali Pasha with the purpose of gold prospecting. The instruction written for the expedition by academician Karl Ernst von Baer read that the contribution of Russian travelers would further the connection of the Russian Geographical Society with world science in the study of the most important problems of geography and ethnography of Africa.
The genuine interest of the summit participants was aroused by originals from the collection of the Cartographic Fund of the Russian Geographical Society. Among them is the "Map of Africa and Arabia" of 1893, created by Baron Nikolai von Kaulbars. It is the first relatively accurate Russian map compiled according to foreign and Russian data, with toponyms in Russian.
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On July 29, the head of the federal agency "Rossotrudnichestvo" Yevgeny Primakov met with participants of the "New Generation" program in the Great Hall of the RGS Headquarters. The head of the agency spoke about plans to expand the geography of "Russian Houses" in the world. During the conversation, the participants discussed issues of cultural, scientific, and information exchange. For the participants of the meeting, guided tours of the RGS funds were conducted.