The diplomat said the money constituted an effort to help Africa achieve the United Nations set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking at the first session of the joint annual meeting of the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) ambassador M. Afanasiev said his country was firmly attached to the goals and principles of new partnership with Africa.

"As Russia we want to actively participate in the complex assistance to the continent of Africa on bilateral basis and within existing international mechanisms, and particularly in "G8"," the ambassador said.

According to the ambassador, his country has also decided to make a contribution of US$20 million in 2008-2009 for realization of the World Bank programme to combat malaria in Africa.

He noted that the activity of the ECA was one of the great interests to the Russian Federation which emphasizes the "Commission's unique role as one of the most representative body for Africa and its mandate as the main economic and social development centre within the UN system.

Afanasiev added that his country believes that the main international objective was to help African countries achieve the MDGs.

"The Russian Federation supports all efforts made on the Africa continent, particularly within ECA to reach the MDGs, on the basis of global partnership, as outlined in Millennium Declaration Monterrey Consensus and outcome document of World Summit 2005," he said.

Russian contribution to the Debt Relief Initiative for heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) was the biggest among all donors in terms of its share in GDP, and in absolute value, the country is the third.

Russia has written off USD 16 billion of African debt and it plans to write off another half billion debt this year, according to the ambassador.

He said during its presidency in the G8, the Russian Federation initiated several measures of global nature aimed at strengthening the system of prevention of resistance to infectious diseases.

"We are sure that achievement of targets indicated in ECA Strategies Frameworks for 2010-2011 will contribute significantly to economic growth and prosperity of all African region, and will create necessary conditions for valuable integration of this region in international economic activity," the ambassador told allAfrica.com.

Meanwhile China will provide $287 million in aid to Malawi during the next five years, a far cry from the $6 billion that had been touted when the two countries formally established diplomatic relations late last year.

The Warm Heart of Africa’s President Bingu wa Mutharika announced the funding on Friday after returning from a state visit to China, praising Beijing for providing what he described as one of the largest aid packages received by the impoverished African nation.

"Malawi also plans to deepen trade and investment ties with China as part of a larger strategy to diversify our agriculture-dominated economy," he told a news conference in the capital Lilongwe.

The Southern African country, which was one of the last countries in Africa with diplomatic ties with Taiwan, cut relations with Taipei late last year and established links with China, an emerging economic power in Africa.

At the time Taiwanese officials said the island nation could not match a Chinese offer to provide some $6 billion in aid to Malawi.

Keywords: africa society