On 12 May 2025, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, Gen. Odongo Jeje Abubakhar, opened an international forum on partnership between Latvia and the African countries, Latvia and Countries in Africa: Advancing Resilience and Development through Digital Solutions. This was the second edition of the forum, which has become a platform for dialogue with African countries, serving the promotion of bilateral cooperation, including in economy, and discussions on regional and global topics.
Foreign Minister Baiba Braže: “The first ever visit by a Ugandan Foreign Minister to Latvia is a historic milestone in the relations between our countries. During the second Latvia-Africa Forum, we had a discussion with Foreign Minister Gen. Odongo Jeje Abubakhar on the deepening of economic cooperation, including in the field of digitalization. Both Latvian and African companies are showing increasing interest in cooperation, especially in the fields of ICT, new technologies, digitalization, food, agriculture, and forestry. In five years, trade between Latvia and African countries has increased by 52%. Latvian businesses and NGOs are implementing development cooperation projects in several African countries to help women and girls acquire IT skills and engage in entrepreneurship. Latvia is also carrying out projects related to good governance and innovative agriculture. To date, projects have been implemented in Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana. We also discussed Latvia’s priorities in the UN Security Council, including digital skills and the participation of women and youth around the world, and respect for international law and the UN Charter – in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere.”
Baiba Braže pointed out that, during the visit, a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Latvian and Ugandan Foreign Ministries on political and diplomatic consultations, which establishes a mechanism for organizing regular consultations on current issues of bilateral cooperation and those on the agenda of international organizations.
As part of his visit, the Ugandan Foreign Minister also met with the Minister of Transport, Atis Švinka, to sign an Agreement on Air Transport between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Uganda. Minister Odongo then visited AS Latvijas Valsts meži and the Latvian IT Cluster, where he held an exchange of views with several ICT companies to explore opportunities and solutions offered by Latvia in sustainable forest management and the digital sector.
The forum featured three discussion panel focusing on promoting cooperation in the ICT sector, digital transformations in healthcare, and women's empowerment through digitalization.
As the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artjoms Uršuļskis, opened the first panel, he underlined the opportunities for cooperation between Latvia and the African countries in the ICT sector, highlighting the advantages and future prospects of digital projects and services. The discussion was co-moderated by the Techritory Ecosystem Director at Electronic Communications Office of Latvia, Neils Kalniņš, and the Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Latvian IT Cluster, Aiga Irmeja. Presentations were given by Latvian companies Tilde, LMT, Asya.ai, Advangrid, Idea Bits, Tapbox, and ZZ Dats.
The second discussion on digital solutions in the field of healthcare was moderated by Web Ambassador, Senior Adviser of Transform Health, blogger and activist, Nnenna Nwakanma, recognised as one of the world’s 100 most influential persons on digital governance. In her opening remarks for the panel, Ms Nwakanma underlined that the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally reshaped healthcare systems around the world, accelerating technological progress in the digitalization of health services. The role of opportunities presented by digital solutions, and a speedy progress of AI-enabled data analysis in addressing future demands was discussed among a representative from the National Health Service, Aleksandra Kozlova, the Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Digital Health Centre, Juris Gaiķis, the Digital Strategy and Policy Advisor at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Cyril Seck, and the Chief Executive Officer of a Latvian digital health startup, Longenesis, Emīls Sjundjukovs.
The closing panel on women’s empowerment through digitalisation was moderated by the Special Envoy on Digital Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Viktors Makarovs. The panel highlighted the transformative potential of digitalization towards empowering women and focused on the fostering of digital skills and education to motivate women in business. Taking part in the session were the Board Member and CEO of Riga TechGirls, Anna Andersone, the Senior Adviser of Transform Health, Nnenna Nwakanma, the Member of the Board at Women4Cyber Latvia, Ļubova Vaivode, and the CEO of Ebenezer Education Group and Board Chair of Ebenezer Higher Institute of Science and Technology, Mbi Epse Ojong Alice Enekegbe.
Alongside the forum, the Latvian National Museum of Art is unveiling an exhibition of African art, which will be on display from 13 May to 7 September.
The forum was organised as part of the public diplomacy programme in support of the lobby campaign of Latvia’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council. Latvia is a first-time candidate for an elected member’s seat, and the campaign runs under the motto of “Together for peace and resilience”. Membership of the UNSC will be a key instrument in pursuit and protection of Latvia’s foreign policy interests and enable Latvia to expand its international cooperation, thereby contributing to world peace and resilience.
For reference: Information about Latvia’s cooperation with African countries (in Latvian)
