Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the Vice-President of the Republic Ghana, has been selected as one of the key speakers on the topic "Russia-Africa: Advancing New Frontiers" at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) scheduled to open from June 16 to 18 in St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, organizers confirmed on Tuesday.

For many years, Amissah-Arthur had worked as a private international consultant and as an economist at the World Bank (WB) and foreign countries, and then for three years, specially from October 2009 to August 2012, he served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana (CBG). Since 2012, Amissah-Arthur is the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is an annual international conference dedicated to economic and business issues. Over the last decade, SPIEF has become a leading international platform for the discussion of the key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets and the world as a whole.

It attracts over 10,000 foreign and Russian participants, including government and business leaders from the emerging economic powers, as well as leading global voices from academia, the media, and civil society.

Under the topic "Russia-Africa: Advancing New Frontiers" the panelists are listed for the business roundtable include Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the Vice-President of the Republic Ghana, Mikhail Bogdanov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Jean-Jacques Bouya, Minister in Charge of Spatial Planning, Republic of the Congo and Joseph Butore, Second Vice President of the Republic of Burundi.

The rest are Boris Ivanov, First Vice President, Gazprombank (Joint-stock Company) Managing Director, GPB Global Resources, Mzwandile Collen Masina, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Rob Miesen, Consultant, Head of Energy Practice EMEA, Spencer Stuart International BV, George Sebulela, Group Chairman, President, Sebvest Group and Nataliya Zaiser, Head of Africa Business Initiative

The business roundtable will attempt answering the question: How can Russia accelerate its economic ties with the continent and what sectors are likely to be successful first movers? Russia has enjoyed a long history of cooperation with African countries, including the construction of large-scale industrial facilities, education exchanges, collaboration in healthcare, and military partnerships.

Russian trade with Africa has huge potential to expand but current trade turnover remains extremely low.