The trade turnover between Ukraine and Africa has more than tripled over the past nine years, reaching a mark of $6.4 billion in 2012.

Ukraine's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa Hennadiy Latiy said this at a conference in Kyiv on Thursday, a Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"Ukraine's relations with African states in the trade and economic sphere have been dynamically developing in recent years. A sign of this is a steady increase in trade turnover. In 2004, the total turnover of goods between Ukraine and African countries amounted to $2.035 billion, whereas in 2012, this figure reached $6.412 billion," he said.

According to the diplomat, Ukraine and African states have "all of the necessary conditions for an increase in turnover by many times" over the next few years. He said that Ukrainian companies, in particular, are participating in the development of large industrial and energy facilities, as well as national transport infrastructure in Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. Latiy said that Ukraine's key trade partners, for example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, are Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Senegal.

In addition, Ukraine will not stand aside geopolitical processes in Africa, he said. "Ukraine is an active contributor of military and police personnel to UN operations on maintaining peace and security, particularly in such countries as Liberia, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," he said.

According to the special representative, considerable hopes in the development of Ukraine's relations with the countries of the African continent are pinned on "Ukrainian lobby in Africa" - representatives of the political and business elite, who once received higher education in Ukraine. "Graduates of Ukrainian institutes and universities are currently working in responsible positions in government and represent a significant stratum in the business community in Africa," he said.

Ukrinform