А polycentric world formation raises a number of important questions for the scholars. The first of them is a role of African continent in this process. A common point of view on this issue has not been formulated yet, although some trends are becoming more obvious. Among them is the desire of African states for greater subjectivity, primarily through the development of African integration and the exploration of the fourth industrial revolution achievements.

In  February  2020,  Institute  for  African  Studies  (Russian  Academy  of  Sciences)  informed  about  forthcoming  on  March  31 international conference «Africa in the conditions of a polycentric world formation”. The wide range of issues were proposed for discussion, including the various aspects of African states home and foreign policies, their role and place in the new geopolitical conditions, and the African policies of the leading economically developed and developing countries. The problems submitted for consideration excited a keen interest of scholars from the various institutes of the Russian Academy of Science. 38 applications were submitted by those who wanted to participate in the conference. However, COVID-2019 pandemic has made its own adjustments to the implementation of many scientific activities in our country, including this conference. The measures taken by Russia to combat the spread of infection (COVID-2019) forced the organizers to hold it by correspondence with discussing the abstracts and reports submitted by participants.