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Russia and Africa: Prospects for the Development of Inter-University Cooperation

On 27 July, a discussion was held on the topic Russia and Africa: Prospects for the Development of Inter-University Cooperation as part of the Cooperation in Science and Technology section of the business programme of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. The discussion was attended by Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Paul Gundani, Vice Chancellor of the Zimbabwe Open University, Alexei Demidov, Rector of St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Rectors, Dmitry Endovitsky, Rector of Voronezh State University, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Rectors, Manuel Guilherme Júnior, Rector of the Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), Victor Kalunga Tshikala, Rector of the University of Kalemie (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Paul Chisale, Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Copperbelt University (Zambia), and others. Viktor Sadovnichy, Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, President of the Russian Union of Rectors, and Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was the moderator.

Launching the discussion, Viktor Sadovnichy talked about the work of the Russian Union of Rectors and invited his African colleagues to join the Eurasian Universities Association. He also proposed organizing a science festival at a university in an African country; these have been held in Russia for the past 16 years.

Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation,” said the head of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, quoting the words of Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa. According to the minister, over 310,000 qualified specialists from the continent have been trained in Russia during the history of cooperation with Africa. Currently the number of budget-funded places for African students in Russia has been boosted significantly: if in 2020 there were 1,700, then in 2023 there were already 4,700.

Participants discussed the prospects of educational cooperation between Russia and African countries, the problems in this sphere and ways to overcome them, as well as priority areas for this cooperation and the needs of the African continent in terms of specialists.

Paul Gundani, Vice Chancellor of the Zimbabwe Open University, remarked: “Why is Russian not one of the popular languages in Zimbabwe? Russia was not a participant in the project of the colonization of Africa. We were educated in English and it unites the whole country. Now there is growing interest in tourism in Zimbabwe, it has become one of the drivers of economic growth, and some universities offer Russian language courses. The government’s policy is to cooperate with Russia. We will teach Russian to those who work in trade and business. We need to open Russian language centres in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe.”

Reflecting on how to intensify cooperation between the two countries, Victor Kalunga Tshikala, Rector of the University of Kalemie (Democratic Republic of Congo), proposed three options. “The first is to develop the study of the Russian language in African universities. The second is to develop scientific projects in the economic and political sciences and in security and culture that are of mutual interest, and then it will be possible to form a society that will share our values. The third is to strengthen the programme to support students who study in Russian universities and send more students to study in Russia,” he said.

Besarion Meskhi, Rector of the Don State Technical University, drew attention to the importance of adjusting the legislation of the Russian Federation so that it would be possible to establish branch campuses and representative offices of Russian universities in African countries.


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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI