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Congress of University Rectors of Russia and Africa to discuss prospects of developing inter-university cooperation as part of Forum

The Congress of University Rectors will take place on 27 July as part of the business programme of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. Its agenda will include discussion of the topic ‘Russia and Africa: Prospects for the Development of Inter-University Cooperation.’ Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Oleg Yastrebov, Rector of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Mohamed Othman Elkhosht, President of Cairo University, Tafere Melaku, President of Debre Markos University (Ethiopia) and others will take part in the discussion. Viktor Sadovnichy, Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, President of the Russian Union of Rectors, and Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will be the moderator.

Congress participants will endeavour to assess how developed scientific and educational cooperation is between Russia and Africa, what its prospects are, what kind of problems arise in this area, and how to overcome them. They will also discuss the priorities for this cooperation and the needs of the African continent in terms of specialists.

“At present, we are actively preparing to hold a forum of rectors from Russia and African countries in July 2023, as part of the upcoming Russia–Africa Summit. One of the proposals is to create an Association of Russian and African Universities. I am sure that such an association will enable us to intensify cooperation between the universities of our countries, and we could find the best possible mechanisms to intensify our projects,” said MSU Rector Viktor Sadovnichy.

The panel discussion will start at 16:00 in pavilion G, conference hall G1.

The Second Russia–Africa Summit and Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum has been organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

Event website: summitafrica.ru/en

“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