InteRussia: meeting on the current processes in Africa and the role of Russia

2023-07-21 15:59 Journalism

On 21 July, foreign participants of the InteRussia summer fellowship programme for journalists visited the Gorchakov Fund once again. Andrey Maslov, Director of the Centre for African Studies, HSE University, told the guests about the contacts between Russia and the countries of the continent.

According to the expert, Africa is “woven” of many countries, and Russian government agencies and corporations are present in all of them. Russia holds dear relations with every state, as together these relations form the big picture. Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa are strategic partners of Russia, and Senegal, for instance, has recently become Russia’s number one trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.

The expert then outlined three pillars that underpins the future of the Russian-African cooperation:

"We are building a multipolar world together: each country has its own culture which is important to protect and develop through mutual exchange and enrichment without imposing uniform standards from outside. Since Soviet times, Russia has consistently promoted the idea of strengthening the sovereignty of the African countries. The second pillar is trade and economic cooperation. Most of our exports to African countries are of humanitarian purpose: these are goods that ensure food security and are vital for people’s survival. We need to think together about how to protect these supplies from sanctions, crises, and price shocks, and to invest in building infrastructure for grain delivery and storage. Education and information exchange are also important: we are now feeling strong support from the Russian government when working on such projects."

InteRussia fellowship programmes are a unique opportunity to get to know the Russian agenda first-hand, attend lectures and workshops organised by leading media agencies, take part in partner events in the field of public diplomacy, and exchange experience with colleagues from different countries.

This time, the InteRussia programme is attended by 10 journalists from Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The current programme is partnered by Rossotrudnichestvo, the Rossiya Segodnya media group, and the TV BRICS international media network of the BRICS member-states.