Rossiya Segodnya Holds Videoconference on Russia's Cooperation With African Nations

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Rossiya Segodnya media group held on Wednesday a videoconference roundtable titled "Integration Processes: Russia and the African Union." Leading Russian Africanists and subject matter experts from Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa took part in the discussion. The event is part of the project on Russia's integration processes with foreign intergovernmental organizations and regional associations, carried out jointly with The Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the autonomous non-profit organization "Center for Assistance in the Implementation of Humanitarian and Educational Programs." The participants of the meeting at the media group's premises were, among others, Siphamandla Zondi, acting director at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg and Chairperson of South Africa BRICS think tank, digital manager Jared Ombui of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Yohannes Wondirad, director of the Public Relations and Strategic Partnership Directorate of the Ethiopian News Agency. The roundtable was also attended by associate professor of Mass Communication at Benson Idahosa University in Nigeria, Alex Eloho Umuerri, as well as head of photography at the African News Agency from South Africa, Ian Landsberg. Among the Russian experts participating in the round table, as noted, were Sergey Volkov, who is head of the Center for the Study of Russian-African Relations and African States’ Foreign Policy of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS); and leading research fellow at the RAS Institute for African Studies Evgeny Korendyasov, who is also a former USSR/Russia ambassador to Burkina Faso and Mali. They were joined by Nailya Mingazova, head of the Department of Oriental Studies, African Studies and Islamic Studies at Russia's Kazan Federal University, and professor Aleksey Antoshin of Ural Federal University's Department of Oriental Studies. As Rossiya Segodnya noted at the event, experts discussed the current state of relations between Africa and Russia, the issues that impede the expansion of cooperation, as well as the prospects for developing partnerships in the fields of energy, defense, education, media and food supply. Kenyan expert Jared Ombui, however, drew attention to the necessity of developing cooperation between Russia and African nations in the media sphere. According to the expert, in the media field, both Russia and countries in Africa can "achieve tangible results at minimal cost." He further noted that at the moment, most of the continental media's information sources are mainstream Western ones, and complained that such a state of affairs is not right. Ombui went on to suggest that "the voice of the Russian news agency Sputnik needs to be heard louder on the African continent." Further elaborating on the need for media cooperation, Ombui noted that it would enable the Russian public to get direct information about events taking place in Africa, and, conversely, it would be easier for Africans to get a better understanding of Russia's point of view on a wide range of topics. Professor at Russia's Ural Federal University Aleksey Antoshin spoke about the importance of such steps for audiences on both continents, especially for business people, because of the potential that exists in the development of relations between Russia and the African Union. He noted that enterprises of the Ural region are engaged with foreign partners from Algeria, South Africa, Egypt and other countries in Africa. "Despite the difficulties associated with the sanctions regime, there are serious opportunities to ramp up cooperation in this area,” Antoshin emphasized. Meanwhile, Siphamandla Zondi from South Africa discussed the issue of specialized education. The professor noticed that there are centers for African studies in Russia, but the lack of Russian studies centers in Africa. According to him, "a surge of interest in the study of Africa in Russia" is being seen on the continent, and the public needs educational programs in Russian studies. Concluding, he went on to assert that in the current state of global affairs, there is also a great potential to develop closer ties in tourism. Read more: https://sputniknews.com/20220622/rossiya-segodnya-holds-videoconference-on-russias-cooperation-with-african-nations-1096572543.html