🌍 African countries have long considered advanced information technology to be a key tool that can provide a new impetus to the development of their economies, making them more innovative.

Russia is ready to cooperate with African countries in all areas that involve their use.

At the same time, from our point of view, the most significant of these areas will be the following: information security, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence, Konstantin Pantserev writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/technological-cooperation-between-russia-and-africa/

#GlobalAlternatives #AfricanValdai #Africa #IT

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🇷🇺🌍 In late July 2024, the Valdai Discussion Club held its Second Russian-African Conference.

A year ago, ahead of the Russia-Africa Summit, the club organised the first conference of this kind in St. Petersburg. This time, the event was held on African soil, in Tanzania, with the support of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tanzania and the Russian House in Dar es Salaam.

Experts from the three African BRICS member countries — Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa — were invited to participate in the conference. More than 20 Tanzanian representatives from politics, business, the media, science, higher education, and civil non-governmental organisations also took part in the conference.

The conference significantly contributed to strengthening ties between Russian and Tanzanian experts and to a better understanding of each other’s positions. All this laid the foundation for the development of fruitful bilateral cooperation in the future, writes Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/a-year-after-the-summit-development/

#AfricanValdai #Africa #Tanzania #RussiaAfrica

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🌍 As never before in more than five centuries, Western hegemony is being challenged on economic, spiritual, military, social and technological levels simultaneously by the global majority.

The Western world’s development model is based on a parasitic approach to all resources (human, financial, raw materials, etc..), and is incapable of adapting to embrace a symbiotic approach in which all parties have to trade off (‘you give me some, I give you some’, instead of ‘I take everything and give you crumbs’). 

As a result, the West faces an existential threat: preserve its current hegemony at all costs or be forced to become “regular” countries that must trade with the rest of humanity on a more equitable basis.

Just like 1917, 1945 and 1991, 2022 was a defining moment in human history. However, unlike the previous century, when the socialist/communist ideology grew as an alternative to Western domination, expanded and then collapsed, the geopolitical storm of the third decade of the 21st century challenges Western hegemony at its core, writes Ibrahima Diagne.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/bridging-africa-and-the-world-the-rebirth/

📍 This is the first part of his reflections on the emerging multipolarity and Africa’s role in this process.

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #multipolarity

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🇷🇺🌍 Africa is the embodiment of the global majority, which Russia sees as the central subject of the new world order.

The countries of the continent (not all, but many) are gradually acquiring this subjectivity, developing relations with those who are important for their social and economic growth. 

Over the past two years, Africa has become one of the key areas of Russian foreign policy. Russia is following with great interest the rise of Africa's status in international affairs and is happy to contribute to it. The continent's colonial past and its legacy serve as a vivid illustration of the results of the West's long-standing dominance.

Igor Makarov, head of the Department of World Economy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, writes how Russia can build an effective strategy for interaction with African countries.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/africa-as-a-key-area-of-russian-foreign-policy/

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica #WorldMajority

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 18 at 12:00 noon Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the Valdai Paper "Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges".

Today, Russia is pursuing an active policy of expanding cooperation with African countries. The first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Sochi on November 9-10. Its participants defined the tasks for the coming years and summed up the first results of the second Russia-Africa summit, which was held in St. Petersburg in 2023. One of the tasks, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, chairman of the plenary session of the forum, is moving away from “dependence on global mechanisms controlled by our Western colleagues”.

Since the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, the Valdai Club has been engaged in an expert analysis of the main areas of interaction with African states. The new Valdai Paper is devoted to the modern approaches of Russian diplomacy and rich Soviet experience in working on the continent.

❓How successful is Russia's course to return to Africa?
❓What are the priorities of African states in cooperation with Russia?
❓What hinders the development of trade and the flow of Russian investments to Africa?
❓How has the accession of Egypt and Ethiopia affected the BRICS agenda?

The author of the note and the participants of the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

🎙️ Speakers:

🇷🇺 Vladimir Shubin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Honorary Doctor of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), Chief Researcher, Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (author of the Paper)

🇲🇱 Aliou Tounkara, President of the Russian House in Mali

🇷🇺 Alexander Balezin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher at the Central Asia Institute, World History Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

🇪🇹 Dareskedar Taye, Leading Researcher at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia

🇿🇦 Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Global Dialogue, South Africa

🇹🇿 Khoti Chilomba Kamanga, Professor, University of Dar es Salaam

Moderator:

🗣 Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-club-to-discuss-relations-between-russia-and-africa/

Working languages: Russian, English.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our web site. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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🎥 LIVE: at 12:00 noon Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the Valdai Paper “Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges”.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239227

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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🗣 On November 18, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of the Valdai Paper “Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges”.

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 Video

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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🌍 The Third African Boom and Its Challenges

On November 18, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of an analytical Paper titled “Russia – Africa: Overcoming Difficulties”. 

💬 Oleg Barabanov, the moderator of the discussion, noted that relations between Russia and Africa are currently on the rise. Russia works with African countries in many areas, including political dialogue, economic cooperation, and cultural and humanitarian ties.

💬 The author, Vladimir Shubin, chief researcher at the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary doctor of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), lauded the Russia – Africa summit and conference of foreign ministers which was held in Sochi this month, saying “things are not just announced, but also done.” Speaking about the history of Russian-African relations, he pointed out that Russia never really left Africa, but in the 1990s, economic and cultural cooperation suffered greatly. Today, Shubin emphasised, it is not only a matter of memory, but also of serious economic opportunities and similar positions on international issues. Our ties persist despite considerable pressure.

💬 Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Fellow at the South African Institute for Global Dialogue, briefly outlined some of the problems in relations between Russia and South Africa. It should be noted that relations with the West are still important for South Africa, and this affects the way political science and history are taught there. Despite this, according to Naidu, there is an interesting dynamic in relations with Russia. “We have common goals,” she is convinced.

💬 Aliou Tounkara, President of the Russian House in Mali, pointed out that Russia is a strategic partner for his country, relations with which will definitely continue to develop. The Soviet Union once played a key role in helping Mali gain independence, and the republic has a strong memory of cooperation with it. We should not forget about humanitarian aid from the Russian Federation, as well as educational and cultural cooperation, which remain highly significant.

💬 Dareskedar Taye, Leading Researcher at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, noted that Russian-African relations are determined primarily by the dynamics emanating from Russia. During the Cold War, ties between Russia and Africa were close, but after that, there was a certain decline in relations due to political changes. Now Russia is reconsidering its role on the global stage, and against this background interaction is intensifying again.

💬 Alexander Balezin, Chief Researcher at the Central Asia Institute, at the World History Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that we are currently experiencing a third African boom. At the same time, Russian society has relatively poor knowledge of the African continent. “We need to spread information about Africa more widely,” the expert said.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/the-third-african-boom-and-its-challenges/

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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