The present and the future of Russia-Africa relations is not about charity, it’s about co-development. Commercial and non-commercial non-governmental initiatives are now becoming even more important, so Russian companies are welcomed to participate in humanitarian cooperation.
Evgeny Primakov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo
While talking about the issue, Primakov briefly described the state of affairs in education. The number of Russian state scholarships for African citizens has increased from 1765 in 2019 to 1843 in 2020. At the same time, the number of applications submitted has decreased.
According to Mr. Primakov, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, some African governments have decided not to launch the application campaign for Russian universities for the academic year 2020/2021 as there are difficulties with transportation, safety, and financing scholarships allocated in the African state’s budget. Commenting on this issue, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo mentioned that the Russian system of higher education needs to be adapted to the new realities so that it could gain more value on the international market.
The number of Russian state scholarships for African citizens has increased from 1765 in 2019 to 1843 in 2020. At the same time, the number of applications submitted has decreased.
Attracting more students from Africa means working on overcoming the language barrier through studying Russian in African schools, establishing more Russian schools in Africa and promoting intensive Russian courses for the future students. Programs and courses in English and French may also be in demand if marketed properly.