Round table "AFRICAN DIASPORAS IN RUSSIA"
The round table "AFRICAN DIASPORAS IN RUSSIA" was held during the III International Scientific Forum "Russia — Africa: Politics, Economics, History and Culture", October 13-14, Kazan on the basis of Kazan Federal University.
The round table was opened by Louis Gowend, President of the Diaspora of the Republic of Cameroon in the Russian Federation, who spoke about the main tasks that the African Diaspora in Russia needs to solve and stressed that it is necessary to continue the intensive process of integration and unification of the African Diaspora in the Russian Federation. Need:
- provide free tuition for able African students by increasing quotas;
-- increase the number of students from Africa (324,000 foreign students study in Russia and only 35,000 of them are from Africa);
- to deal with the issue of internships for students, they are not taken to enterprises for internships;
- to deal with the issues of official employment for African students who have completed their studies and wish to stay to live and work in the Russian Federation;
- to raise awareness of African citizens in Russia about how to avoid violating the visa regime and other laws;
- develop a plan to strengthen trade ties between Russia and Africa;
- to create a Museum of Africa in Moscow and other major cities of Russia.
Deputy Director for International Affairs at Kazan Federal University Imamutdinova Albina Marselevna noted that:
The 3rd time the international scientific forum "Russia - Africa: Politics, Economics, History and Culture" is being held on the basis of the Institute of International Relations of Kazan Federal University.
Opening of the round table discussion:
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Benin to the Russian Federation and CIS countries (2012-2016), Founder of the Association of Foreign Students in Russia Aniset Gabriel Kochofa (Benin) noted that:
- youth is the most important factor in strengthening Russian-African cooperation and that the youth policy of African countries has been changing and developing since 2011;
- Russia needs to offer the African countries its vision for the development of bilateral relations in the field of youth policy, including educational, economic, social, sports and cultural programs;
- create a project to unite Russian and African youth organizations in order to form a collective vision of the future together and exchange projects.
The President of the Union of African Diasporas, the President of the Ethiopian Diaspora in the Russian Federation, Kinfu Zenebe Tafesse (Ethiopia), noted that it is necessary:
- to solve the problem of employment by profession for Africans living in Russia;
- Support the initiative to create all national African diasporasand strengthen the Union of African Diasporas in Russia;
- create a business fund in Russia for investments in African countries;
- to attract investments to create a cultural center in Moscow and the regions of Russia.
The President of the Diaspora of Mali in the Russian Federation, DAU Tiekolo (Mali), noted the importance of using the golden resource for Russia — all former students from the Soviet Union and Russian universities to work in projects of Russian entrepreneurs in Africa.
Chairman of the Board of the Union of the African Diaspora for the Truth and Improvement of the Situation of People of African Descent "Inganzo Gakondo", Representative of the Rwandan Diaspora in the Russian Federation Tulikunkiko Francois Xavier (Rwanda) proposed to create an annual festival "Axis of Good" to get acquainted with the traditions, customs and culture of the peoples of the world represented in Russia.
The President of the Malagasy Diaspora in the Russian Federation, Said Ali (Madagascar), said that the Malagasy Diaspora in Russia is young and was created this year. Its main goals are to improve the quality of life of Malagasy in Russia and to participate in all programs of the Union of African Diasporas in Russia.
Senior lecturer at Samara National Research University, Cameroonian entrepreneur and importer of Cameroonian coffee in the Russian Federation Pilla Clovis is an importer of Cameroonian coffee in the Russian Federation. He said that the key to a strong connection between Russia and Africa is to increase economic cooperation between the parties, so great efforts should be made to multiply the trade turnover between Russia and Africa. To achieve this goal, at first, Russia needs to be ready to take on the risks associated with entering the new African market. He recommended following the Chinese example — giving cheap loans or subsidies to Russian entrepreneurs who are willing to work in Africa. As part of this, it is possible to develop a state program "Development of trade relations with Africa" with a certain budget, in which Russian firms will be able to participate on a competitive basis.
Dr. Maurice Okoli, President of the Nigerian Community in Russia, said that in the emerging new world order, we see that the modern struggle for Africa continues and calls on Russia to actively involve many Russian—speaking African experts trained in the Soviet Union to maintain and restore Russia's interaction with Africa in all areas of cooperation.
Yulia Voronova, Project Manager of the Brics Alliance for Africa and Atlas, suggested focusing on the most promising areas of partnership between Russia and Africa thanks to information technologies, various modernized IT systems, medicine, agriculture and green technologies.
Director of musical theater and cinema, representative of the Mozambican Diaspora Daria Ilidio da Conceicao said that from the creative experience gained during the production of the Russian-African documentary "Black to USSR" (Russia — Mozambique-South Africa, 2022), another conviction came that it is necessary to preserve the dialogue of cultures through art.
Georges Romain Zobo, an entrepreneur from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that Africa needs technology and the development of mechanical engineering and agriculture.
As a result of the round table, it was decided to support and assist in organizing the festival of African culture in Kazan on the third day of the Russia-Africa forum in 2023, if the KFU decides to hold it. We have proposed a project of charitable cooperation in the field of free remote learning of the Russian language for Africans living in the Russian Federation. We are also ready to consider a project to increase the number of foreign students studying at KFU and to consider cooperation in the scientific field with young African specialists and researchers.