On Wednesday, 5 June, a delegation from the Republic of Sudan led by Minister of Mineral Resources Mohammed Albashir Abunommo paid a working visit to Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University. During the meeting with Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, he discussed the prospects of scientific and educational co-operation. Forpost decided to find out what aspects of the future partnership could be of interest to the guests of the city on the Neva.
Sudan, the actual capital of which is located on the Red Sea coast, not in Khartoum, where the fighting has recently taken place, is characterised by the same problems as most African countries. These are political instability, permanent armed conflicts, forced migration, and most importantly, the lack of technological and human resources to monetise the rich natural capital.
In this regard, it is mainly foreign companies, which work under concession agreements, that develop it. That is, they lease the fields for a relatively small fee, and in case of high profitability of the project they keep up to 90% of the proceeds. There is oil, gold, silver and many other types of minerals in the subsoil of the Republic, which bring the state almost two thirds of export revenues, but the population lives very poorly. A salary equivalent to 5 thousand roubles is considered quite acceptable there.
Is it possible to change the state of affairs and ensure advanced socio-economic development of Sudan through more efficient use of its resource potential? The search for an answer to this question was the leitmotif of the visit of the delegation from Africa, and, as its representatives explained, the true state of affairs is so bad that standard recipes are unlikely to work here.
For example, Ahmed Musa, Director of the General Directorate of Geological Research of the Ministry of Minerals of the Republic, said that the Government has no data at all on the country's natural resources. The reason is that the former geological maps were lost during the war, and transnational corporations operating in Sudan do not share such information. Such a condition is simply not stipulated in the concession contracts.
In this regard, Mr Musa asked the host country to assist in finding any archival information. After all, Soviet geologists, including scientists of the Mining University, were searching for promising deposits in the Khartoum area, the Numibian Desert and on the shores of the Red Sea back in the 60s and 70s of the last century.
Vladimir Litvinenko instructed the management of the Faculty of Geological Exploration to study this issue in detail. At the same time, he drew the attention of the guests to the fact that the root cause of such a deplorable situation is the practice of admitting investors to subsoil use on the basis of concession agreements, which is ubiquitous in Africa. Unlike licences, they do not oblige businesses to pay profit taxes (they are replaced by rent), nor to create new jobs for the indigenous population, nor to take responsibility for the preservation of ecosystems.
"Specialists capable of ensuring professional management of the subsoil through the adoption of laws beneficial to all and control of their implementation, competent engineers, scientists and teachers - this is a fundamental condition for effective monetisation of resources. Just as the theatre begins with a coat rack, so the transformation of inert natural capital into social and natural capital begins with personnel training. This is the basis for the sovereign development of any state,’ the Rector emphasised.
As potential areas of future partnership Vladimir Litvinenko named the targeted training of Sudanese civil servants under the programme of training of managers in the field of subsoil use, which was developed by the consortium ‘Subsoil of Africa’. It is a special course for a period of one to two years with the issuance of a diploma of second higher education upon its completion. In addition to the theoretical component, it includes many weeks of practical training at mining enterprises, as well as in the bodies involved in controlling the industry and developing laws regulating its activities.
Another vector of possible cooperation is the creation of a laboratory to determine the material composition of mineral raw materials in the Republic, which is necessary to understand the profitability of developing deposits, as well as the choice of optimal technological solutions for mining and processing of minerals. In addition, Vladimir Litvinenko expressed readiness to assist in the supply of specialised equipment and search for industrial partners in Russia and abroad who might be interested in doing business in Sudan.
The head of the delegation Mohammed Albashir Abunommo highly appreciated such a great interest of the host country in co-operation. He noted that St. Petersburg Mining University is known abroad as ‘a prestigious university, whose graduates are among the most sought-after on the labour market, in the mineral sector’.
"Today there are only 3 students from Sudan studying here. After getting acquainted with your excellent material base, with scientific centres where innovations are being developed and then successfully implemented in production, I realised that we need to work on increasing their number. Of course, we are also interested in developing joint research projects, including in the field of geological exploration. I hope that today's meeting will form the basis of a great mutually beneficial partnership,’ Mohammed Albashir Abunommo addressed Vladimir Litvinenko.
At the end of the meeting, the specialists of the Mining University discussed in detail with their colleagues from Africa a number of projects that could start their joint activities. Responsible persons were also appointed on both sides to coordinate efforts and develop specific mutually beneficial proposals.
