In the Congress Hall of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, an agreement was signed between the International Competence Center for Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO and the Association of African Universities. This event, along with the address by the university's rector, Professor Vladimir Litvinenko, became one of the central events of the Russia–Africa Raw Materials Dialogue.
He spoke about the problems of the transition of African countries from an agrarian economic order to an industrial one. The continent is a world leader in growth rates, but about 75% of investments in the key mining industry come from foreign companies, primarily British. The West “feeds” Africa with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, but deliberately withholds the main “dish”—genuine state sovereignty.
«In the 21st century, the Global North is building dominance over the South using subtler instruments than in the colonial period. They no longer intend to bear responsibility for poverty. It is much easier to explain problems due to the incompetence of local authorities. The International Monetary Fund and other similar organizations hand out ‘pieces of paper’ to African countries in the form of loans or investments, which very quickly return with gold, platinum-group metals, and other valuable chemical elements.
The British write: 140 billion dollars is currently going to the development of Africa. Don’t believe it; this is money for their own monopoly companies that operate there. They cover themselves with talk about job creation, but we know how these jobs are paid, how child labor is used there. We are talking about the barbaric plundering of resources. The hydraulic fracturing technology criticized by Russian environmentalists is incomparable in its degree of danger with radioactive contamination and other forms of environmental destruction in the development of deposits in Africa.
Every inhabitant of the continent is potentially 12–15 times richer than a European or an American. A reason for pride: you are rich in natural capital, but it still needs to be converted into human and material capital. This can be done only with a high-quality system of personnel training.
The main thing for African countries is to create an effective mechanism of state regulation. Relations between companies, their interaction with the state, and society must be based on clear and fair rules. Only the state is capable of establishing such rules.
Mining University has offered managers from African countries an in-person educational program that examines in detail, for example, issues of licensing activities for the extraction of mineral resources and the harm of concessions. Governments sign concession contracts that do not take into account the dynamics of raw-material prices, whereas 20-percent price fluctuations over the course of a year are the norm in this market. Our program currently has about two dozen attendees. We need to continue and scale up this work», – said the Rector.
Vladimir Litvinenko also spoke about the danger of developing the education system in isolation from the needs of the economy. A large number of universities have been created on the continent in recent decades. The Rector called this process a time bomb:
«An educated person is distinguished by the ability to think analytically. Knowledge and skills are there, but there is nowhere to apply them—an inner conflict arises. One often hears that it is necessary first to raise the economy, and only then to deal with education. This is a big mistake, since we are talking about interrelated things. Development begins with education. Historically, this is the Russian approach: we come with technologies, in parallel we build schools, train specialists—that is, we ensure comprehensive development for many years».
An important step in bringing the Russian engineering school closer to the educational system of African countries was the signing of an agreement between the International Competence Center for Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO (the Center was established at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University) and the Association of African Universities (AAU). The purpose of the agreement is the exchange of best practices to improve the quality of education in the field of mineral resources management.
AAU is the leading higher education organization in Africa, established in 1967 in Rabat (Morocco) as a key academic center influencing the regulation of the continent’s university system. AAU brings together about 400 universities in 46 African countries.
The agreement with the UNESCO Center provides, in particular, for the creation in Africa of centers of excellence in the field of mining engineering education. Using the developments of Saint Petersburg Mining University, AAU will create a unified model of engineering training on the continent. On behalf of the Association, the agreement was signed by its President, Matengu Kenneth Kamwi. On behalf of the UNESCO Center, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Vladimir Litvinenko.
The head of AAU assured the forum participants that the Association will determine a list of universities that will ensure the training of African students in mining technologies jointly with Russia’s oldest technical university.
At the panel discussion on opportunities for the joint training by Russia and Africa of the engineers of the future, Prof. Dr. Matengu Kenneth Kamwi gave an illustrative example of the losses that Africa incurs due to incompetent resource management:
«In one of the countries, a decision was made and implemented to close a depleted coal mine. Soon, a buyer was found for it—a Chinese company paid 70 million dollars for what was allegedly an illiquid asset. They knew that the mine could be effectively used for cobalt extraction. But the owner did not have such data due to the lack of competent specialists and missed the deposit. I hope that with the help of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, we will be able to reduce such cases to a minimum. There is a proverb in Africa: If you want to go fast—go alone; if you want to go far—lean on your friends».
The issue of recognizing Russian diplomas in Africa was also discussed. According to Stepan Sokolov, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, 35,000 students from Africa are studying in Russia. A barrier to successful employment at home is the absence of an agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas with their country. Today, the Ministry is stepping up the signing of such documents—agreements have already been concluded with 31 of Africa’s 54 countries.
At the panel discussion on the state and prospects of Russian–African relations in the raw-materials sector, the Deputy Minister of Mining and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Koroma Umaru Napoleon, said that the head of the ministry received higher education in Russia, and they regard cooperation with Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University as the most successful and useful partnership:
«Russia knows how to protect its resources and use them for the benefit of its people. It is more difficult for us to put the country’s subsoil at the service of national interests. In this regard, we need to learn from Russia.
Western colonialism persists. Their companies, for example, learned that we have lithium. The World Bank sponsored various geological exploration projects in which we were left only to trust the colonizers. Naturally, the benefit of such projects for us is minimal. We are glad that we will be able to unlock our potential and develop on an equal footing thanks to the Russian Federation. With your help, we will be able to create the necessary capacities and infrastructure, particularly in geological exploration. Then we will learn to extract mineral resources with high added value and process them».
The head of the Department of Partnership with Africa, established this February at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tatyana Dovgalenko, noted that the sphere of subsoil use accounts for a key share of their work:
«Subsoil resources are the basis not only of any economy, but of civilization itself. Vast periods of human life are named after raw materials: the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Today, we live in the age of critical minerals. The ability to process raw materials and put them to the benefit of people—that is what constitutes the development of humanity.
Africa possesses gigantic natural resources, and this fact contrasts with its share in global production (2%) and trade (3%). Nineteen of the world’s twenty poorest countries are on the continent. Africa’s entire economic system and education were formed around the export of mineral resources. Overcoming this paradigm requires a comprehensive approach».
The discussion part of the Russia–Africa Raw Materials Dialogue concluded with the adoption of a participants’ declaration. It established the general principles of the Russia–Africa raw-materials partnership: sovereignty and mutual respect, mutual benefit and fair distribution, technological synergy, and investment in human capital.
Among the practical steps reflected in the declaration are the development of “roadmaps” for specific raw materials and regions and the conduct of an annual Russian–African scientific expedition to study mineral resource potential. The initiative of professional associations to develop a framework standard of competencies for mining engineers for Russian–African projects—which will become the basis for mutual recognition of qualifications—was also supported.
