The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

Russia and Africa are building bridges to connect their peoples through language, arts and music and Batswana will certainly not be left out in these initiatives!

The Centre of Additional Professional Education “Alpha-Dialogue”, supported by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation is inviting Batswana to participate in the programme – ‘Russian Language in Africa: the way of friendship and cooperation’ from December 4-5^th, 2023, at Avani Gaborone Resort.

The two-day international project boasts a packed programme with exciting lessons and will also discuss Russia-Africa business and economic cooperation as well as Russian scholarship programmes will be discussed from 10.00 am to 2 pm.

A spokesperson of Embassy of the Russian Federation in Gaborone, Alexey Nesterov, told The Pan Afrikanist that participants will also learn about Russian literature, music, cuisine and do the Russian round dance.

The programme accords well with the outcomes of this year’s Second Russia-Africa Summit which was held in St. Petersburg, Russia from 25 to 28 July, amongst which the Heads of State decided under the heading, ‘Scientific and technical, humanitarian, educational, cultural, sports, health, youth and information cooperation’, to:

* Develop cooperation in the field of education, facilitate participation in joint research projects, organisation of scientific conferences and seminars, expansion and deepening of collaboration between educational institutions of the Russian Federation and African States.

* Promote professional training programmes, academic and student exchanges, as well as the study of the Russian language in African countries and the development of African studies in Russia.

* Respect civilizational and national diversity of the Russian Federation and Africa, emphasise the uniqueness of the traditions and historical heritage of our peoples.

* Develop cultural dialogue in order to maintain the traditional spirit of friendship and cooperation in Russian-African relations., and Strengthen cultural ties as a tool for achieving mutual understanding.

* Facilitate the holding of cultural and humanitarian events, mutual visits of artists for the purposes of developing creative contacts, exchanging experience, participating in conferences, symposiums and other thematic fora.

The programme will kick off with registration on the first day during which participants will be given handouts and giveaways followed by the official opening by Valeria Iadrovskaia, Deputy Director for Public Relations of the Alfa-Dialogue Centre, while the project manager, Marina Bogdanova, will make the welcome remarks.

Thereafter, it will be all systems go as participants will be treated to the first lesson, “Let’s speak Russian” conducted by Natalya Nekora, PhD, teacher of Russian as a foreign language at Saint Petersburg State University.

This will be followed by a short virtual presentation on “Russia-Africa Economic Cooperation and Business Ties” led by Olga Kulkova, PhD, Senior Research Fellow of the Centre for the Study of the African Studies in Russia Alexander Russian-African Relations and African States’ Foreign Policy at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The online speaker, Kulkova will give way to a session on “Getting to Know Modern Russia” by Oleg Mukovsky, PhD, Director, Saint Petersburg branch, Russkiy Mir Foundation followed by another online speaker, Zheltov, PhD, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of African Studies, Saint Petersburg State University.

Zheltov, who is also the Head of the Department of African Ethnology, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology of Russian Academy of Science, will address the topic, “African Studies in Russia”. These will wrap the first day.

The second day will also kick off with registration followed by the topic, “Let’s speak Russian” conducted by Natalya Nekora, PhD, teacher of Russian as a foreign language at Saint Petersburg State University.

Thereafter, Mariia Mikhnovets, PhD, Research fellow, Dostoevsky literary memorial Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, will deliver an online presentation on “Masterpieces of world literature: Dostoevsky and Tolstoy” and another online presentation by Lidia Ader, PhD, Senior researcher at the Rimsky-Korsakov Museum, will focus on “Triumph of Russian Music: Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich”.

As the programme draws to a close, Oleg Mukovsky will make a comeback to address the topic, “Introduction to Modern Russia”, and then Valeria Ladrovskaia, Deputy Director for Public Relations of the Alfa-Dialogue Centre and the project manager, Marina Bogdanova will officially close the programme, after which participants will be handed certificates of participation and treated to a sumptuous Russian buffet.

To register at the project use this link: https://forms.gle/chFpcnWyPyTXiVuy7