Africa Day celebrated at Institute of International Relations

The Institute of International Relations, History, and Eastern Studies of Kazan Federal University held a festival of African culture and a thematic round table.

The creative performances were followed by a round table discussion entitled “Russia-Africa: Prospects for Cooperation.” Among the guests of honor were Ramil Saifutdinov, Deputy Director of the International Office, and Elmira Khabibullina, Dean of the Higher School of Eastern Studies.

“Our deepest traditions are based on mutual respect and the study of other countries. We study language, history, and politics with a single goal in mind: to develop relations between Russia and Africa in a spirit of creativity, peace, and friendship. Students from both our country and other countries help us achieve this goal by forming a platform for interaction,” Dr Khabibullina emphasized.

Associate Professor Ramil Yuzmukhametov presented his report at the round table, “In our country, interest in this continent began back in the time of Peter the First. In addition, I would like to remind you that the father of Russian poetry, Alexander Pushkin, was a descendant of an Ethiopian individual. Attempts to launch African studies were made during the Soviet period, but due to political events, this was not possible.”

The country began to fully explore this unknown part of the world after World War II, when the decolonization process began. At that time, the first departments of African studies began to appear, and local languages began to be studied.

“The 2014 forum with 18 ambassadors from the continent’s countries made it clear that new programs needed to be launched at Kazan University. That same year, the first groups of students studying Swahili and Afrikaans were recruited,” Yuzmukhametov said.

Next, Associate Professor Aida Fattakhova presented a report on the KFU’s African collection to the audience. The presentations were continued by university students.