🪖Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the iconic AK-47 automatic rifle, and South Africa

We continue the series of joint publications with the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Russia - South Africa in the XX century: pages of common history", timed to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the 65th anniversary of the Institute, as well as the 30th anniversary of the first democratic elections in South Africa.

🇿🇦 The Soviet engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov designed the AK-47 (the Avtomat Kalashnikova), a weapon that gained an iconic status during wars of liberation worldwide including South Africa.

The 78-year-old major-general said that he produced the AK-47 after the Second World War to help protect the borders of his country. Decades later the light automatic gun with a short barrel meant to be fired from the hip or shoulder became the preferred weapon of South Africa’s freedom fighters. The Soviet Union provided AK-47s to the ANC military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. By the time of Kalashnikov’s trip to South Africa in 1997 approximately 70 million AK-47s had been produced. The rifle’s popularity with anti-apartheid fighters stemmed from its robust durability.

The inventor of the legendary rifle travelled to South Africa to mark the 50th anniversary of his best-known design, the world’s most popular automatic rifle AK-47. “The main purpose of my work,” - as he recounted to a South African journalist - “was to design a sub-machine gun for soldiers who did not graduate from military academies. I wanted them to have simple and reliable weapons in their hands.”

During his stay Kalashnikov visited the factory in Pretoria where the Vektor R4, the standard service rifle of the South African Defence Force, was produced. He also spent several days in Western Cape attending a function in his honour at the Castle in Cape Town and hunting springbok at a game farm near Ceres. He was impressed by the friendly disposition of South Africans towards Russia, their optimism, similar problems of building a democratic society.

📝The materials provided by the Center for Southern Africa Studies of the Institute (https://www.inafran.ru/en/).

#pagesofcommonhistory #russia #sovietunion #russiasouthafrica #ussr #humanrightsday #africa

Strengthening economic relations between #Russia, #Africa, and the Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU)

For the first time, financial and economic relations between Russia, Africa, and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are shifting away from Western currencies in favour of national currencies.

As of the beginning of the year, the Russian ruble accounted for nearly 50% of mutual settlements. This transition not only accelerates transactions but also enhances the competitiveness of national currencies in the global market, contributing to the stabilization of exchange rates against other currencies.

Consequently, this trend stimulates the rapid development of mutual trade.

👉 The demand for national currencies in transactions between the #EAEU states and #Africa was prominently highlighted at the Russian-African Business Forum held in St. Petersburg in July of last year. During the forum, it was noted that the number of contracts and agreements – both trade and investment – in national currencies was on the rise.

⚠️ This shift, alongside other mutual benefits, is fostering industrialization and supporting the economic decolonization of African nations.

📈 This momentum is reflected in the substantial growth of mutual trade. In 2023, Russian exports to African countries surged by more than 50% compared to 2022, while imports rose by about 25%. Many experts predict that these trade indicators will continue to rise by at least 15-25% this year, with African exports expected to increase by 23-25%.

Notably, the share of other #EAEU countries in trade with #Africa has risen from 15% in the early 2020s to nearly 25% at the start of this year. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa have remained the largest trade partners of the EAEU in Africa.

Africa’s growing interest in trade with the EAEU is primarily due to the latter’s lack of political conditions attached to product supplies, unlike former Western powers.

❗️ This openness supports African nations’ industrialization, export, and food supply initiatives. In contrast, the financial and economic policies of former Western metropolises aim to maintain Africa’s status as an agrarian and raw materials appendage.

#EAEU #Africa

Lovers and admirers of the Russian language: this intensive course is for you!

⚡️ We are pleased to inform you that St Petersburg University (SPbU) with the support of the Russian Embassy in South Africa continues the enrollment in the Russian language courses.

SPbU provides a unique opportunity for the residents of the Republic of South Africa to learn the world’s seventh-most spoken language.

If you have long been interested in studying the Russian language in order to get a degree, build a career or simply broaden your horizons, then we are pleased to invite you to our online courses.

St Petersburg University will glad to inform about its programmes available for foreigners.

The course will be conducted for different levels. Participation is completely FREE.

🗓 Classes are to be held from October 2024 till December 2024 in the morning and evening time (four times a week for 1.5 hrs). The course is to be launched on 14 October.

Those wishing to study at Russian universities will be chosen on a priority basis.

🔗 Registration is available via the LINK

The number of participants is limited. Don't miss the opportunity to join!

#russia #russian #africa #russiaafrica #russianlanguage

🗓 On Nov 9-10, Sochi will host the 1st Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership at Sirius University, in accordance with the decisions of the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit.

The foreign ministers of the Russian Federation and African states, as well as the leadership of the African Union Commission and major continental integration associations, will take part in the event.

🤝The business programme on the sidelines of the conference will feature roundtable discussions and panel sessions on key items on the Russian-African agenda, including security, trade and investment, industrialisation, technology transfers, agriculture, the development of the mining sector, education, healthcare and epidemiological safety.

✅ Representatives of Russian and foreign media are invited to cover the event. We are expecting African media outlets to take an active part.

Media representatives can obtain accreditation on the Russia-Africa Summit’s official website until Oct 25, 2024.

🔗 APPLY FOR ACCREDITATION

#russia #africa #russiaafrica #sochi

#Opinion

Africa's Strategic Realignment: A New Chapter with Russia

By Dr Iqbal Surve, Past Chair of the BRICS Business Council & Co-Chair of the BRICS Media Forum and BRNN & Chloé Maluleke, Associate at The BRICS+ Consulting Group: Russian & Iranian Specialist

READ IN FULL

🔹As the world witnesses the shifting tides of geopolitical influence, #Africa stands at a crucial juncture.

🔹 The upcoming #BRICS Summit in Kazan presents the continent with an opportunity to redefine its role on the global stage.

🔹 For decades, Africa has been entangled in systems designed to serve foreign interests—systems that have constrained its potential for economic independence and sovereignty.

🌐 Today, as Africa pivots toward stronger ties with Russia and the BRICS alliance, the continent begins to embrace a future where its voice can finally resonate on equal terms with global powers.

The article was first published on https://www.iol.co.za

#BRICS2024 #Kazan2024 #Russia #Africa

🌐 Over 1,500 participants attended the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, with 54 African countries represented, including 45 – at the level of ministers.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the event ‘historic’ adding that #Africa is a center of the multipolar world which emerging not just on paper, but also in practical sense.

Read more

#RussiaAfrica

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: In 1960, the Soviet Union spearheaded the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, sparking a powerful awakening across Africa.

☝️ Colonialism was almost eradicated.

❗️Yet some remnants persist, despite UN General Assembly resolutions calling for the full liberation of former colonies. Our African partners are well aware of this. Former colonial powers continue to hold territories and are reluctant to return them to the people who live there.

We’re witnessing a new wave of resistance to neocolonialism which is using trade, economic, and financial practices that prevent African countries from fully controlling their abundant natural resources.

#Russia #Africa #colonial #neocolonialism

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Marina Kim for the New World project (Moscow, November 14, 2024)

Key talking points:

#InternationalAffairs

• Our main task now is to achieve all the goals formulated by President Vladimir Putin. You are aware of the West’s expectations. They are speculating about stopping the hostilities at a certain line and coordinating a truce, so that 10 years from now they will decide who Crimea and Donbass belong to. This is coffee cup reading. I won’t engage in it. We have our tasks, and we will fulfil them.

• Our job is to assert and promote Russia’s interests in keeping with its Constitution as well as the objectives defined by President Vladimir Putin. This goes beyond Ukraine and applies to Russia’s Foreign Policy Concept in general.

#USA

• Washington can’t allow Russia to prove that it is a strong player and undermine the West’s reputation. They don’t care about Ukraine. They only care about their reputation. They decided that Ukraine should have a government they like and didn’t expect anyone to protest. Russia? It’s a big country but it must be brought down a peg. That is what this is about rather than the future of the Ukrainian people. They don’t care about people.

• Sanctions have been imposed on over half of the world’s countries, even if they are not as drastic as those that have been adopted against Russia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran and Venezuela. The real reason behind the West’s current rage is that China is rapidly and confidently surging ahead of the United States.

• We can see through what the Americans want. Sitting somewhere overseas, they believe that they are beyond the reach, while leaving it to Europe to overcome the challenges they face in terms of encouraging and arming Ukraine to fight Russia, as well as footing the bill for the Middle East tragedy.

#Eurasia4You

• God gave us one continent, and we share it. This continent possesses immense and, in fact, the biggest natural resources, while several millennia-old civilisations inhabit it. Failing to benefit from these competitive advantages would be a mistake. This is what the idea of building a Greater Eurasian Partnership is all about, and the EAEU, SCO and ASEAN have already taken the first steps in this direction. We are establishing ties and promoting dialogue. If we succeed in fulfilling the plans we have, the Greater Eurasian Partnership will offer a solid foundation and serve as an economic and transport backbone for what President Vladimir Putin called a new Eurasian security architecture.

• There is a clear understanding that the Eurasian security architecture, just like the Greater Eurasian Partnership, must be open to all countries and continents, including Eurasia’s western part, even if so far the latter has been trying, as if by inertia, to ensure its interests within a Euro-Atlantic security concept instead of opting for the Eurasian framework, which would be natural and reasonable, considering the geography factor. This is their way of saying that they do not intend to do anything without the United States.

#BRICS

🌐 BRICS is about the new world order that is based on the main principle of the UN Charter – the sovereign equality of states.

• BRICS has no intention of dividing the world. It wants to bring together countries that desire closer relations so that they can live on the land they got from God and their ancestors just as they used to, as great civilisations.

#Africa

🌍 Decolonisation has taken place, in a broad sense. But being able to actually manage one’s freedom and resources is a different story. This is where neo-colonialism comes to the fore.

• The First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in Sochi, and the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg in 2023 clearly put into perspective the trends that could be called Africa’s second awakening.

🇺🇸🎙 US Media Personality and Political Commentator Jackson Hinkle - Exclusively for the Russian Embassy in South Africa

▫️ On the International Russophile Movement (MIR) Conference in Johannesburg (November 13, 2024):

My experience at the International Russophile Movement conference in Johannesburg was nothing short of inspiring. It was a gathering of people who share a commitment to traditional values and a vision for a multipolar future. #Africa, in particular, has a rich history of coexistence between Islam and Christianity - much like Russia - and this theme resonated throughout the event. We heard from a diverse range of speakers, not only from South Africa but across Africa, China, Russia, and the United States.

This year, I also had the opportunity to participate in the Second Congress of the International Russophile Movement in Moscow. It was, in my opinion, one of the best gatherings of minds from around the world I’ve ever witnessed. There are few, if any, events that bring together such a broad spectrum of cultures and ideas. The discussions and projects that came out of this event were world-changing, and I believe they will play a crucial role in shaping a true multipolar world. I left deeply impressed, having made valuable connections that I hope will last a lifetime.

▫️ On Visiting #Moscow This Year:

Simply put, there's no city like Moscow. Moscow feels like a city of giants, it has hundreds of years of history. What really stood out to me, though, was Moscow's living standards - it's clean, safe, and has exceptional infrastructure. These are things you can't find in any major American city. The subway system is incredible, so much so that I still use it today since I’m part-time living in Moscow. But it's funny to me when people, even Russians themselves, claim that only Moscow and St. Petersburg are nice cities in Russia. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been to cities like Nizhny Novgorod, Vladivostok, and Novosibirsk, and they are just as beautiful and unique.

▫️On Being Part of the #Russophile Movement:

I consider myself first and foremost an American patriot, but I suppose many of my values align with those of the Russophile movement. The Russian Orthodox Church, which I view as the foundation for much of Russia's cultural and ideological identity, resonates deeply with me.

While I’m not a Russian citizen and haven’t yet learned Russian, I do identify with the Russophile movement in many ways. It’s about shared values and a deep respect for Russian culture, which I’ve come to admire.

#TheyAboutUs