A delegation from North-Eastern Federal University visited the Republic of Cameroon within the framework of the cooperation program with African countries. The university began to develop cooperation with educational organizations in Cameroon, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Angola.

According to Izabella Borisova, director of the Center for Cooperation with Francophone Countries, coordinator of cooperation with African countries at NEFU IRO, the university will occupy a unique niche within the framework of the activities of the Russian-African Network University, of which NEFU became a member in early 2022.

“One of the areas of interest for African countries may be the problem of subsoil use, in particular, various aspects of the diamond mining industry. NEFU will develop cooperation with the universities of Cameroon, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Angola. These countries are promising in terms of development of large diamond deposits and related cooperation programs that can bring economic benefits to both Russian and African partners. NEFU also holds an Olympiad among students from Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Angola for resident tuition in an additional semester professional university program on diamond cutting,” commented Izabella Borisova.

The University of Douala (Cameroon) also hosted a joint scientific conference of the University of Douala, NEFU and the University of Paris Saclay (France) on legal and economic regulation of the interests of the indigenous population, state and commercial structures in the subsoil exploitation. The main and important goal of the joint event was to create a permanent platform for international cooperation and to hold multilateral and multi-level negotiations on the creation of sustainable cooperation mechanisms. Thanks to the preparatory work of NEFU IRO, it was possible to establish a basis for further work during the delegation’s stay, says the director. In addition, NEFU delegation held a number of meetings to discuss potential cooperation.