New Agreements Between the CPD and Rossotrudnichestvo Will Support the Development of African Projects

Thus, five representations of the Center for Public Diplomacy that had already been actively operating in these countries received the status of partner Russian Houses. CPD Executive Director Natalia Krasovskaya emphasized that the new agreements with Rossotrudnichestvo are an important stage in the development of the Center’s African projects.

The ceremonial signing of the documents took place at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. As a result of the meeting, Russia will gain 8 new venues for humanitarian cooperation in African countries, 5 of them being partner Russian Houses of the Center for Public Diplomacy. Welcoming those gathered at the ceremony, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Igor Chaika, stated that the active expansion of the network of partner Russian Houses specifically on the African continent is natural, since this region is of strategic importance for Russia. The head of Rossotrudnichestvo подчеркнул that the goal of this expansion is not simply to “tick boxes” on the world map, but to multiply the number of Russia’s humanitarian, cultural, and educational initiatives abroad.

This large-scale expansion of Russia’s network of humanitarian representations in Africa was preceded by extensive work. Together with Rossotrudnichestvo, the Center for Public Diplomacy has already opened the doors of Russian Houses in Burkina Faso, Niger, Namibia, Libya, Guinea, and Ghana. Taking the new agreements into account, the overall African network under the CPD’s aegis now includes 11 partner Russian Houses and a full-fledged branch in Mozambique. And this is not the limit—next in line is the launch of the Center’s representations in Guinea-Bissau and Liberia, and preparatory work for this is already actively underway.