MOSCOW, Apr 21 Africa, the Russian Federation need to increase its presence on the continent, diplomatic and not only, said Ivan Loshkarev, researcher at the Institute of International Studies, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO.
«Obviously, Russia does not have as many resources for African policy as, for example, China, and we cannot compete in terms of resources either with China, or with the United States, or with Germany. Our task for the year, two is to understand how to harness limited resources with quite serious ambitions. You can't jump above your head, but it's worth trying,» Loshkarev said at a round table in the Russia Today media group.
He added that Russia's difficulties in interacting with the continent also lie in the fact that the country, in his opinion, does not have a long-term strategy for working with the continent. Not enough, the expert added, and the presence of the Russian Federation on the continent.
“Obviously, we do not have enough of our presence on the continent, not only diplomatic, as trade missions, Russian houses that would promote the Russian language and culture,” Loshkarev concluded.
The expert in his speech added that the experience of translating Russian literature into Amharic (the official language in Ethiopia) was successful — according to him, this is a good example of soft power.