logo
Russia connects 20 state universities with Guinea in bid to deepen educational ties

Russia connects 20 state universities with Guinea in bid to deepen educational ties

Business Insider5 hours ago

Guinea and Russia are advancing plans to strengthen academic cooperation by linking Guinean universities to a consortium of about 20 Russian institutions, to train students in specialized high-tech fields critical to Guinea's economic development.
Guinea and Russia are advancing plans for inter-university collaboration between about 20 Russian institutions and Guinean universities.
The partnership aims to train Guinean students in specialized high-tech fields critical to economic development.
Priority fields for training include agriculture, trade, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, and public services.
Kabèlè Soumah, Secretary General of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Guinea, disclosed the update during talks with representatives from Russia's State Duma.
He noted that the discussions are already well advanced and build on earlier engagements between Russian and Guinean officials at a previous edition of the same dialogue.
According to Soumah, the central idea is to facilitate cooperation between Guinean universities and a group of approximately twenty Russian universities.
This collaboration will focus on training Guinean students in cutting-edge specializations aligned with the country's national priorities.
Talks are expected to continue in the coming weeks and will be supported by the scheduled opening of the Russian House in Conakry this July. Soumah emphasized that the launch of the Russian House presents a timely opportunity to move forward in concrete terms with the academic partnership.
' This is a step forward in this direction, ' he said, referring to the inter-university cooperation.
Targeted training for Guinean students
Speaking, Kabèlè Soumah, Secretary General of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Guinea explained that the agreement would allow Guinean students to participate in joint-degree programs, both in Guinea and at the targeted Russian institutions.
These programs will be specifically tailored to focus on sectors that are vital to Guinea's economic growth.
The priority fields identified include agriculture, agro-industry, trade, infrastructure, energy, public services, healthcare, and the general well-being of the population.
Soumah stressed the importance of aligning academic training with the country's strategic needs. ' We should take advantage of this opening ceremony, move forward concretely,' he stated, urging action that turns the current dialogue into results.
The collaboration reflects broader educational diplomacy between Russia and African countries and is positioned to enhance capacity-building in Guinea through targeted international partnerships.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Future of U.S.-Africa trade under review as AGOA takes spotlight at Angola summit
Future of U.S.-Africa trade under review as AGOA takes spotlight at Angola summit

Business Insider

time30 minutes ago

  • Business Insider

Future of U.S.-Africa trade under review as AGOA takes spotlight at Angola summit

The U.S.-Africa business summit, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), brings together African heads of state, senior U.S. government representatives, business executives, and development partners. This year's summit comes at a significant moment, as African nations seek to revive their trade relations with the United States following years of uncertainty. Key on the agenda are the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is due to expire in 2025, and the push for increased U.S. investment across critical sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and finance. Several African leaders are using the platform to press for more equitable trade terms and long-term commitments from Washington. Angola, which currently chairs the African Union, is leveraging the summit to spotlight its ongoing economic reforms and infrastructure ambitions. In particular, the country is promoting projects like the Lobito Corridor, a strategic rail and logistics route linking Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia as a model for regional integration and cross-border trade development. The corridor is also part of broader efforts to position Angola as a key logistics and investment hub in Southern Africa. The summit builds on recent high-level engagements between both parties. In December 2024, President Joe Biden visited Angola, becoming the first sitting U.S. President to do so. During that visit, discussions centered around strengthening bilateral relations and boosting U.S. involvement in infrastructure and energy projects. Angola also recently signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States, further reinforcing its commitment to deepening economic ties. The Luanda summit comes as Angola celebrates 50 years of independence, a milestone that adds symbolic weight to its efforts to lead economic diplomacy across the continent. While official outcomes from the summit are yet to be fully announced, delegates are hopeful that the event will foster new partnerships, agreements, and investment opportunities. Summit supports Africa's call for long-term trade with the U.S. Beyond bilateral ties, the summit underscores a wider competition for influence on the continent. As China, Russia, and the European Union continue to increase their trade and infrastructure investments across Africa, pressure is mounting on the United States to show stronger and more consistent engagement. For many African leaders, the U.S. must move beyond symbolic gestures and provide sustained economic support backed by predictable policies. The uncertainty surrounding AGOA's expiration in 2025 has amplified those concerns. While the Trade Act has allowed duty-free access for African exports for over two decades, its renewal remains undecided. Several leaders have used the Luanda Trade Act to call for a clearer and more permanent U.S.–Africa trade strategy. Without it, many fear African nations could increasingly turn to alternative partners offering more immediate and less conditional support. For Washington, the message from Luanda is clear: the continent is open for business, but the window for leadership is narrowing.

What Conflict in the Middle East Means for Climate Change
What Conflict in the Middle East Means for Climate Change

Time​ Magazine

time33 minutes ago

  • Time​ Magazine

What Conflict in the Middle East Means for Climate Change

The consequences of the increasingly urgent hostilities between Israel and Iran are multifold—humanitarian, geopolitical, and so on. If the situation deepens, it could also have important implications for energy markets and, by extension, climate change and the energy transition. Central to that picture are oil prices. In the past month, oil prices have risen nearly 25% as hostilities have deepened. On its own, Iran is a significant supplier of oil to global markets, producing roughly 4 million barrels of oil daily, and traders fear that its supply could be cut off. A bigger conflagration could mean significantly higher prices with fears about supply issues across the region, especially as traveling through the Strait of Hormuz grows trickier. Governments play a key role shaping everything related to the production and consumption of energy, but nonetheless energy is not divorced from market fundamentals broadly and, specifically, the effect of prices. And perhaps no price is more closely tracked in energy markets than the price of a barrel of crude. But how a high-price environment for oil would shake out is complicated—with some clear pluses for decarbonization efforts as well as some big challenges. On the one hand, high oil prices incentivize investment in alternatives, in this case electrification. Consumers may take a closer look at electric vehicles to save at the pump. Or they may just buy smaller, more fuel efficient cars, a climate win. Meanwhile, companies may take another look at the numbers for ditching diesel in heavy industry. On the other hand, high oil prices incentivize fossil fuel companies to drill more to try to take advantage of high prices. Projects that looked too expensive when prices were low start to take on a new sheen when they're on the rise. None of these factors are likely to play out in a straightforward fashion—and we don't have to look too far back for a similar analogue. In 2022, oil prices rose dramatically following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, quickly shifting the conversation around clean energy. Clean energy advocates responded vociferously that renewables could provide stability as Europe tried to wean itself off of Russian energy. In the U.S., they argued, renewables would contribute to energy security. These arguments helped advance clean energy—even if they weren't decisive. The RePowerEU initiative, launched in the wake of the invasion, helped accelerate the expansion of wind and solar power in the bloc. And energy security was among the arguments that helped get the Inflation Reduction Act across the finish line. At the same time, oil companies largely avoided bringing new oil production online. It was hard to predict how long the high price environment would be sustained. Moreover, executives concluded that they could easily reap the financial benefits of higher prices and resulting higher profitability without taking on the risk of big new investments. This time around we can certainly expect Trump to double down on his pressure on the industry to drill more to keep prices down (Biden did this, too). But up to this point the industry has largely rebuffed these entreaties. So how should companies understand the oil price dynamic? For one, it's helpful to keep an eye on the long-term trajectory. In its annual oil market report released this week, the International Energy Agency found the market to be well supplied in the medium term even as demand continues to grow because of planned increases in output from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Guyana, and Argentina But for companies the volatility is also a reminder of some of the greatest strengths of renewable energy: it's local and not prone to geopolitical disruption. And, while production may vary day-to-day as the winds blow, prices can be set for decades—immune from the whipsaws of global commodity prices. To get this story in your inbox, subscribe to the TIME CO2 Leadership Report newsletter here.

Leavitt: Trump to decide on Iran action in next 2 weeks
Leavitt: Trump to decide on Iran action in next 2 weeks

Yahoo

time40 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Leavitt: Trump to decide on Iran action in next 2 weeks

President Trump is expected to make a decision about whether to take direct action against Iran in the next two weeks, he said Thursday in a message delivered through his spokesperson. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing that she had a message directly from Trump in response to speculation about whether he would get directly involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks,' Trump said in a statement read aloud by Leavitt. Leavitt said correspondence between the U.S. and Iran 'has continued' as the two sides engage in negotiations, though she would not provide specifics about whether they were direct or through intermediaries. Iran must agree to no enrichment of uranium, and Tehran must not be able to achieve a nuclear weapon as part of any diplomatic agreement, Leavitt said. Trump was noncommittal Wednesday morning about a potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities: He dodged a question about whether he's moving closer to ordering a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. 'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Trump told reporters. 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble. And they want to negotiate. And I say, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction?'' The president has met each day since Tuesday with his national security team in the Situation Room. Trump has throughout his political career repeatedly fallen back on a two-week timeline to decide on policy decisions, including in recent weeks when he said he would know in roughly two weeks whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was interested in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. Asked if he would stick to his two-week timeline in the case of Iran, Leavitt did not directly answer but described the situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine as 'two very different, complicated global conflicts.' Some of Trump's allies, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), have cautioned against engaging in a war with Iran, arguing it would contradict his campaign rhetoric not to get the U.S. involved in foreign wars. Others, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have pushed for more aggressive action against Iran, insisting Tehran poses a grave security threat. 'The president hears all voices across the country, and he makes decisions based on his instincts. And he has always said diplomacy is his first option,' Leavitt said Thursday. Updated at 2:07 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store