Russia trained 70% of former French colony’s researchers – official

Guinea’s teaching and research sector is dominated by professionals who received their training from Russia, a senior official from the West African nation’s Ministry of Higher Education, Sekou Traore, told Sputnik in an interview published on Friday.

Traore lauded Russia’s long-standing ties with Guinea, including its contribution to the building of Gamal-Abdel-Nasser University in the capital, Conakry, which is the African state’s first and largest higher education institution.

Since opening in 1962, the university has not only helped to produce Guinean experts, but has also attracted students from several other African countries, according to Traore.

“Today, in the teaching and research system in Guinea, those who were trained in Russia represent around 70%,” he said on the sidelines of the ‘Russia-Africa Dialogue on Higher Education in a Changing World’ forum in Moscow.

He said Moscow continues to provide opportunities for Guinean teachers and students who “come to Russia, generally for engineering, natural sciences, medicine, and economics” studies. Aside from education, the official stated that Russia maintains agreements with Guinea in multiple sectors, such as health and mining.

Last year, Haba Niankoye, Conakry’s ambassador to Moscow, told RT that at least 500 students from the former French colony were pursuing various disciplines under Russian government scholarships.

He said Guinea intends to strengthen its diplomatic ties with Russia, describing existing links between the two nations as being at their “highest” in areas including culture and defense. As of May last year, around 400 trainees from the Guinean military were undertaking studies in Russia, according to statistics reported by Ambassador Niankoye.