E. V. KHARITONOVA

Candidate of Psychological Sciences

S. M. TISHCHENKO

D. A. ZELENOVA

The first African visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took place in 2009. The Head of our state visited Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola. This visit outlined Russia's interest in resuming relations with African countries after a "period of silence", as well as the main areas of possible economic relations.

The visit of South African President Jacob Zuma to Moscow in the summer of 2010 confirmed the seriousness of intentions on the African side as well.

Within the framework of this visit (August 4-6), two main events were held: negotiations between the Presidents of Russia and South Africa and the signing of intergovernmental agreements and the Russian-South African Business Forum.

The meeting of the presidents took place in the Kremlin. This was the first meeting between Medvedev and Zuma, which, in their opinion, was extremely successful. Medvedev stressed that the heads of Russia and South Africa should meet more often: "Bilateral contacts should be more active, and working meetings between the presidents are very important." At the same time, he noted that Moscow and Pretoria have almost "identical approaches to key problems of international life... Russia and South Africa are firm supporters of forming a new, more just world order, creating an effective global security architecture based on the rule of international law, respect for sovereignty, and taking into account the values and interests of all countries."¹

The President of South Africa said :" We consider Russia as a strategic partner, which will increase opportunities for the development of our economy. Russia will also have the opportunity to diversify its own foreign economic activities"². "Cooperation programs are already being prepared in the mining and energy fields, as well as in the field of subsurface use," Zuma said. "The successful visit to Russia marked a breakthrough in political, trade and economic relations between our countries."³. Following the talks between the two presidents in the Kremlin, Techsnabexport and ESCOM Holdings Ltd signed a contract for the supply of enriched uranium products from South Africa. The project is designed for 10 years, deliveries will begin in 2011. After that, by 2018, Russia can take 45% of the South African market for low-enriched uranium.

The Russian-South African Business Forum was organized by the Embassy of South Africa in Russia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russia-South Africa and South Africa-Russia Business Councils and was held on August 5-6 at the President Hotel in Moscow. The Russian delegation was headed by the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Yu. P. Trutnev, and the South African delegation was headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry R. Davis.

The forum was attended by more than 200 people - representatives of Russian and South African government agencies, foundations, trade unions, managers and top managers of large Russian and South African companies. In addition to the traditional "players" in the African market-Gazprom International, Norni-

The article was prepared with the assistance of the Russian State Scientific Foundation, project N 09 - 03 - 00674 a / R.

kel, Renova Group of Companies, and Russia were represented at the forum by such large corporations and companies as VTB Bank, Rostselmash Combine Plant, KAMAZ Foreign Trade Company, INTER RAO UES, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine, Baikal Mining Company, IMEI State Institution of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and Trade Center of the Russian Federation. TMK House, Factor Group of Companies, ROSZHELDORPROEKT, SPC Geoneftegaz, Tyazhpromexport, United Aircraft Corporation, Power Machines, TransTeleCom-that is, financial, manufacturing, and trade organizations at the federal and regional levels.

Among the forum participants are non-profit and scientific organizations: International Union METALLURGMASH, Russian Grain Union, Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc.

The Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa Rob Davis drew attention to the fact that the volume of trade between the Russian Federation and South Africa increased by 60% per year in the period 2005-2009, but the trade turnover is only $550 million (of which two-thirds are Russian exports to South Africa and one - third are imports to Russia).*. He noted that today there are a number of joint Russian-South African enterprises, mainly in the field of metal extraction and extraction (Renova Group and Norilsk Nickel are the largest partners, and EvrazGroup), and some South African corporations invest in Russia (among them such large engineering companies as like Bateman Group, Shaft Sinkers and SUB-Miller-beer production).

President of the Union of Entrepreneurs of South Africa Futi Mtoba introduced the audience to the economic potential of South Africa, its rich natural and human resources, in order to attract potential investors from Russia. It should be particularly noted that F. Mtoba was the only one who focused on the need for scientific and cultural exchange between Russia and South Africa as a condition for effective communication and mutual understanding between our countries. She considers the revival and strengthening of the tradition of student exchange to be an important factor in creating a single intellectual space and forming a loyal elite towards each other.

The key topics of the forum were mining, electric power, and high-tech scientific developments. Sections on cooperation in the mining industry, energy, finance and infrastructure, information and communication technologies, and the aerospace industry were held. Russia and South Africa are already successfully cooperating in the field of space technologies - for example, a project to create a remote sensing system for the Earth has been implemented since 2008. In general, the focus of this forum was clearly shifted from exclusively raw material areas of possible cooperation between Russia and South Africa to high-tech and knowledge-intensive areas of activity.

It should be emphasized that Zuma's visit took place as part of his tour of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). This suggests that the South African government has a well-balanced strategy, which has recently taken a course towards economic cooperation with these countries. In one of his speeches, J. Zuma noted that it is possible that in the near future another one will be added to the four letters of this abbreviation. According to the president, South Africa is not just an economic partner of Brazil, India, Russia and China, but also together with these countries forms what Zuma called the "new world".

Speaking at the forum, South Africa's Minister of Industry and Trade Rob Davis noted that deepening economic relations with the BRIC countries is a priority for South Africa. "We keep knocking on this door. The Republic of South Africa, as the main economic partner on the African continent for the BRIC countries, has great potential, and we are engaged in deepening our relations in this direction. This year, our President led a government visit to all four BRIC countries. Russia is the third destination of this visit, which will end with a visit to China. And I must say that among these four countries, contacts with Russia are the least developed. " ⁴

This sad, though realistic, observation is also confirmed by our observations at the last business forum. And, unfortunately, it is the Russian side that is "to blame" for this state of affairs. Against the background of the agreements reached and the clear mutual interest, the transition of our countries to concrete actions is extremely slow.

Russia's information strategy for Africa leaves much to be desired. Russian broadcasting in Africa is limited to the operation of the Russia Today channel, and special equipment must be installed to receive this channel. (And China "hung up" a satellite over Africa, which constantly broadcasts programs.

* For comparison, the trade turnover between South Africa and China was about $17.8 billion at the beginning of 2009. (author's note).

and cultural plan, forming the image of China as an ideal strategic partner for Africa. There is a large presence of American and European programs on the main TV channels of South Africa).

Particularly noteworthy are the blatant informational "punctures" that Russian TV made during the visit of the President of South Africa. So, during the day, on all central channels, after 2-3 news reports about the visit of J. R. R. Tolkien. Zooms to Russia showed a story about top model Naomi Campbell, her relationship with the dictator of Liberia. Taylor (and the correspondent emphasized that he was a "cannibal") and about the diamonds given to her by this dictator. The screen showed the terrifying figure of a heavily armed man in a military uniform. Whether it was a coincidence, a mistake, a desire to "strengthen the topic" or an outright provocation-one can only guess. But this did not go unnoticed by the South African side, as we were later told during our September expedition to South Africa.

In other words, in order to really build a competent and effective cooperation strategy, we need to change a lot in our attitude to Africa, in our own behavior, attitudes and perceptions. In particular, we need a competent approach to shaping the image of Russia in Africa and the image of Africa in Russia at all levels-from official state policy and media activities to the behavior of specific people in specific situations of Russian-African business relations.

The theme of change was the leitmotif of the South African President's speech at the business forum and expressed his vision of the current geopolitical situation. Zuma has repeatedly stressed that " our countries belong to a new world." At the same time, around Zuma's visit, we heard different opinions, the essence of which boiled down to the fact that for South Africa it is an important task to maintain economic and financial independence from foreign capital. In this regard, the business and political circles of South Africa consider Russia as a promising strategic partner that can play a role in establishing the balance of power and in protecting South Africa from a new round of economic colonialism in one form or another. This approach gives us a potential opportunity for effective cooperation with South Africa.

It is important to note that the theme of Russia as a strategic partner of South Africa was mentioned not only in the speeches of government officials, but also was identified by us in a study conducted in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe among entrepreneurs, students and officials (which we will discuss in a separate publication).

Africa needs not only and not so much a "donor and sponsor", but a long-term reliable strategic partner. But is Russia capable of fulfilling this role?

Economic competition and the struggle for influence in all areas of business in South Africa is extremely fierce. Speaking in the language of modern geopolitics, South Africa is currently not only a player on the "grand chessboard", but also the" territory " on the field of which a serious battle for resources is unfolding. All this is superimposed on the difficult economic situation in our country and the lack of a clear, well-thought-out state strategy of Russia in Africa.

As J. Zuma said, " we all live in a big changing world." The subtext is obvious: we were clearly given to understand that Russia is not the USSR, and it is impossible to build relations with Africa solely on the basis of "past merits". At the same time, Zuma stressed that South Africa remembers and appreciates the help of the USSR in liberating the peoples of Africa from colonialism. At the same time, it is obvious that Russia is not interested and is not capable of being the "Big Brother", the sponsor, which provides free material and financial assistance to its African partners and writes off large debts.

Russia needs to define a formula for modern mutually beneficial cooperation with African countries. As practice has shown, without state support and a state strategy, as well as without relying on scientific knowledge about the specifics of the history, culture and mentality of our African partners, the activities of Russian business in Africa will remain chaotic, ill-conceived and ineffective, creating an unfavorable image of Russia in African countries.

¹ President of South Africa at the Kremlin Wall / BBC. Русская служба, 6.09.2010 -www.bbc.co.uk/russian/multimedia/2010/08/100806_v_zuma_in_moscow.shtml

² From President Zuma's speech at the business forum.

³ Successful visit to Russia marked a breakthrough in trade and economic relations between Russia and South Africa - President of South Africa / PRIME-TASS. Economic Information Agency, 6.08.2010 - http://www.pnme-tass.ru/news/0/%7BD89A8303 - 2D6E-41AB-A242-702DF7E351C6%7D. uif

⁴ "All the time we are knocking on this door" / Business newspaper "Vzglyad", 6.08.2010 www.vz.ru/economy/2010/8/6/423593.html

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