Tanzanian Ambassador to head the educational programme Academic Council at St Petersburg University

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, addressed the guests with a welcoming speech and emphasised the importance of strengthening academic ties with African countries. Last year St Petersburg University has signed a trilateral cooperation agreement with the Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania in the Russian Federation and Termex Corporation LLC. Under this agreement parties are promoting the Russian language and Russian education in Africa, as well as fostering public interest in Tanzanian history and culture in Russia.

During the meeting the two sides discussed progress reached since the previous visit of the Embassy delegation. Rector Nikolay Kropachev said that SPbU has actively developed programmes for teaching Swahili and conducted educational events for Tanzanian citizens in offline format. Over 80 school pupils, students and adults interested in one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa and Russian culture took part in open lectures, masterclasses and seminars arranged by St Petersburg University.

We regard the African continent as an important region for enhancing strategic cooperation. For instance, we held lectures and series of webinars "Understanding Russia", an exhibition commemorating Tanzania’s Independence Day.

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of SPbU

"Studying of Swahili is flourishing at the University. At the end of 2024 St Petersburg University launched 'Swahili for beginners' online courses which have attracted around 200 students so far," said Rector of SPbU. He also stressed the need to sign a direct agreement between St Petersburg University and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Tanzania Fredrick Ibrahim Kibuta mentioned that key cooperation issues were discussed as early as last year. "We see huge potential for development of cooperation between St Petersburg and Dar es Salaam (Republic of Tanzania), and highly appreciate your willingness to collaborate with Tanzanian universities including the University of Dar es Salaam, the Open University of Tanzania and the Institute of Financial Management, which has expressed readiness to sign an agreement." he said.

He also highlighted the activities of the SPbU Open Education Centre in Dar es Salaam which start working in July 2023 with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. In 2024, 340 students completed in-person training at the Centre across six courses in Russian as a foreign language. Moreover, St Petersburg University with support of the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office has conducted in-person professional development courses for African teachers of the Russian language in Tanzania, and several educational events attended by over 2,000 citizens of the Republic.

Since 2021, the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University has been strongly committed to popularising the Russian language in Africa. The University offers free of charge distance courses in the Russian language in Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria, Niger, and Tanzania. Additionally, with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, the Tanzanian non-profit organisation "Tanzania Save the Community Initiatives" (TASACI), together with St Petersburg University, was organised the Centre for Open Education and Russian Language Studies, designed to improve relations and communication between the peoples of friendly countries.

During the meeting parties also discussed other research and educational initiatives, including opening of a St Petersburg representative office in Tanzania at the premises country’s leading higher education institution, and creating of a joint educational programme. Nikolay Kropachev expressed willingness to send a letter to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of Tanzania to request consideration of cooperation development issues, as well as opening a representative office or branch of St Petersburg University. 

The Ambassador had approved the Rector’s proposal to participate in the work of the Academic Council of the educational programme for teaching and learning Swahili. According to Nikolay Kropachev, such an initiative is intended to strengthen the connection between the University and potential employers.

I am convinced that meeting other interested parties and business representatives will help to jointly define the goals and objectives of the Council, as well as to choose its members, to implement this initiative as efficiently as possible.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Republic of Tanzania to the Russian Federation and other CIS states Fredrick Ibrahim Kibuta

"I would be delighted to come back to St Petersburg for a detailed discussion once we have a clearer understanding of the areas of activity and the composition of the Council."

Further to the topic of intercultural cooperation, Rector of SPbU emphasised the importance of broadening educational horizons and noted that elements of Tanzanian culture should be integrated into the teaching of various disciplines, just as Chinese, Hungarian, or Turkish components have been added to the corresponding educational programmes.

The parties also discussed the possibility of working together on a joint research paper. Nikolay Kropachev asked Tanzanian Ambassador Fredrick Ibrahim Kibute to be a co-author of a research paper focusing on a comparative analysis of the educational systems of the Russian Federation and the United Republic of Tanzania. According to SPbU Rector, such scientific collaboration will help identify areas of common interest and stimulate further extension of educational cooperation between the two countries.

Following the meeting, it was decided to send official proposals for development of educational, scientific and international cooperation, as well as initiate contacts with the Ministry of Education of Tanzania.