Russia To Launch Engineering Education and Training In Burkina Faso

Russia is to launch a pilot engineering education program in Burkina Faso by late 2025, Deputy Energy Minister Roman Marshavin announced on Thursday (October 30). He was speaking at the Russia-Africa Raw Materials Dialogue in St. Petersburg and said that the initiative is intended to build local technical capacity and support long-term energy sovereignty in the Sahel region.

Marshavin stated that “Energy justice implies not only the presence of infrastructure but also the training of highly qualified personnel capable of independently using and improving modern technologies. Russian and African countries have significant resource potential. Russian companies possess the technological capabilities needed to meet Africa’s growing industrial and energy demands. There is strong interest about this program amongst other African partners.”

The project, which will begin in Burkina Faso and later expand to other Sahel nations, aims to develop local expertise in the nuclear, oil and gas, and mining industries.

At the same forum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov highlighted the importance of Russia–Africa cooperation in the mineral sector. Lavrov said, “The recommendations developed here will make a valuable contribution to the agenda of the second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, scheduled for November this year in Cairo.”

Hosted by St. Petersburg Mining University under UNESCO auspices, the Russia–Africa Raw Materials Dialogue ran from October 29 to November 1, and brought together delegations from more than 30 African nations—including eight ministers—alongside Russian officials, scientists, and industry leaders.

Earlier this month, Tatyana Dovgalenko, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Africa Partnership Department, stated that Moscow aims to help Africa become “a distinctive and influential center of global development,” adding that this requires energy sovereignty. “It is not only and not so much about the enormous natural resources that are the key to the economic sovereignty of African countries, but rather about the enormous human capital. With a population of 1.5 billion, Africa is roughly on par with China and India, with half of Africans under the age of 20. This enormous demographic potential will change the world,” Dovgalenko noted.