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Сингува Чимука
Аспирант. Ассистент кафедры иностранных языков, Российского университета дружбы народов.
Сингува Госпел
Студент. Российский университет дружбы народов имени Патриса Лумумбы.
Сичиломбе Ванкумбу
Студент. Российский университет дружбы народов имени Патриса Лумумбы.
Россия — Замбия: старые друзья и перспективные партнеры
Singuwa Chimuka
Graduate Student. Assistant at the Department of Foreign Languages, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
Singuwa Gospel
2nd year student. Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
Sichilombe Wankumbu
4th year student. Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
Russia — Zambia: old friends and promising partners
Introduction
For the West, Russia's entry into the African region is not just a competitor but a threat to liberate Africa from neo-colonialism. This is why the collective West reacts so jealously and painfully to Russia's return to the African continent. Russia goes to Africa with a positive agenda for the comprehensive and long-term development of fair, equal, and mutually beneficial relations, starkly contrasting the parasitic model of the US and its allies.
Warm and friendly relations have been established between Russia and Zambia. While still part of the USSR, Russia was the first country to officially recognize the independence of Zambia by exchanging diplomatic notes in October 1964. This gesture began dynamically developing fruitful relations
■ between our countries based on mutual trust, respect, and understanding.
Russia deploys a narrative about the Soviet Union's important role in the anti-colonial movement and its close connections with African states. Zambia was an essential partner of the Soviet Union from 1960-1980. The Soviet Union provided financial resources and academic scholarships to socialist countries and low-income economies in return for their political support on geopolitical issues. While it focused more on military cooperation than economic aid, some academic and cultural connections remain.
Cooperation between the Russian Federation and Zambia in various spheres
In 1967, Russia (the Soviet Union) and Zambia signed an agreement on cooperation in various fields, which included education, science, and the development of a technological base. Since then, the collaboration between the two countries has been growing stronger daily.
Diplomatic relations
Diplomatic relations between Russia (and at that time, it was still the Soviet Union) and Zambia were established on October 30, 1964, following the declaration of independence of the Republic of Zambia on October 24, 1964. The most intensive and diverse development of bilateral ties was noted in the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s. However, big internal political changes in Zambia, which coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union, led to a reduction in cooperation in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, a gradual intensification of the multifaceted Russian-Zambian cooperation began to manifest. On December 31, 1991, Zambia recognized the Russian Federation as the Successor State of the Soviet Union after the last dissolution.
The push for the development of the traditionally friendly political dialogue was given by the exchange of messages initiated by the Russian side in August 2012 between the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the President of the Republic of Zambia, Micheal Sata. The Heads of State expressed their mutual intention to increase bilateral cooperation, emphasizing its economic component.
Consultations are regularly held on topical international and regional problems at the level of foreign ministries. For example, on September 25, 2014, on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, Sergey Lavrov held talks with the heads of foreign ministries of the member countries of the Southern African Development Community, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zambia, Harry Kalaba . On April 17, 2015, as part of Kalaba's working visit to Moscow, he held talks with Sergey Lavrov. On February 20, 2019, the Russian minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov,
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hosted a Zambian delegation by then Zambia's minister of foreign affairs, Joseph Milanji. They discussed bilateral cooperation in the areas of agriculture, construction, the supply of machinery and equipment, the nuclear program, visa-free entry, and collaboration in the UN system. In the last decade, there have been talks of foreign ministers and top-level negotiations at the meetings of Russian President V.V. Putin and Zambian President Edgar Lungu at the 10th BRICS Summit (Johannesburg, South Africa, July 2018). As a result of closer political engagements, the Russian ambassador to Zambia described Zambia as a reliable partner and friend Russia can count on in the increasingly complex world of geopolitical controversies and intricate diplomacy.
Inter-parliamentary cooperation
Interparliamentary contacts between Russia and Zambia have been maintained. Connections between Russia's Federal Assembly and the parliament of the republic of Zambia have continued from the Soviet era to modern Russia.
Delegations of the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation visited Lusaka three times. In 2008, deputies of the National Assembly of Zambia headed by Deputy Speaker Mutale Nalumango came to Moscow. In 2010, Zambian parliamentarians participated in the International Public Forum "The Role of People's Diplomacy in the Development of International Humanitarian Cooperation" in Moscow. In April 2018, the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matvienko, met with the Chairman of the National Assembly of Zambia, Patrick Matibini, in Moscow.
Russia is also promoting inter-party cooperation. In 2020, the ruling United Russia party signed a memorandum of association with Zambia's former ruling Patriotic Front to enhance the political alliance between the two countries. These connections between parliamentarians are crucial in developing a legislative base for international cooperation. These connections between parliamentarians are significant in creating a legislative base for international cooperation.
Economic relations
Bilateral agreements regulate the economic relations between the Russian Federation and Zambia, and the trade agreement was signed by the Governments of the USSR and Zambia in Lusaka on December 17, 1971. In 2008, bilateral trade between Russia and Zambia increased compared to the level in 2007, from 11.4 million US dollars to 17 million US dollars. Russian imports from Zambia mainly tobacco and other agricultural products, while Russian exports to Zambia primarily agrarian machinery,
motorcycles, and materials for Zambia's nuclear program.
Russia is an important strategic partner of Zambia. The current trade and economic cooperation level has significant potential for developing business and investment collaboration. Since the beginning of the 2010s, bilateral trade has shown a particular dynamic, although the prevalence of political contacts characterizes the second stage of cooperation between our countries.
Zambia has extensive mineral resource reserves, while Russia has a compelling geological exploration school and science and professional personnel; this is one of the significant reasons the two countries have been boosting economic relations. Therefore, cooperation in exploring mineral resources is mutually beneficial between the two countries.
Russia has made several attempts to enter the Zambian market, but most have been unsuccessful. Russian companies' key challenges in Africa are bureaucracy, funding, and language barriers. As a result, only some Russian companies are doing business or are strongly present in Zambia. For example, only two fertilizer companies UralChem and Uralkali, fully function in Zambia.
Fertilizers are a critical Zambian import from Russia. There was an attempt to establish Russian fertilizer production in Zambia as early as 2011 when the Russian company Agribiotech International Limited signed an investment promotion and protection agreement to develop a fertilizer manufacturing plant in Kapiri Mposhi. The deal, with a total value of $28 million, was expected to create 3 000 jobs but has yet to materialize. However, since 2018, Uralkali and Uralchem have entered the Zambian fertilizer market. Uralchem, a 20% shareholder in Uralkali, is one of Russia's largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and one of the top three global producers of ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer. It manufactures all its products in Russia's Perm Territory and delivers to two African distribution centers - one in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the other in Ebene, Mauritius. Dmitri Mazepin, the head of the Uralchem group, has prioritized African countries, specifically countries along the Beira Transport Corridor (Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia) and the Mombasa Corridor (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi). He visited Zambia and Zimbabwe in February 2018.190Uralchem signed a contract with the government of Zambia in 2019 to supply 200 000 tonnes of fertilizer - 150 000 tonnes of carbamide and 50 000 tonnes of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), or NPK for short - funded by Afreximbank. In 2020 Uralchem was named a regular supplier. According to Mazepin, the main challenges of working in Africa are:
- financial bottlenecks or deficits at state-owned companies, affecting their ability to pay; and
- logistics (Zambia does not have a seaport).
Russia's political leadership understands and considers that many African development problems must be tackled in the context of a low standard of living. The cancellation by Russia in 2001 of more than 80% of the Zambian debt created additional conditions for developing business relations between our countries. The interest in Russian business in the Zambian market has increased. Nevertheless, the trade turnover between the Russian Federation and Zambia still has a low and unstable volume; mutual deliveries are still fragmentary.
Military relations
The military cooperation between Zambia and the USSR began to develop in the 1970s. Between 1979 and 1983, the Soviet Union exported military equipment worth 180 million US dollars to Zambia, which accounted for seventy percent of Zambia's arms imports. The military equipment Zambia imported from the USSR included MiG-21 fighter jets, tanks, armored vehicles, S125 surface-to-air missiles, and radar equipment. The Soviets had about 500 military personnel based in Zambia to train Zambian Defense Forces personnel in the use and maintenance of equipment.
While Zambia faces no external military challenges, the critical challenges for Zambia's armed forces are limited funding and maintaining aging weapons systems, many of which date back to the 1960-80 era of cooperation with the Soviet Union. In addition, Zambia does not have a defense industry apart from small arms ammunition manufacturing. The country's defense budget is small, so Zambian politicians regularly express little interest in buying military equipment from Russia or other countries.
As of July 2022, only one arms transaction has been recorded between Zambia and Russia- the sale of two Russian military MI-17helicopters, totaling $ 14 million. The contract was signed in April 2014, and the helicopters were delivered in 2015. This was a leading indicator of the re-establishment of military cooperation between the Russian Federation and Zambia.
Nuclear Science and Technology Center in Zambia
African countries' nuclear ambitions have opened the door to Russia's continued involvement on the continent. It is a point of pride for President Putin that Russia is a global leader in nuclear technology. Nuclear cooperation is one of Russia's strengths in Zambia. In May 2018, Rosatom and Zambia signed a contract to build a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology. This is the first joint project of Russia and Zambia in the field of nuclear technologies.
The government of the republic of Zambia praised the creation of a nuclear science and technology center in the country and considered the
construction of the atomic center as the first step in the development of the peaceful use of the atom and plans to consider the construction of a nuclear power plant in the future. This will qualitatively change the economy of Zambia. Zambia will not only be able to meet its electricity needs fully but also export it to other countries.
Zambia has the potential to mine uranium and has been issuing licenses for uranium mining since 2009. The Russian Federation is willing to provide technical support to the Zambian government with uranium mining. However, global uranium prices remain relatively low, making uranium mining unprofitable.
Several agreements form part of the nuclear cooperation between Rosatom and Zambia:
- Intergovernmental Agreement on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (May 2016);
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rosatom (December 2016), signed in
- Lusaka - a non-binding agreement that sets out a 15-year nuclear cooperation plan to construct a nuclear power plant.
- Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in Building a Nuclear Science and Technology Centre on Zambian Territory (February 2017) provides a 10MW multipurpose nuclear research water-cooled reactor.
- General engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with the Ministry of Higher Education of Zambia (May 2018) - the critical agreement signed during
- AtomExpo-2018 expands on details of the construction of the CNST 10km outside Lusaka; and
- MoUs on nuclear training specialists and promoting atomic technology to the general public via the Ministry of Information
The future Center will create new opportunities for agriculture, medicine, and industry through the widespread use of radiation technologies. The Center will also contribute to developing national education and science by training highly qualified specialists in various fields. The creation of the nuclear science and technology center is the foundation of Zambia's scientific, economic, and technological growth. Such facilities have been helping more than 50 countries worldwide for over 60 years. Currently, 245 research reactors operate worldwide, of which 58 are operated in the Russian Federation.
Furthermore, Rosatom allocated 30 Russian state scholarships to train future specialists of the Center for nuclear science and technology, a new level of cooperation in high tech. Russia aims to use nuclear technology for economic and geopolitical gain, and of all the Russian state enterprises, Rosatom has the most robust representation in Zambia. The Republic of
Zambia signed agreements with Rosatom to create a nuclear center in Zambia; however, the prospects of the nuclear program could be more apparent due to a lack of financing and the need for long-term political support.
Cultural relations between Russia and Zambia
There are only five Russian cultural centers on the entire African continent, and the Republic of Zambia is proud that the Russian center of science and culture is in Zambia. On August 25, 1966, the Soviet Union and the newly established Republic of Zambia signed an agreement on cultural cooperation. The agreement on cultural cooperation signed in the 1960s still exists between Zambia and the modern Russian Federation. In 1989, the Russian Center of Science and Culture was opened in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. As a result, many young Zambian youths came to study the Russian language and culture. This was one of the indicators of the friendship between the Russian Federation and Zambia. As of 2013, about 1,450 Zam-bians were registered and studying in Russia, making Zambia the largest recipient of scholarships from the Russian government in sub-Saharan Africa.
Russia traditionally helps Zambia in training national personnel. Every year the Russian federation provides the government of the republic of Zambia with 150 Russian state scholarships. In 2018, more than 650 Zambians studied in the Russian Federation on a budgetary and contractual basis. In addition, one hundred twenty-eight state scholarships were provided for nuclear training specialists, which would help create a new branch of the Zambian economy.
Conclusion
Relations between Russia and Zambia date back to the last century, and these relations have been and continue to be friendly. Russia played a significant role in Zambia's independence and liberation from colonialism. It is gratifying that Zambia has remembered it. In the last decade, Russia has been actively returning to the African continent, returning as a friend to develop mutually beneficial cooperation and not to exploit African countries for its purposes, as many other states do. However, the world and Africa have changed, and so has Zambia. Today, Zambia is a dynamically developing country. And for Russia today, there are many opportunities to build broad and diversified cooperation with Zambia in the economic, political, scientific, cultural, and humanitarian spheres.
Despite its active political involvement on the African continent over the past few years, Russia's economic and military cooperation with Zambia remains far behind that of the dominant players such as China, the USA, the EU, and the UK. The main advantages of Russia over other ac-
tors in the new «battle for Africa» include the historical ties of the African elites with their alma maters in the former USSR (many leaders and members of the governments of African states studied at Soviet institutes and universities), memories of the struggle for the freedom of Africa (Russia has always been famous in Africa as the main fighter against Western colonialism), and the economic offerings of the Soviet era (factories, dams, hospitals, supplies of tractors, cars, and weapons). However, all these cards are a matter of the past. At the same time, it has been difficult for Russia to offer Africa anything of value that could compete with large-scale Western investment or Chinese infrastructure projects (still recently).
With the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit planned for July of 2023 in Russia's second-largest city of Saint Petersburg, Russia hopes that the political dialogue and strong cultural and social relations can compensate for its stagnant economy, lack of financing mechanisms, and the restrictions posed by western sanctions because Russia invaded Ukraine. However, they succeed in Zambia's need to move beyond the multiple memorandums of understanding, develop new ways of funding projects, and make its concrete proposals less geopolitics-heavy and more economically transparent.
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