last year iran's president ibrahim raisi visited three african countries, kenya, uganda, and z zimbabwe, during the historic visit, president raisi witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements in economic, scientific and educational sectors among others. immediate steps were taken implement these agreements and in this regard, iran has granted full scholarships to ugandan students to study in iranian universities. the students will study diverse disciplines such as engineering, computer science and business management. the islamic republic of iran seeks to transfer technology to africa and empower this continent that has

so for long suffered from exploitation by imperialist powers. now still on matters of technology transfer, africa, a continent abundant in minerals holds the key to the world's transition to a low carbon energy future. now exploiting critical green energy transition minerals comes with challenges and opportunities. the export of raw materials has left the continent poor. now countries are working on their mineral. value chain, technical know-how is critical if mineral value addition is to take root in africa, so what are african countries doing to build local capacity for mineral value addition? hello, i'm mubarak hania and this is africa today, this week we are focusing on iran's academic cooperation with uganda that has seen dozens of students from these east african country obtaining scholarships to study in iran. the second part of our show is on how african countries can take advantage

of the high demand for energy transition minerals available across the continent by me implementing value addition initiatives. you can be part of this conversation by sending us your comments through our social media handle. iran uganda academic cooperation. iran's president ibrahim raisi visited uganda last july as part of his three nation. africa tour. during the visit, president yovari musavini called upon iran to consider investing in uganda's oil and gas sector, specifically by providing assistance in the development of the country's oil refinery. president raisi responded to the request by the president of uganda saying iran is ready to transfer its know-how in the oil sector to uganda. now, as part of this transfer of technology program, iran has granted scholarships. toganan students to study in

iran. for more on these scholarship program, we have contacted his excellency majid safar, iran's ambassador to uganda. thanks, mr. ambassador for your time today. thank you so much, thank you for giving me this opportunity again to talk about the uh bilateral relation between iran and uganda, especially regarding education. now the islamic republic of iran has granted scholarships to ugandan students to study in iran as we've heard. now this is indeed a commendable step. now mr. ambassador, can you first of all elaborate on the number of students involved on the fields of study? yes please, you know, in this round of cooperation, educational cooperation, ahlul bait university of the islamic republic of iran granted something like 70 scholarships to ugandan students uh among the the subjects

that the these students are going to study in ahlalbad university, most of the subjects are you know engineering and that is very important and interesting, the courses are like construction engineering, megatronic engineering, computer engineering, which is which are very important for ugandan students. these days also we have some social sciences and something like international relation, political relation, laws in some subjects of the law, also women studies and and and management, commerce management that are very important for ugandan students these days and we know that the uganda students would be happy for their studies in here. the

issue of gender parity is quite important both in uganda and in iran. therefore iran also pays special attention to women while awarding scholarships to foreign students. mr. ambassador elaborates on this. the number of students are 17 70 and among them around 20 to 25 of these students are among the the ladies and it is very important for a community like uganda and these ladies will study also among them and most of them are going to study in albed university for engineering computer engineering. and also construction engineerings and also megatronic is among them and it is very interesting from this point of view. iranian universities are ranked highly globally, recently, the islamic world science citation center released the

world university rankings 2024 report which includes 69 iranian universities compared to 63 in 2022. iranian universities and are gaining popularity due to the high academic standards and for sure many across the world will want to study in iran. now mr. ambassador, iranian universities as we know are among the best in the region, so what criteria was used to award these scholarships? the organization which we cooperate with them to nominate the students uh had advertise, they have advertised these scholarships in different medias and the received so many applications from different part of uganda and so many people have sent their documents, educational documents to that organization and then among them they have selected something like i think close to

200, 200 students and then they have nominate and presented their documents, educational documents to the embassy and we have ' "we have sent those documents to tehran to ahlul bait university and by considering the their degrees, their qualifications and different subjects that was important for the university, they have selected something like as i've said 70 students and this this is very important, we didn't, we didn't present these you know..." scholarships to selected people and this is very important and the most important thing was the level of education. ugandan officials have ad students awarded scholarships to live responsibly and use the opportunity to better their lives in

addition to receiving education. now mr. ambassador, what is your advice to these ugandan students who are already in iran pursuing their studies? program for these students to see them off while i have been going to departure from uganda to tehran, i have told them that you should try to do your best, because the universities in iran are in very high level, you will receive a high level educations in different fields that you want to study in iran, therefore we are sure that you will be another person regarding the the level of your education and you should... would be very helpful to ugandan community and try to to help the uganda people to to work in in the subjects that you are specialized in and to cooperate with the other for example fighting companies to

cooperate with them and try to bring the level of your activities in in uganda while they are studied in universities they are high level. educated people in different subjects, therefore they can create job opportunity. the bilateral ties between iran and uganda are expected to expand, especially after the successful visit by iran's president ibrahim raisi to uganda last year. and our last question: uh, mr. ambassador, how will this scholarships boost iran-uganda bilateral relations, especially in the economic sector? as you have mentioned and referred to the visits by the president of the islamic republic of iran to uganda in the meetings between our two presidents especially president musavini refer that we want to cooperate with iran for example in

refineries we need refineries and iran is very professional in construction and installation of the refineries and there are iranian companies that are ready to cooperate in uganda and to to have some sort of activities in uganda and then if we have iranian refineries installed in uganda. then we have the possibility to export crude oil and then to produce different type of you know oil products which are necessary uganda market and they are importing now and even we can we can refine the ugandan crude oil that in near future would be explored and also the even are trying to export their crude oils we can help them in this fields and refinering refining the all crude oil is also very

important and iranian companies could be helpful in this field with uganda and not only to use it inside uganda but to cover the regional market all of this type of cooperation needs people who are professional in these fields and this type of educational cooperation between iran and uganda would be much much helpful in very near future we hope. i like to thank ambassador majid safari runs ambassador to uganda for his insight on the scholarships awarded to ugandan students who are already in iran pursuing their studies. all now to continue our discussion on the academic collaboration between an and africa. we are joined by hussain abdullahi a nigerian phd student at the faculty of biology university. of tehran, thanks lot for your time, mr. abdullah, now first tell us

what motivated you to pursue your studies in iran? um, the reasons for coming to iran for study are many uh, but the most important is the influence of my friend who came here to study in tehran university of medical science in the name of prof professor. rogo who came here and study, he has already explained to a lot of things about the capability of the iranian education and its quality, and therefore i felt very very interested to be here and and study in this very important university of tehran. let's now talk about academic standards, mr. abdullahi, how are the academic standards at the university of tehran? and iran in general, particularly considering the fact that you also studied at

high ranking nigerian universities. what i can say here is that of course the standard of education here in the university, most special in the university of tehran is very, very very good. now the quality of life and social integration is also important for foreign students in any country. now mr. abdullah, how's life in iran and will you? recommend other students to come and study here, the life in iran is relatively good in many, many aspects, although there are some economic sanctions that is been inflicted on the government and other individuals, but still people due to the good governance, people feel the presence of government, especially in the f of transport and food subsidy that is being provided. okay, now our time is running out, so our last question, mr. abdullahi, briefly tell us what

suggestions do you have for improved academic ties between iran and africa? due to the fact that there are some similarities between iran and africa, but due to these similarities, it is very, very important for the nations of africa and to have a cooperation, educational cooperation with iran in the... of education, because any national development is dependent on the education or education development of the country, so therefore we are supposed to have very good understanded education so that our nations are developed are developed. well, i would like to thank hasan abdullah, a nigerian phd student at the faculty of... geology university of tehran. we now take a short break before the next segment of our show on africa's strategic minerals. stay

with us. africa's strategic minerals. the 12th round of the parliamentary elections were held in iran, have winds of change already started blowing. will the country have new parliament with new configuration and new priorities? these and more on this edition of iran today.

africa is rich in strategic minerals such as lithium, graphite, boxite, manganese and cobalt all essential for modern technologies. however, harnessing the value of these minerals requires investment in infrastructure, innovation, and sustainable practices and developing the local industrial fabric. these were some of the topics discussed at the african mining in daba 2020. 24 that was held last february in cape town, the term indaba comes from the zulu language, which means a meeting to discuss a serious topic. this year, the indaba is dedicated to the capitalization and development of mining in africa. south african president sri rama posa addressed this world's largest mining investment conference. he said that the vast

majority of minerals that are key to the global energy transition lie beneath africa's rich soil. "the vast majority of the minerals that are key to global energy transition lie beneath the soil of the african continent, as you've had my two brothers articulating earlier, these include manganese, iron or copper, cobalt, nickel, and the platinum groups metals as well. africa has the potential to be the fullcrum. the global energy transition with mining at its core, to discuss the mining sector in africa. we have contacted matthew parks, the acting national spokesperson and parliamentary coordinator of the congress of south african trade unions kosatu. africa is now at the forefront of a transformative era as the world shifts towards sustainable energy sources. the

continent's rich minerals reserves are emerging as a prerequisite for the global green tech. revolution: our first question to matthew parks, do you think there is enough political realization across africa on the immense potential of the continent holds in transforming the world? no, we don't think so, i think in most countries across africa there isn't enough focus on that, there's not enough focus on many economic development issues or on the role of the state should play in trying to grow the economy, but i think if you look at the the... reports, most african countries really don't focus much on the issue of not just exporting raw minerals which they do, but on beneficiating on investing in them locally to finish you to export of finished law products, so most african countries really don't spend much time focusing on that if to be honest. there is no doubt that africa needs to tap on the

continent strategic mineral wealth for development, particularly by adding value by processing minerals before export. so there's a need to to to one to look at beneficiating to appreciate the importance of doing so but also to kind of put in place the necessary investments from the state side to help facilitate that um to also create the partnerships between the public and the private sector to ensure that does happen as well as it does also require the state to put in place for example tax incentives or legislative requirements so it can happen um i think is for the state just to take a much more proactive and much more creative approach, because almost all african governts have really played little the more than lip service to this issue. developing countries, especially in africa, which boasts 19% of global mineral reserves needed for evs stand to benefit from the green boom if they can process the minerals locally. zimbabwe's

government banned roll ethiam exports in 2022 as it seeks to get more value from the mineral. zimbabwe president, speaks during the opening of lithium processing plan in the country. lithium is the mineral of the present and the future. hence its beneficiation and the value addition by prospect lithium zimbabwe will position our country as an emerging and competitive player in the global lithium. chain world over, now despite facing sanctions from western countries, zimbabwe took this historic decision to process lithium in the country. mr. parts, what's your take on this? no, it's a positive decision, it's a decision that other african countries should look at and to see how they can um emulate that that example, south africa has also made similar

cause commitments to do so previously as well, so it's a positive example, all african countries will look at it for minerals, petroleum exports, for other exports, it's an example of other countries across the world to whether it's in the middle east or asia and something we should really be looking. to to do, not just have it as a commitment, but actually implement it as well. speaking during the world's largest mining investment conference, south african president siril ramafosa spoke of persistent challenges impeding mining performance. we are all accurately aware that we face strong headwinds and number of persistent challenges are impeding mining performance, globally commodity prices are volatile, high energy prices, the geopolitical tensions that

continue to prevail around the world, continue to cause enormous challenges and the global cost of living crisis is also playing a significant role in dempening the business operating and environment and now next question to mr. pax, what in your opinion are some of the challenges south africa faces in its mining sector? the challenge one is to actually to put in place infrastructure to beneficiat locally to put in place necessary technology and the skills, the business partnerships to ver the resources, the financial resources reduced as well, it also means to create the the export market. two um and really it's we haven't done that um and i think we really need to find a way to make it profitable for business to do so but i think also just to kind of compare them but not

only that i think also put in place tax incentives to help make it even more attractive for them because there will be some cost but also to put in place the necessary tax penalties if they don't do so and also the legislative requirements for them to do so as well a bloomberg nef recently noted the cost of manufacturing lithium iron battery precursors is three times lower in africa than in the united states, china or poland. there is concern that multinationals are not doing enough to transfer technology to african countries. i think simply because maybe they find it easier to do so in the in the countries with the set of operations, perhaps the view african countries is being unstable, but also find that the own country's governments and shareholders put pressure on them as well, but and i think is just another additional reason why we should also um put a bit of effort into it. since the days of the slave trade and colonialism, we have seen frequent

and successful european attempts of hampering economic development in africa. experts believe you's policies on critical raw materials show the intent of renewing colonial cycles of exploitation and subordination by exploiting africa's mineral resources. now uh... last question to mr. pax, will africa really be able to free itself from exploitation at this time when the world needs green energy, minerals that are mostly in africa. if we don't show leadership, then those paters will continue. it really requires governs to be much more thoughtful, to be much more forward looking about the contest development, because the content has not developed much since independence over 60 years ago, and yes, we can blame the west. that's fine, the west is doing what in the west interest, africa also needs to do what's in africa's interest, and most of the african governts for many years have just not paid attention, have been happy not to do it, so i think it requires a

leadership shift in african countries to take this thing much more seriously, otherwise we will continue to stumble along as poverty stricking content, and we simply need to look at the examples of many other countries with this china or south korea, japan or malaysia, really shown even other. is across the middle east too, to take control the resources and to use it in a way which benefits that country long-term socio economic development, our resources are not unlimited, eventually run out of particular mineral or petroleum resource, and i think it shows a smart governments pr for that economic transition, and i think of most african countries are not doing so, often when the this commodities booms take place, they just simply go for the... shortest route, often the the least profitable route, and it's a really missed opportunity. well, you have it, only forward looking leaders will enable africa to rip the

benefits presented. by the global need for strategic minerals in the continent and that wraps it up for this week's edition of africa today, it's always great having you watch the show, you can watch this episode on all our previous shows on our website pressv.ir. thanks lot for watching and goodbye for now.

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the headlines more palestinians die of hunger and dehydration as the israeli regime's genocidal war on the gaza strip enters its 153rd day. china says that that the israeli ensaut on gaza is a tragedy for humanind and a disgrace. civilization calling for immediate ceasefire, and also on our headlines, us military confirms a missile attack a commercial ship in the gulf of aiden as the emmy army continues to target israely bound vessels.