The scholars of the Centre for Stability and Risk Analysis of the Faculty of Social Sciences took part in the BRICS Academic Forum

Leonid Issaev and Andrey Zakharov took part in the BRICS Academic Forum, which was held in Moscow from 22 to 24 May. The main goal of the forum was to develop academic exchanges, strengthen dialogue between the governments and expert community of the BRICS countries, and develop recommendations for the heads of state.

Leonid Issaev spoke at the special session ‘Integration of Integrations: BRICS and the African Union’ organised by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The session was moderated by Corresponding Member Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The discussion was also attended by Russian Africanists from the Academy of Sciences and MGIMO, as well as experts from Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The main focus of the session was to discuss BRICS interaction with the countries of the African continent. One of the formats for such interaction could be the BRICS-African Union. The African countries, united in the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area, are interested in close cooperation with the BRICS countries in order to achieve real, rather than formal, sovereignty. The BRICS countries, by interacting with the richest African states in terms of natural and human resources, also open up new opportunities for addressing their own development challenges through access to Africa's promising fast-growing markets and joining efforts to forge a new, more equitable world order.
In his speech, Leonid Issaev noted the high growth of BRICS popularity in African countries, which in turn requires BRICS participants to meet high expectations. At the same time, it was noted that in the coming years BRICS will face a ‘qualification period’, during which the principles of further possible BRICS expansion, including among African countries, will be discussed. In Leonid Isaev's opinion, this will bring to the fore the issue of BRICS-AC cooperation, where African countries will be able to use the African Union platform as a channel for cooperation with BRICS.