Baikal State University officially signed the Agreement on joining the consortium "Russian-African Network University" (RANU), which is a platform for the development of academic cooperation between Russian and African universities.

According to Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, RANU today plays the role of a bridge of friendship between Russian and African students. The establishment of the Russian-African Network University will contribute to strengthening cooperation in education, science and economic development between our country and the states of the African continent.

Today RANU includes 70 universities from the Russian country and 31 from the African country. The main objectives of the participating organizations are to create joint educational programs, new forms of interuniversity cooperation, develop academic mobility of students, promote intercultural dialogue, as well as the preservation and mutual enrichment of cultures, languages and national traditions.

According to Mikhail Kuz’min, vice-rector for international activities, BSU is developing cooperation with ten countries of the African continent. Every year the number of African students at the university increases by more than 30%. BSU participation in the Russian-African Network University will allow to intensify this process and ensure a greater presence of the university in the African market. This is due to the fact that African students, when choosing an educational institution, are guided both by the presence of the university in this organization and the possibility of priority admission to a Russian university when graduating from an African university - RANU participant.

In the future, Russian and African students will have the opportunity to receive bachelor's, specialist's and master's degrees from several consortium members at once. Also under the auspices of RANU joint scientific and scientific-practical events, as well as project and grant activities will be organized.