last year iran's president ibrahim raisi. visited three african countries, kenya, uganda, and zimbabwe. during the historic visit, president rais witness 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 ugadan 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 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 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 to ganan 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 bilateral relation between iran and uganda, especially regarding education. now the islamic republic of iran has granted scholarships to uganda and 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 and the fields of study? yes, please, you know, in this round of cooperation, educational cooperation, ahlal university of the islamic republic of iran granted something like 70 scholarship. to ugandan

students , 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 management, commerce management that are very important for ugandan students these days and we know that the uganda would be happy for

their studies in the issue of gender parity is quite important both in uganda and in iran, therefore we run also sp special attention to women while awarding scholarships to foreign students, mr. ambassador elaborates on this, the number of students are 70, 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 engineerings, computer engineerings 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 are gaining popularity due to the high academic standards and for sure many across the world would want to study in iran. now mr. ambassador uh 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 advertised, they have advertised this scholarships in different medias and they 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 add 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?" in iran pursuing your studies the 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 level of your education and you should be very helpful to ugandan community and try to to help the people to to work in the in the subjects that you are specialized in and to cooperate with the other for

example foreign companies to cooperate with them and try to bring the level of your activities in in uganda while they are ' studies 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, mr. ambassador, how will these scholarships boost iran, uganda, bilater? relations, especially in the economic sector, as you have mentioned and refer 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 can 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 their future would be explored and also trying to export their crude oils, we can help them in this fields and refinering, refining the oil,

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 this fields and this type of educational cooperation between iran and uganda would be much much... for in very near future, well i like to thank ambassador majid safar, returns ambassador to uganda for his insight on the scholarships awarded to ugandan students who are already in iran pursuing their studies, and now to continue our discussion on the academic collaboration between and africa, we are joined by hussein abdullah and and 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, 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 me 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 taiwan. let's now talk about academic standards, mr. abdullah, 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 uh the standard of education here in the university almost 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 would 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 uh, especially in the part of. transport and food subsidy that is been provided. okay, now our

time is running out, so our last question, mr. abdullah, briefly tell us what suggestions do you have for improved academic ties between iran and africa? okay, 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. and educational cooperation with iran in the f 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 develop developed. well, i would like to thank hasan. abdullah, a nigerian phd student at the faculty of biology, university of tehran. we now take a short break before

the next segment of our show on africa's strategic. stay with us. africa's strategic minerals. in this week's show, we'll be asking why the archbishop of counterbery seems to be in tholl to ziness. extremists, the church of england used to be referred to as the british conservative party at prayer, but justin welby's leadership of the church has gone even further. he's positioned it as an adjunct to the genocidal zionist regime: christian zionism as a movement preceded jewish zionism about at least 50 years. millions of millions of pounds over the last 10 or so years have gone to zionist organizations under the guise of doing counter extremes of work.

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 development. the local industrial fabric. these were some of the topics discussed at the african mining in duba 2024 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, ironor, copper, cobalt, nickel, and the platinum groups metals as well. africa has the potential to be the fullocrum of the global energy transition with mining 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

cosatu. africa is now at the forefront of a transformative era as the world shifts to was sustainable energy sources, the continent's rich minerals reserves are emerging as a prerequisite for the global green technology revolution. our first question to matthew parks, do you think there is enough political realization across uh 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 r the state should play 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 finish raw product, so most african

companies 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. there's a need to to to want 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, 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 st to put in place for example tax incentives or legislative requirements so it can happen, i think is need for the state just to take a much more proactive and much more creative approach, because almost all african governments have really played little the more than lip service to this issue. developing countries, especially in africa, which posts 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 band lithium exports in 2022 as it seeks to get more value from the mineral. zimbabwe president emerson m. namga 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 valuadition by prospect lithiam zimbabwe will position up. our country as emerging and competitive player in the global lithium valley chain world over now this facing sanctions from western countries, zimbabwe took this historic decision to process lithium in the country. mr. parx, 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 export. 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 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 impeeding mining performance. we are all accurately aware that we face strong headweeks. 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 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 beneficiate locally, to put in place necessary technology, the skills, the... partnerships to where the resources, the financial resources reduced as well, it also means to create the the export markets too,

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. um tax penalties if they don't do so and also the legislative requirements for them to do so as well. a bloomberg nef study 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 the set of operations um 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 again i think it's 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 our last question to mr. parks, will africa really be able to free itself from exploitation, this time when the world needs green energy minerals that are mostly in africa? if we don't show leadership, then those patterns will continue, it really requires governs to be much more thoughtful, really be much more forward looking. about the con content 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 wester is doing what in the

west interest, africa also needs to do what's in africa's interest, and most of the african governments 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... to look at the examples of east too to take control the resources and to many other countries whether it's china or south korea or japan or malaysia who really shown even other countries across the middle 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 the smart governments apare for that economic transition and 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... opportunity, well there 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 raps 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 press tv. ir thanks lot for watching and goodbye for now.

in the streets of the gaza strip which was suffocating under wave of profound sadness, hopes of getting a loaf of bread turned into funeral processions and sorrow. on the morning that followed the dreadful flower massacre, families buried their hungry, martired children as arab aircrafts didn't hesitate to replay the same aerial drop theater, dropping the packages this time inside zionist israeli settlements of the gaza enclave, is there anything more humiliating and denigrating against a genocide stricken and started people? if aid was the real reason behind the shared, then sain people who wanted to help should have opened the rafah border, allowing a trucks into gaza and handing them over to international or local entities responsible for distributing them to the starving people. date in the form of aid in gaza this week on the madi stream.

the headlines this hour and the gaza strip at least 86 paddle stunnings are killed on the 152nd day of the us israly genocide. "yemeny armed forces had a us cargo ship in the golf alvaden retaliation for western attacks on yemen and in support of palestinians in gaza. also on the headlines, hamas condemns telev's plan to build 3,500 more settlement units as land grab aimed at isolating the palestinians.