The article is devoted to the development of digital technologies in Africa and the role played by China, the world leader in the field of digital technologies, in this process. In the 21st century, a number of African countries have made significant progress in the field of digital technologies. Information and communication technologies have developed noticeably, and the penetration of the Internet into the continent has accelerated. The demand for digital technologies on the continent has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. China is making a serious contribution to the development of the digital technologies in African countries. The article contains an analysis of the Chinese digital diplomacy current state and practice in African Internet. China has brought a model of the digital economy, including e-commerce, online payments, logistic management and digital entrepreneurship training to Africa. The new technologies, which China provides to Africa, are also aimed at improving the quality of life for the Africans, the building of smart cities, the spread of information and communication technologies, providing TV and mobile internet access to rural areas. The participation of 48 African countries in Chinese initiative “One belt – one road” may facilitate the access to new technologies for Africa.

The article discusses the implementation of the “smart city” concept in the countries of North Africa. The purpose of the study is to find out how successfully the plans to create the cities of a new generation are implemented in the states of the region. Against the background of environmental problems, water and electricity shortages, rapid population growth and urbanization, as a result of which a number of slums are growing and there is a shortage of housing, «smart cities» are becoming extremely relevant for the countries of North Africa. In addition, the states of the region have good prerequisites and advantages for the implementation of such projects. For example, the lack of a rich background in many North African cities allows to introduce the most modern technologies, and there are also great opportunities for developing alternative energy, which is often used in the cities of a new generation. At the same time, when implementing the concept under consideration, the countries face a number of problems such as technological dependence on other states, lack of qualified personnel, failure to complete work on time. The development of smart cities is considered on the example of the analysis of relevant projects in the countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. As a result of the study, conclusions were drawn that without partnership with Western countries and China, the countries of North Africa cannot yet implement smart city projects. In addition, it is worth noting that in the region there is a correlation between the level of oil and gas reserves in the country and how much attention its government pays to the development of new generation city projects – the more reserves, the less “smart city” technologies are being introduced. It can also be assumed that by actively developing smart city projects from scratch, governments are moving away from solving problems in existing cities, which negatively affects their residents.

The article is devoted to the analysis of China’s potential in Africa in the geopolitical, trade-economic, financial-investment and military strategic dimensions and their implementation to the Sino-African policy. The geopolitical and economic parameters of the development of Sino-African relations remain stable, while the military factor tends to increase. The data, provided by the authors, allow us to analyze, which of the countries-followers of the PRC are under the strategic geopolitical guardianship of China to the extent that allows them to protect Chinese interests in these countries comprehensively, that is, both politically and militarily. The authors conclude that stable and strong relations between the African countries-followers of China and the PRC in the foreseeable future will inevitably come into conflict with the interests of other global players in Africa, primarily the United States. The economic content of the concept of a follower-country is increasingly colored by a neocolonial meaning, when overcoming the backwardness of African follower-countries from their leader-countries not only did not decrease, but also artificially preserved and even increased. The positive meaning of the concept of a follower-country was devolved so much that a country could be a follower of not necessarily one, but two or even more global geopolitical players. In the period from 2017 to 2022, the military aspect in the justification of the PRC’s foreign policy took an important place, and in the conflict zones of Asia and Africa came out on top, thereby completing the design of the Chinese geopolitical doctrine of global leadership.

The article analyzes the changes in Russia’s relations with African countries caused by the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. From the mid2010s until the beginning of the SMO, these relations were strengthened, which became especially noticeable after the Russia-Africa summit (2019). In addition to the growth of trade and the expansion of military-technical cooperation, a new significant factor in the Russian presence in Africa was the deployment of the activity of private military companies (the “Wagner Group”). In the context of the SMO, cooperation with African states in the areas of trade and economy will go through a stage of painful transformation caused by Western sanctions. A key issue is food security and famine prevention in many countries of the Global South. The modalities of the Russian presence on the African continent will inevitably be determined by the general confrontation between Russia and the countries of the West. In the longer term, African countries may become the beneficiaries of the transformation of the US-centric world order, sufficiently accelerated by the SMO.

Based on the comparative legal analysis of the constitutions of African states, the article analyzes the constitutional models of the principle of social justice. The genesis of the Western legal understanding of the principle of social justice, the peculiarities of its reflection in the African legal culture are considered.

Highlighting the Western tradition of the legal understanding of social justice, proceeding from the views of Plato and Aristotle, the author notes that its essence consists in the fair distribution of social benefits based on the achievement of equality. Modern Western legal understanding complements the ancient Greek tradition by considering the conditionality of the principle of social justice by economic and political systems, property relations, social rights and freedoms.

Comparative legal analysis of the constitutions of African states allows the author, on the one hand, to discover similarities in the regulation of the principle of social justice, including under the influence of Western tradition, on the other hand, to see that the constitutions of these countries objectively differ in the degree and nature of taking into account national approaches. In this context, the general and special factors of the national identity of African states that influence the choice of a constitutional model of social justice are highlighted.

The article highlights at least four constitutional models of the principle of social justice on the African continent: liberal-democratic, of socialist orientation, autocratic and hybrid. The autocratic model and especially the hybrid one reflect national identity to a greater extent. At the same time, the number of states with a hybrid model is growing steadily. The article provides a detailed analysis of the constitutional models of the principle of social justice on the example of individual African states, examines the features of the constitutional consolidation of social goals and values, the regulation of social rights and relations on the distribution of income from national wealth.

It is concluded that the classification of constitutional models of the principle of social justice into four groups is gradually losing its relevance. In the future, a hybrid model will be inherent for all African States. The trend of hybridization has clearly emerged at the present time in the practice of constitutional development of African States.

Nigeria and Ghana, some of the largest countries in Africa in terms of population and GDP, possess considerable scientific and technological potential, which, due to many objective and subjective reasons, has not been fully realized. Yet these West African states have enormous human and natural resources and occupy an important place in the system of international trade and economic relations, not only as major oil exporters, but also due to a fairly high (by African standards) level of industrial development. After the Russia-Africa summit, which was held in Sochi in October 2019, the process of expanding economic contacts with African countries has intensified, and Nigeria and Ghana are becoming important partners of the Russian Federation. In this connection, an adequate assessment of the scientific and technical level of West African labor force and specialists able to utilize foreign know-how and develop own technical solutions adapted to African realities is of particular relevance.

The purpose of the present paper is to identify the degree of adaptation of the educational systems of Nigeria and Ghana to the needs of these countries in providing industry, the ICT sector, and scientific institutions with qualified personnel, as well as the level and nature of the application of modern technologies. To achieve this the authors employed the historical-systemic and comparative methods of analysis. In the paper it has been argued that the lack of funding and the lack of qualified personnel, i.e. the problems that the Nigerian and Ghanaian education systems have not yet dealt with, remain serious obstacles to the large-scale introduction of modern technologies. At the same time, autonomous specialized institutes that are not associated with educational institutions and which conduct research in specific sectors of the economy (e.g. fishing, energy, construction, banking, medicine) are better integrated with producers and thus generate most practical results.

The article contains an overview of the leading think tanks of African countries, based on international databases: The 2020 Go To Think Tanks Report (University of Pennsylvania) and an Open Think Tank Directory, with elements of comparative analysis with think tanks of the EAEU countries. The features of the international assessment of African analytical centers, the specifics of their formation and development, as well as the impact on socio-political processes in their countries are determined, a brief description of their activities is given. The article contains possible directions and ways of cooperation with the think tanks from Russia and other EAEU countries in the ongoing for intensification of the multilateral cooperation with African countries.

The article analyzes the development of luxury tourism in Africa which became one of the fastest growing tourism continents at the turn of the 21st century. Luxury tourism industry provides the lion’s share of foreign exchange earnings to state budgets, so the governments of a number of countries pay special attention to its development. Representing an economically profitable area for investment of local and foreign capital, it is developing both in traditional places of attraction for foreign tourists (for example, in Egypt, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tunisia, South Africa), and in the countries that have recently begun to develop this segment of their tourism industry.

The author acknowledges main characters of luxury tourism in Africa similar to that in other parts of the world: the highest quality of services provided focused on the comfort and the safety of customers, the exclusivity of the tours offered, an individual approach to the client, long-standing and strong ties with tour operators in a large number of countries. The richness and originality of the cultures of numerous peoples of the continent, the diversity of natural landscapes, endemic flora and fauna are additional advantages for the tourists choosing Africa for recreation.

Many countries of the continent still remain among the poorest in the world, so the development of the tourism industry in Africa, including its luxury segment, affects employment and creation of new jobs directly and indirectly, and it helps to solve one of the most important social problems, that is of the unemployment.

The conclusion is made that the progress of this branch is hampered by the insufficient development of infrastructure and the lack of specialized personnel and educational institutions for their training. Further sustainable development of tourism in Africa, including luxury tourism, depends on the stability of the internal political situation there, the fight against crime and infectious diseases, and the solution of the visa problems.

The paper analyzes the state of food security in West Africa and assesses its viability. The present author reviews literature on food security of African countries and the state of their agriculture, conducts a statistical analysis of agricultural databases and reports, and comes to the conclusion that modern agriculture does not provide the population of West Africa with an adequate level of nutrition. The identified reasons for this date back to the 1960s, when West African countries gained independence and refocused their economies from agriculture toward the mining sector, minimizing support for the agricultural sector. Due to following the Millennium Development Goals, Africa has managed to reduce hunger on the continent, but recent global financial upheavals have demonstrated the inability of African agriculture to withstand cataclysms. Nutrition of the majority of the population today meets international standards neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. The current level of food security in West Africa is far below optimal. Agriculture there is guided by many regional principles, the adherence to which should lead to the revival of agricultural production. However, the pace of such transformations is extremely slow due to insufficient funding. Yet Africa’s agricultural sector is supported by many international organizations that contribute to the introduction of progressive techniques. This primarily involves the introduction of digital innovations, which should increase the intensity of agricultural production and accordingly the ability of West Africa to achieve self-sufficiency in food and withstand natural and social disasters.

The article discusses various aspects of economic cooperation between Russia and its oldest partner in Africa, that is Ethiopia. The authors analyze quite successful experience of their trade and industrial cooperation in the 1960– 1990s, as well as the dynamics of the main spheres and directions of Ethiopia’s economic development since the early 2000s. In accordance with the coordination framework of the Intergovernmental Russian-Ethiopian Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Trade, the two countries are striving to implement joint investment projects with the Russian companies’ participation in the following areas: energy (hydrocarbon and clean), including hydroand nuclear energy (ROSATOM and Inter RAO), transport engineering (KAMAZ, UAZ, AvtoVAZ, Russian Railways), geological exploration, scientific research, professional education. Promising for further practical cooperation is the research carried out within the framework of the 30-year Joint Russian-Ethiopian Biological Expedition (JREBE). The activities of JREBE are accompanied by the wide involvement of Russian experts in applied national economic projects, primarily in the agricultural sector. Of particular interest is the expansion of opportunities for training a wide range of Ethiopia’s qualified personnel for the clean energy, transport, and agriculture in the Russian universities.

The growth of cities and urban population in Africa is inducing an increase in informal housing building, growth of poverty and inequality, limited access of citizens to basic services and urban infrastructure, growth of the informal economy, etc. These problems arise largely due to the lack of proper urban development planning, insufficient action coordination at different levels of government, lack of funding for urban projects.

The books presented in the review contain studies of transformation processes in African cities seen in the global, national and local contexts. Deepening understanding of urbanization in African countries, its driving forces, dynamics and interactions between urban actors, the authors of the publications point out the need to develop targeted and inclusive policies that would unite local, national and regional efforts in the field of urban development. Among the key elements of such policy, experts highlight coordination of development projects at the national and local levels and improving the quality of their management; investing in basic service infrastructure, including the areas of informal housing; empowering local authorities as key players in shaping local strategies for socio-economic development.