Algerian Entrepreneur Finds Home in Russia: A Tale of Shared Values

Fahem Mohamedi, a young Algerian entrepreneur, made a significant decision to relocate to Moscow, Russia, driven by his passion for the Russian language and his desire to further his academic and business endeavors.

In a recent interview with Sputnik Africa, Mohamedi shared his inspiring journey and shed light on the cultural similarities he discovered between the Algerian and Russian communities.

After studying Russian for five years in Algeria, Mohamedi's initial motivation to move to Russia stemmed from his aspiration to enhance his Russian language skills. This led him to apply for a fully-funded scholarship program offered by the Russian government, which not only provided him with the opportunity to advance his linguistic skills, but also paved the way for his entrepreneurial ambitions.

"I was lucky, one of the luckiest to come to Russia [...] I was thinking about having a business that I have already started," the Algerian said.

Speaking about his future plans, Mohamedi, who invests in e-commerce on various Russian online marketplaces such as Wildberries and Ozon, expressed his commitment to expanding his business and continuing to thrive in Russia.

Although he initially considered moving to Europe, Mohamedi found a sense of belonging in Russia because of the alignment of traditional values shared between Russia and the Algerian Muslim community.

"Now, my plan is to grow my business bigger, to evolve, to develop more [...] I'm not willing to move to any country. I mean, back in the days when I came here, I had these ideas to move to Europe. But after analyzing all the stuff, analyzing my values, especially my values, because one of the main reasons why I stayed in Russia is that there are a lot of common values between the Russian community and the Muslim Algerian community, for instance. That made me at least to take a step forward for staying here in Russia," he said.

Reflecting on President Vladimir Putin's recent statements about easing relocation for foreigners who share Russia's traditional values, the North African businessman emphasized the significance of embracing and living by such values.

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"Those values are not only the values of Russia, but I think they are human being values," Mohamedi argued. "The fact that the president had made this move towards this kind of values, I think is a great thing because what we see now in the world, what is happening in the world, a lot of communities, a lot of countries, without mentioning or pointing fingers to any, we see that it's devaluation. People have less and less of the values."

Commenting on the West's characterization of Russia as an isolated nation, Mohamedi refuted this notion, highlighting the sheer vastness and cultural diversity present within the country.

He drew a comparison with Western countries like France, the Algerian pointed out how Russia's openness and respect for different ethnicities and religions set it apart.

"We take France, for instance, while it is a European country that claims to be diverse, but we can see so many human rights violations concerning this matter. I mean, people even get deported from the country, just because they are Muslim and some girls can't go to school with a veil because they believe that now you are living in my country, so you live by my law, you don't have the right to believe in what you believe," Mohamedi stated.

He cited his firsthand experience as a foreigner living in Russia as a sense of inclusiveness and acceptance that he perceives in the country's social fabric.

The businessman argued that "Russia is more open and more democratic than any European country" to him.

Turning to the realm of global politics, Fahem expressed his views on Russia's engagement with African nations, praising the country's approach of treating African countries as equal partners rather than subordinate entities.

"Concerning the political relationships with African countries, in the world [it] is the only country who treats the African countries as a partner instead of a second level people or something like that. Russia is the only country that treats Africans good in terms of a political partner and sees them as even, as the Russian government see," he pointed out.