RHODES, October 6. /TASS/. African countries are still facing a number of serious problems now, which is why it is necessary for the global community to go beyond military cooperation in providing assistance to them, Russian Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said, addressing the Dialogue of Civilizations forum on Saturday.

According to Bogdanov, transnational problems, the issues of arms smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration and even slavery continue escalating on the African continent. "Joint efforts of the whole global community are required for meeting those challenges," the diplomat stressed. "I am confident that the aid to African states should go beyond military components," he added.

"It is necessary to fortify public institutions, engage economic and humanitarian fields, construct infrastructure facilities, add new jobs," Bogdanov said, adding that "those are the ways of solving such problem as migration, for example.".