How Russia Wins Friends And Influences People

Nelson Mandela once described education as the most powerful weapon to change the world. Russian President Vladmir Putin agrees. With a surge in African students studying in Russian universities, the Kremlin appears to have identified education as a way of enhancing its influence in Africa.  

When Putin rose to power in the late 1990s, the number of African students studying at Russian universities stood at approximately 4,000, a sharp decline from the Soviet era when over 15,000 Africans were studying in the country. This decline in enrolment resulted from reduced state funding for foreign students after the collapse of the USSR and the implementation of higher tuition fees for foreigners which made studying in Russia unaffordable for many Africans.

However, under Putin’s leadership, this trend has rapidly reversed with Russia once again adopting a strategy emphasizing educational exchange as a pivotal driver for enhancing cooperation with African nations. Consequently, the number of African students in Russian universities rose to 7,000 by 2007 and continued increasing, reaching 17,000 students and surpassing Soviet-era levels by 2017.

One significant difference between the Soviet period and today lies in the diversified distribution of African students across Russian cities. While a majority of African students previously found themselves in places like St. Petersburg and Moscow, these cities now accommodate only 25% of the African student population which takes classes at 300 universities in 90 different cities.

The inaugural Russia-Africa summit in 2019 was a pivotal moment in enhancing educational co-operation with the number of African students studying in Russia almost doubling to 34,000 by the time the next summit was held in 2023. These numbers represent a 500% increase in just fifteen years and an action plan for 2023-2026 could boost these numbers even further. Russia clearly views educational exchange as a means of improving its political relations with African countries while fostering deep-rooted economic ties.

This policy will inevitably produce educated African elites who are sympathetic to Russia, speak Russian, and make use of Russian technical specifications in their respective fields. Prospects for Russian business interests on the continent are greatly improved in this scenario as Africa’s Russian educated graduates facilitate trust, communication, and increased political influence.

This trend is gathering unprecedented momentum and the most recent data shows even greater progress. According to Rossotrudnichestvo, the government agency for international human co-operation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian universities received a whopping 14,000 applications submitted by candidates from Africa for the 2024-2025 academic year.   

This represents a sizeable 27% increase in African student enrolments compared to 2023 and could soon see the number of African students studying in Russia surpass 40,000. Meanwhile, applications from African students to study agricultural programs across Russia have grown a whopping fivefold in just five years. This could make Russia a key partner to Africa in securing the continent’s food security with obvious political ramifications.

Studying in Russia appeals to African students for various reasons. They benefit from a flexible and streamlined visa process, coupled with affordable living expenses and comparatively low tuition fees. While the United States remains the destination of choice for over 50,000 African scholars, Russia is rapidly closing the gap, with Africans already constituting more than double the proportion of total university admissions in Russia (10%) compared to the US (4.5%).

In an effort to attract African students to its universities, the Russian government has constantly increased the number of scholarships available to African nationals. In 2024, federally funded placements more than doubled to almost 5000 openings, a massive increase from the previous academic year when the Russian government already provided a generous 2,300 scholarships.  

The majority of scholarship applications for international students are required to be submitted in English. However, as Russia expands its presence in Africa's former French colonies, most notably in the Sahal region, there are plans to incorporate French and other official languages spoken across the continent. This will open up opportunities for even more African students.  

The Russian Ministry of Education has also established Russian language education centres in various African countries including Egypt, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, the DRC, Zimbabwe, and Cote d'Ivoire, with plans underway to establish additional Russian language schools in South Africa and Botswana. The purpose of these schools is to make it even easier for African scholars to study in Russia and ease the transition from their home countries.

While most of the scholarships are currently for Masters and Doctoral programs, there are also plans to include Bachelors’ degree in the near future. This could see even more African students studying in Russia for even longer periods of time.

Egypt, one of the new members of the BRICS, accounts for 15,000, or nearly half of all African students studying in Russia, followed by Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, and Ghana. According to Russia’s Minister of Higher Education, Valery Falkov, a total of over 250,000 African students have graduated from Russian universities. This number could triple in a generation, providing Russia with even more influence over the world’s most resource rich continent.  

African scholars who choose to study at Russian Universities mostly gravitate towards fields such as medicine, engineering, management, technology, finance, and economics. These disciplines are crucial to the continent’s economic development. African governments are consequently embracing educational cooperation with Russia despite Europe’s dreams of  isolating Moscow.

Russian universities also aim to offer educational programs within African countries. In 2023, the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, agreed to the establishment of branches of Kazan Federal University and St. Petersburg University in Egypt. In future, more branches of Russian universities can be expected to emerge in other African nations.

At the same time, an agreement has already been reached to establish a professional network of universities to train specialists in the natural resources sector. Signed by representatives from nine African countries (including South Africa) and Russia's oldest technical institution, the St. Petersburg Mining University, the agreement aims to promote co-operation between African and Russian mining companies.

Russia is helping Africa thrive and will make a well deserved return on these investments.