Russia is stepping up efforts to strengthen its cultural and educational presence in Africa as it seeks to build relationships on the continent beyond military and security co-operation.
The country plans to establish eight new Russian Houses in African countries, focusing on areas including the Russian language, education, science and culture.
Russia’s humanitarian agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, said the centres would also support various educational, cultural and development projects.
The latest expansion will bring the number of Russian Houses established across Africa to 24. The new centres are planned for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The move comes as Russia has strengthened its security partnerships with several African countries, particularly military-led governments in the Sahel.
Russia’s state-controlled Africa Corps, which took over operations previously associated with the Wagner Group, has become an important security partner for the military governments of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso as they confront jihadist insurgencies.
The three countries have increasingly distanced themselves from France, their former colonial power, while French and other international forces have withdrawn from the region. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali also ended in December 2023.
Russia is now seeking to complement those security relationships with longer-term educational and cultural engagement.
Igor Chaika, head of Rossotrudnichestvo, said the agency was changing its approach and increasing its activities.
“We’re significantly changing the programme itself. We’re increasing the intensity of our work and the level of oversight,” he said.
Chaika said Russia wanted the new centres to deliver “tangible results” in promoting “the Russian language, Russian education, science, and culture”.
The agency also plans to launch a micro-grant programme in 2027 to fund educational, cultural, scientific, technological and youth projects in other countries.
It is also seeking stronger local organisations to manage Russian Houses across Africa and other regions, with the aim of creating what it described as a “full-fledged international network”.
Rossotrudnichestvo said interest in partnerships had increased, including in countries where political restrictions had limited the activities of state institutions.
The latest expansion involves 11 additional sites in total. Besides the eight African locations, the programme includes two centres in Armenia and others in Thailand.
Education is expected to be a major component of the initiative, with Russia seeking to tailor its programmes to the needs of individual countries.
Chaika said Russia should focus on producing graduates with skills that would be useful to their home countries.
“We must focus on who the country needs.
“If it needs doctors, we should train doctors; if it needs specialists in other fields, we should train those specialists.”
He also emphasised the importance of foreign students returning to their countries after completing their studies in Russia, saying they could apply their knowledge and skills to help drive economic development at home.
The expansion follows a broader increase in reported recruitment of Africans into the Russia-Ukraine war this year.
Kenya, which has recorded some of the highest numbers of reported recruits, has accused employment agencies of attracting men to Russia with promises of jobs before they were allegedly sent to fight in Ukraine.
To support its growing engagement with Africa, Rossotrudnichestvo said it had also signed an agreement with the Association for Economic Cooperation with African Countries, or AECAS.
The organisation, established by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020, focuses on trade and business networking between Russia and African countries.
The agreement forms part of Moscow’s wider effort to strengthen economic, educational and cultural relationships with countries outside the Western sphere.
