Education in Russia – a world of new opportunities for Africans by S.K Harrison

 Cooperation between Russia and African countries has developed in many areas, including education. African countries have signed cooperation agreements in the fields of education and training. These include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola and Eritrea.

Studying in Russia is considered prestigious, and Russia is an expert in many fields that developing African countries need, such as law, economics, physical sciences and mathematics, humanities and social sciences, engineering, medicine, agriculture and ecology. Students from 52 African countries were admitted to 787 Russian higher education establishments – 562 state and 174 private – accounting for almost three-quarters of the total number of Russian establishments1,115. The number of African students totaled 10,346.
Today, as a result of cooperation between Russia and Africa, the number of budget-funded places in Russian universities for African students for the next academic year 2023-2024 has been doubled to 4,700 places.
During the years characterized by close relations between Russia and African countries, many African leaders and personalities pursued their studies in Russia. Like Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia, former president of the Central African Republic from 2013 to 2014. Fatima Abdel Mahmoud a Sudanese politician, leader of the Sudanese Democratic Socialist Union. In 1973, she was one of the first women to hold political office in Sudan, and took part in the Sudanese general elections of April 2010 as the country’s first female presidential candidate, also Rwandan environment minister Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya. Hilary Onek, current Ugandan Minister of Humanitarian Aid, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, and other African leaders,
Russian universities offer study programs in every possible subject and academic level. The Russian education system is independent of the West, so it is free from colonial influences and does not conflict with traditional African values, just as life in Russia is suitable for African students living far from home.