This was disclosed by Kirill Bogomolov, Deputy Head of Russian humanitarian cooperation agency, Rossotrudnichestvo at the sidelines of the Russia-Africa ministerial conference in Russia’s Sirius Federal Territory.
“The number of quotas for African students is increasing. In the 2024-2025 academic year, a total of 4,746 state-funded places were allocated for students from this continent, and in 2025-2026, 4,816 places were allocated,” Bogomolov noted.
The Russia-Africa Partnership Forum took place recently as a strategy to enhance broad-based collaboration between Russia and African countries across various domains such as politics, security, economics, science and technology, as well as cultural and humanitarian sectors.
This move aims to strengthen partnerships and cooperation between Russia and African countries in the field of higher education and scientific research.
Sputnik reports that during the 2024-2025 academic session, the largest beneficiary countries of the quota in the region were Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Chad, Mali, Congo, Nigeria, Zambia, Benin, Guinea, and Zimbabwe.
Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky, said the the figure had increased by 4000 since the last academic year. He further said the number of African students had tripled over the past 13 years.
There have been controversies surrounding the fate of African students in Russia following the crisis with Ukraine.
In June, Bloomberg reported that thousands of migrants and African students were forced to fight alongside Russian troops in its war against Ukraine, adding extra manpower for its offensive in the Kharkiv region.
“Recruiters have also targeted migrants and students who previously looked for employment in Russia, and in some cases have lured others over with promises of lucrative work before forcing them to train and deploy to the front”. the Bloomberg report noted.
The information was also debunked by the Nigerian foreign ministry as it noted that no Nigerian student has ever reported to have been coerced into signing up for the Kremlin’s mission in Ukraine.
