In a report published on February 16, Bloomberg describes how the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) expanded its presence in Africa from one country to at least 34 between 2022 and 2025. Previously, the church had only one congregation in sub-Saharan Africa — in South Africa. Its remaining African parishes were in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. Today, the continent has more than 350 parishes and congregations. According to Father Yuri Maksimov, head of the missionary department of the ROC’s African Exarchate, this may be the most significant expansion in the church’s history.
The number of Russian Orthodox clergy in Africa has also grown substantially to 270. Many had previously served in other Orthodox churches, including the Greek Orthodox Church. The ROC attracted them with higher salaries, funding for church construction, and the prospect of rapid career advancement.
Bloomberg characterizes the ROC’s growing presence in Africa as part of a broader campaign to extend Russian influence across the continent. The news outlet argues that Moscow cannot compete with the West and China economically — in investment or trade — and so it is prioritizing other spheres: religion, culture, and language.
In South Africa, the ROC draws its congregants disproportionately from Afrikaners — members of the country’s white population who tend toward conservatism and traditionalism.
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Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, seven cultural centers known as “Russian Houses” have opened across Africa, with more planned; negotiations are currently underway in Namibia, for instance. Russian-language instruction has begun at universities in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Harare (Zimbabwe). In 2024, the Innopraktika Foundation — led by Vladimir Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova — opened a lecture hall at the University of Dakar in Senegal, with the stated aim of promoting Russian culture and language.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that as of late 2025, more than 32,000 students from Africa were enrolled at Russian universities. Russia’s quota of spots for African students, he added, had nearly tripled to more than 5,300.
In itself, this religious and educational expansion may not amount to much. But Thierry Vircoulon of the French Institute of International Relations told Bloomberg that it helps cultivate an image of Russia as a “great country that is friendly to all Africans.” Symbolic grain and fertilizer deliveries, assistance in mapping fish stocks off the coasts of Morocco and Senegal, and a range of other humanitarian initiatives since the start of the war in Ukraine have served the same promotional purpose for Moscow.
Russia is also developing local media outlets for the same purpose. For example, the state propaganda outlet Sputnik already has an editorial hub in Ethiopia and plans to open another in South Africa later this year.
The recruitment of young African women is another aggressive tactic, facilitated through the “Alabuga Start” program, which offers jobs in Tatarstan’s special economic zone. Bloomberg reports that many of them end up working at drone-manufacturing facilities. Official investigations into these recruitment efforts are already underway in South Africa, Kenya, and Botswana.
Beyond civilian efforts, Moscow remains the continent’s principal arms supplier, maintaining military cooperation agreements with 43 of Africa’s 54 United Nations member states. The “Africa Corps” — a paramilitary force that grew out of the Wagner Group and is now under the control of Russia’s military intelligence directorate — continues to operate there. Russian companies also hold contracts in the security and natural resources sectors across much of the continent.