Russia is expanding its network of cultural and educational centres across Africa as Moscow seeks to broaden its influence beyond military and security partnerships on the continent.

Russia’s humanitarian agency announced that the new centres will promote Russian language education, scientific exchange, and cultural initiatives, while co-ordinating various development projects in host nations.

The diplomatic push marks a strategic shift toward soft-power projection following years of expanding defense ties across the Sahel region.

Military juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso previously severed long-standing security alliances with former colonial power France, turning instead to Russian mercenary forces, now reorganised under the Russian Ministry of Defence as the Africa Corps.

The expansion of Russian cultural infrastructure comes in the wake of a complete withdrawal of Western and international forces from the region, including the termination of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.

–ChannelAfrica–