Mali, Niger and the Central African Republic (CAR) are the African continent's leaders in the number of students learning Russian through centers affiliated with the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), according to Dr. Natalia Pomortseva, Director of the RUDN Institute of the Russian Language.
Her statement follows last week's announcement by Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Yevgeny Primakov about the agency's work to expand the network of Russian Houses and partner organizations across Africa.
“In 2025, with the support and methodological guidance of the RUDN Institute of the Russian Language, more than 500 schoolchildren and students are studying Russian in eight lyceums of the Republic of Mali and at the University of Literature and Humanities of Bamako,” said Pomortseva. “At the University of Bangui in the Central African Republic, over 250 students participated in cultural and educational events and a mobile Russian language school organized in November 2025 with the support of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. In Niamey, the capital of the Republic of Niger, courses are held at Abdou Moumouni University and the Institute of Health, with approximately 200 students learning Russian.”
The Institute director noted a particularly high interest in the Russian language in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To support this interest, RUDN organizes annual summer and winter schools, inviting students from its Russian language centers across these African nations. “In 2025, 15 students from the DRC have already participated, and we expect students from CAR, Niger and Mali to attend the winter school,” Pomortseva added.
She highlighted that other Russian universities are also actively establishing Russian language centers. “Today, opportunities to study Russian exist in more than 20 countries across the African continent. Since 2023, RUDN has opened and now supports over ten Russian language and culture centers based in schools and universities across six African countries,” the agency's interlocutor stated.
RUDN emphasized that its graduates are among the teachers of Russian. “Specifically, in 2025, 13 students from African countries received additional qualifications and will be able to join the ranks of Russian language teachers,” Pomortseva concluded.
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Based on materials from TASS