Although cooperation declined in the years after the collapse of the USSR, Moscow is now returning to the continent, and so is the language

FILE PHOTO: A man near a spot selling souvenirs on Moscow's oldest street, Nikolskaya. ©  Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov

Many Africans learned Russian while studying in Soviet universities, and though cooperation between Moscow and the continent declined in the years after the collapse of the USSR, Russia is now returning, and so is the language.

The ideas and values of Russia are close to the hearts of many Africans. This may explain the growing interest in the Russian language, which, according to the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, is spoken by 255 million people worldwide as of 2022, and is the second most frequently used language for web content after English.

The Soviet Union laid a solid foundation for cooperating with African countries – in fact, without this basis, any major partnership would be impossible today. The USSR educated an entire generation of highly-skilled specialists who formed Africa’s new elites. Because of this, Africa has long considered Russia to be a provider of excellent (and inexpensive) higher education. 

Soviet solutions to African problems 

The decision to train specialists from African countries was part of the Soviet Union’s long-term strategy. To help educate young people from Africa and other world regions, the Peoples’ Friendship University was established in 1960. A year later, the institution was named after Patrice Lumumba – the national hero of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who became a symbol of Africa’s anti-colonial struggle after he was brutally assassinated (with the help of the CIA and the Belgian State Security Service) in 1961. 

The establishment of the People’s Friendship University was part of the Soviet Union’s effort to help its African partners, who had just broken the yoke of colonialism. At the time, there were only 25 universities throughout Africa, and the scientific and pedagogical environment in these institutions was only starting to develop. As a result, representatives of the African elites were mostly educated in Western universities. 

 

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African students went to the USSR to acquire an in-demand profession that would allow them to make a rapid ‘social leap’ when they returned home. This is why the most popular areas of study for African students were engineering, technology, and agriculture. At one point, over 14% of foreign graduates from Soviet universities were Africans. 

Almost 90% of all graduates of African descent completed their university studies, while the remaining 10% graduated from secondary vocational schools. In addition to theory, they also studied the practical aspects of working with Soviet equipment, which helped them to become indispensable specialists in their homeland. 

From 1960-1992, the Soviet Union trained over 40,500 specialists from sub-Saharan Africa. Most graduates (49%) studied at institutions in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR); others were trained in the Ukrainian SSR.

All these people spoke Russian, since students from African countries had to take preparatory language courses for one year. This was the main advantage of Soviet education. 

Nevertheless, there was a problem since few of these people passed on their language skills to others. When they returned home, many graduates gradually forgot the language due to a lack of practice. Some complained about the lack of programs allowing them to maintain their language skills. Moreover, less than 1% of the graduates majored in Russian Studies. Most went on to work in the field of economics, where they never had to speak Russian.

However, for many Africans, the exciting years of study in the Soviet republics overshadowed any shortcomings. Many remember their studies with affection and some even consider Russia their second homeland.