Patrice Lumumba RUDN University’s role in offering higher education opportunities to African youth

With the Russia-Africa Summit approaching, the Foreign Ministry continues its series of publications on the close cooperation between our country and African states, this time in education.

The Soviet Union and then Russia have invariably stayed at the forefront of efforts to train young people in Africa and enable them to become qualified, highly skilled professionals. Established in 1960, the Patrice Lumumba RUDN University continues to play an instrumental role in this process.

#ImportantFact: Patrice Lumumba was the DRC’s first democratically elected Prime Minister, who came to symbolise the African people’s struggle for independence. He also championed closer ties with the USSR. Arrested for the first time in 1961, with the involvement of Western intelligence services, he later suffered a treacherous death. On February 22, 1961, the People’s Friendship University in Moscow was named after him.

The Soviet Union established RUDN University in an effort to help young African states who had to face many social and economic challenges stemming from the colonial rule by Western countries, including the need to train highly skilled professionals.

It is for this reason that degree programmes focusing on essential sectors like manufacturing, oil and gas, construction, power, electrical engineering, agriculture, transport and social services were always front and centre for African students coming to study at RUDN University.

Since the early 1960s, RUDN has trained and awarded degrees to over 14,000 African specialists. Some of them went on to become state leaders, ministers and ambassadors. In almost every African country there are RUDN graduates working in public administration, businesses, as well as social, cultural, research and educational institutions.

 Professor Charles Alade, RUDN alumni: I am proud to be a graduate of this great university. The time I spent studying in Moscow were the best and most memorable years of my life. No matter what I do or what roles I perform, I always remember and treasure these wonderful moments…

Today, the RUDN remains one of the top universities in Russia by preserving and building on the traditions it has been following since its founding. It is a top Russian university in terms of the number of African students, with 2,500 of them representing 54 African countries.

In total, almost 35,000 African students study in Russia, which is three times as many as 13 years ago. This demonstrates the growing interest among African youth in studying in Russia.