Daria Zelenova, PhD in Political Science and and Head of the Centre for African Strategy in BRICS at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, took part in The Nnete Fela Show podcast on Sputnik Africa Radio, where she presented an in-depth analysis of Russian-African relations, their historical foundations, and current areas of development. The conversation covered a wide range of issues, from the legacy of anti-colonial solidarity to global competition on the continent and Africa’s growing role in shaping a multipolar world order.
The Nnete Fela Show is a daily talk show focusing on the geopolitical shifts shaping Africa and South Africa. Its host, Siaha Tladi, analyses international relations and regional politics in order to show how global transformations affect local realities. The programme is broadcast across a large number of African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana and Cameroon.
“The Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences is Russia’s leading academic centre for the comprehensive study of the African continent”
Answering a question about her professional path, Daria Zelenova emphasized the key role of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the development of African studies in Russia: “When I graduated from Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, I learned that, at that time, the only place in Moscow where one could engage in genuine African studies, including mandatory fieldwork, was the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was there that, in 2009, I began working on my dissertation on social movements in South Africa, and since then I have been involved in the Institute’s research activities.”
According to her, the Institute remains “the only institution in Russia that deals comprehensively with African issues.” Founded in 1959 during the wave of decolonization, it was initially established as an academic centre focused on gaining a deep understanding of developments on the continent and promoting humanitarian ties with African countries. Daria Zelenova particularly noted: “The Institute emerged in the context of the Soviet Union’s solidarity with African peoples fighting for liberation from colonialism.”
Today, the Institute employs around one hundred researchers working in various fields of African studies. Daria Zelenova also placed special emphasis on the academic school associated with Vladimir Shubin, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Chief Research Fellow at the Centre for History and Cultural Anthropology, who, in her words, became her “godfather” in understanding the politics, social movements, and culture of Southern Africa. Historical research has traditionally been one of the strengths of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For example, in preparation for Daria Zelenova’s lecture at the National University of Lesotho, she analysed a unique PhD dissertation by the Russian scholar Lev Rytov on the history of Basutoland, as Lesotho was known during the period of the British protectorate from 1884 to 1966.
“Through history, we gain a better understanding of our present-day relations”
In February, Lesotho and Russia marked the 46th anniversary of diplomatic relations. According to Daria Zelenova, the two countries share many interesting pages of history that remain little known. These are documented in historical studies and preserved in the archives of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “I am certain that very few people know that in 1928 Josiah Gumede, a prominent South African freedom fighter and former president of the ANC, delivered the first lecture to workers in Lesotho in the city of Maseru, in which he spoke in detail about his first visit to Soviet Russia. Thanks to him, ordinary people in Lesotho learned about the Soviet Union as a country of progress for the working class. For many years, the USSR maintained ties with the Communist Party of Lesotho.”
Another interesting fact mentioned by Daria Zelenova, illustrating how people-to-people contacts contributed to dialogue and mutual cultural enrichment, was the study of traditional crafts in Lesotho conducted by the Russian émigré Meyerovich. In 1935, he travelled to Basutoland to study rural crafts among the Sesotho people, and later organized an exhibition of African decorative and applied arts as part of an international educational conference in Salisbury, Harare, in former Rhodesia. In his documented speech at the opening ceremony, he noted that “the undoubted merits of African traditional sculpture may be destroyed by the European method,” which he described as “the rubbish we bring to African peoples in the name of education.” “These are only some of the historical facts that illustrate how dialogue and cultural interaction between the peoples of Lesotho and Russia took place,” the scholar noted.
Historical memory and its reflection in Russia’s contemporary policy
One of the central themes of the podcast was the role of historical memory, above all the Soviet Union’s support for anti-colonial and anti-apartheid movements, in shaping Russia’s contemporary foreign policy approach to Africa. According to Daria Zelenova, the Institute for African Studies played a very important role in supporting the struggle of African national liberation movements, and this memory continues to directly influence Russia’s approaches, which are based on the principles of equality, respect for sovereignty, and mutual interest.
“The history of the Soviet Union’s solidarity with the anti-colonial struggle in Africa is very important today. It has influenced Russia’s approach to Africa in many respects. Our country’s current re-engagement with the continent is largely based on the same premises of friendship and equality between peoples as in the Soviet period,” the scholar noted.
At the same time, Daria Zelenova emphasized that the Soviet Union’s interaction with African countries was not limited exclusively to an ideological framework: cooperation was pursued both with socialist and capitalist states. Today, Russia inherits this pragmatic and multi-vector approach.
Africa amid global competition: Russia, China, and the United States
Special attention in the conversation was given to growing competition on the African continent. Daria Zelenova described it as part of a broader global dynamic centred on rivalry between the United States and China, including competition for access to critical resources and technological supply chains.
She referred to the research of her colleague Denis Degterev, Doctor of Political Science, Candidate of Economic Sciences, and Chief Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Transition Economy Issues, who studies these processes in detail. According to Daria Zelenova, China’s global dominance in the extraction and processing of rare earth metals is used by Beijing as a competitive advantage, including through its control over mining enterprises in Africa and logistics infrastructure. The United States, in turn, increasingly links its positioning on the continent to countering China — in critical raw materials supply chains, digital infrastructure, and technological standards. As a result, Africa is becoming “an arena of their technological and economic confrontation.”
In this context, Russia, according to the scholar, occupies a special niche: “Russia does not have the same interest in African resources as the United States and China, because Russia itself is rich in resources. In this context, Russia and Africa are on the same side. Russia is interested in developing regional industrial chains and processing raw materials on the continent, seeing its role as helping Africa become an important and independent centre of economic power.”
As Daria Zelenova emphasized, this approach is aimed at strengthening the economic sovereignty of African states. She also added that BRICS is already discussing mechanisms for developing cooperation in the mining sector, where Russia seeks not to participate in a “race for resources,” but to contribute to the creation of added value on the African continent.
Practical cooperation: education and the economy
Among the most visible results of Russian-African cooperation, Daria Zelenova highlighted humanitarian cooperation, above all in the field of education. At present, around 35,000 students from African countries are studying in Russia. This figure exceeds even the level recorded during any single year of the Soviet period. According to her, educational programmes play a key role in training national personnel and building long-term ties.
She also noted the positive dynamics of trade and economic relations: trade turnover between Russia and African countries has shown steady growth, increasing by almost 37% in 2023 and reaching USD 24.5 billion. Investment cooperation is another important area, including major infrastructure projects, in particular the construction of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt, which Daria Zelenova described as “one of Russia’s most capital-intensive investment projects on the continent.”
BRICS and the African agenda
A significant part of the conversation was devoted to Africa’s role in BRICS. The scholar emphasized the contribution of the Republic of South Africa to advancing pan-African interests. Since South Africa was invited to join BRICS in 2011, Pretoria has consistently advocated the interests of the entire African continent.
Based on an analysis of the declarations adopted during South Africa’s BRICS chairmanships, researchers from the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences identified the emergence of several new topics: the African Continental Free Trade Area, women’s entrepreneurship, and youth leadership programmes. Thanks to Pretoria’s efforts, BRICS established mechanisms for engagement with Africa’s regional economic communities.
With the expansion of BRICS in 2023, including the admission of Egypt and Ethiopia, South Africa’s role has transformed, but has not diminished: “South Africa is no longer the only pan-African voice in BRICS, but it continues to act as a strong regional player promoting the interests of Southern Africa within the Southern African Development Community and cooperation between regional communities and the African Union.”
The discussion of further formats of integration was of particular interest. Daria Zelenova stated that, in her view, a new expansion of full membership is unlikely; rather, the category of “BRICS partner countries,” introduced to accommodate the high level of demand for accession, is likely to develop further. She named Nigeria and Uganda as examples of such partners. At the same time, she did not rule out the possibility that the African Union could receive an institutionalized status by analogy with the G20.
Answering a question about BRICS’ positioning vis-à-vis the West, Daria Zelenova emphasized: “From a research perspective — I am not speaking about public discourse — BRICS positions itself as an alternative, but not as a confrontational bloc. This view is confirmed by an expert survey we conducted jointly with colleagues from MGIMO among African scholars from Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, and South Africa. The survey showed a positive perception of BRICS among expert circles of African international relations scholars, associated with a whole range of expectations. African experts expect that BRICS will help create independent trading platforms and financial mechanisms, and strengthen pan-African integration. These expectations also concern reform of the UN Security Council and the strengthening of the political influence of African states in structures traditionally dominated by Western countries.”
Thus, Africa appears not as an object of external influence, but as an independent centre of power actively shaping the global agenda, including through the BRICS platform, which continues to adapt institutionally to new challenges.
The episode is available via the following link: https://en.sputniknews.africa/20260225/sas-state-of-nation-address-illegal-mining-crackdown-and-the-depth-of-russo-sa-ties-1085423658.html
