Africa
Russia Increases Number of Scholarships to 360 for Chadian Students -By Kelvin Kwame Dewey
Russia and Chad have an excellent bilateral relations. Geopolitical shift is pushing Russia to make education generally for young Africans an ultimate priority. The quota campaign for education and training has, already, began as the figure compares favorably with previous benchmarks but, to some considerable extent, noticeable challenges are currently affecting enrollment from Africa.
On July 14, 2026, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, during talks with Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Chadians Abroad of the Republic of Chad, Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, explicitly indicated that Russia highly values the steady growing nature of bilateral relations, both will maintain an active political and diplomatic dialogue.
Lavrov further explained the current trajectory of bilateral relations was set during the 2024 visit to Moscow by the President of the Republic of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Déby. He also underlined, as part strengthening relations, the participation at the level of foreign ministers in the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum held in Sochi in November 2024. On that occasion, both signed a plan for ministerial consultations providing a structured framework for mutual cooperation.
Later during the working visit of the Chadian Foreign Minister, Russian Foreign Ministry signed an agreement introducing visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and service passports, which is another important practical step towards strengthening the foundations underlying regular bilateral contacts. The presence of the Chadian delegation, in mid-July, provided a good opportunity to explore additional steps to advance, above all, cooperation in trade, the economy, and investment.
Further to the above, Lavrov, along the line, while highly praising the level of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, particularly education, happily announced that Russia would grant more scholarships for Chadian students to study in educational institutions in the Russian Federation.
“More than 3,500 Chadian citizens have received professional training in Russia. We provide 300 publicly funded scholarships each year, which places Chad among the leading countries in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of this indicator. Next academic year, we plan to increase the number of scholarships to 360,” Lavrov said during he media conference with his colleague, Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, in mid-July.
That however, during the official visit, President Mahamat Idriss Déby and President Vladimir Putin conducted a strategic review of bilateral relations and outlined specific priorities for the future. Putin praised the fond memories of the warm hospitality extended to Chadian delegation, during the visit, to N’Djamena in 2024.
On January 24, 2024, Putin, with transitional President of the Republic of Chad, said: “We have doubled the quota for students from Chad to study in the Russian Federation with government grants, and we are ready to double it again in the next two years. As we have seen, interest [in Russian education] is growing among the young Chadian people. And we will be happy to cooperate in all these areas.”
Russia and Chad have an excellent bilateral relations. Geopolitical shift is pushing Russia to make education generally for young Africans an ultimate priority. The quota campaign for education and training has, already, began as the figure compares favorably with previous benchmarks but, to some considerable extent, noticeable challenges are currently affecting enrollment from Africa.
