The Kremlin Is Using The Russian Orthodox Church For Expansion In Africa

Instead of economic aid, it is popes with a censer and a cross.

Vladimir Putin does not have, like China and Western countries, billions of dollars to build roads, bridges, power plants, mining mines in Africa and ensure his economic influence. Nor does he have military and political influence - the attempt to gain it with the help of PMC "Wagner" in the end did not yield significant results. But Putin has the Russian Orthodox Church supporting him in everything. And now he is trying to gain a foothold in Africa with its help.

Putin recently created a department in his administration that will coordinate Russia's interaction and policy with the countries he has personally chosen, writes Bloomberg. According to two knowledgeable sources, it will have a special group dedicated to the African direction.

In less than three years, the Russian Orthodox Church has expanded its presence in Africa from four to 34 countries, increased the number of clergy to 270 and registered 350 parishes and communities as of June 2024, according to its own latest figures. The Dec. 29, 2021, decision by the ROC Synod to create the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa was "the most important geographic expansion of the church and its missionary activity over the past 200 years and perhaps in its entire history," wrote Priest Heorgy Maximov, chairman of the exarchate's missionary department, in an article for the scientific publication "Scientific Notes of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences."

The Russian Orthodox Church in Africa is focused on communities where religion and social conservatism play a major role in everyday life. In South Africa, these are primarily Afrikaans-speaking whites who are attracted to the ROC's conservative values. But Russian Orthodox churches are also trying to increase the number of parishioners through outreach programs to rural black communities.

The goal of this expansion is "to try to bring more countries into their orbit," says Tom Southern, director of special projects at the Center for Information Sustainability, who has studied it. "It's like spiritual colonialism," he says.

A church on the outskirts of the town of Robertson in South Africa switched to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2022. The Russian Orthodox Church accepted a priest from Madagascar, Alexei Herizo, "with open arms," he told Bloomberg; he had previously waited years to be accepted by the Greek Orthodox Church. He took an online course at a Moscow seminary, followed by a three-month internship in Moscow itself in 2023.

According to research by Father Evangelos Tiani, a Kenyan priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church attracts higher salaries, promises to build churches and quick promotions. Alexei Herizo confirmed that a salary from the Russian Orthodox Church allows him to "live a decent life, take care of his family's health and provide education for his children."

The USSR was active in Africa, supporting the continent's countries in their struggle for independence and supplying them with weapons. Ties weakened after the collapse of communism, but Putin began to rebuild them when Russia's relations with the West began to fray - especially after its seizure of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Although Russia has signed military cooperation agreements with 43 African countries and is one of the continent's largest arms suppliers, it lacks the financial and economic resources to extend its influence.

China is sub-Saharan Africa's largest trading partner, while Russia is the world's largest trade partner. The UAE and other rich Gulf states have been the main sources of foreign capital in recent years, while China has implemented many infrastructure projects across the continent.

In South Africa, Russia's BRICS partner, the largest foreign investor is actually the EU, with some 600 American companies also operating in the country.

The Russia-Africa summit organized by Putin was attended by 43 heads of state in 2019, but only 17 in 2023.

At the same time as building up "soft power" in Africa to attract local countries into its orbit, Russia is recruiting young women for a factory to assemble combat drones in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan and tricking Africans into going to war against Ukraine.

In South Africa, even Duduzile Zuma, the daughter of the country's former president Jacob Zuma, who is also a member of parliament, participated in the campaign to attract compatriots to the Ukrainian front. A criminal investigation was launched against her, and several people associated with her who were involved in the campaign were arrested.

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