During the Soviet times, Patrice Lumumba resonated with Soviet’s propaganda especially in Africa. It was closely linked with educational institution for educating and training of specialists for Africa’s development and economic growth. Thousands of young African specialists were trained and educated at the Patrice Lumumba University named after the Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, and that practice continues until today. Established in 1960, it primarily provided higher education to Third World students during the Soviet days.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the name of the Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba, was removed. But that was fixed back in April 2023 to influence African leaders to attend the second Russia-Africa summit. It is Russia’s most multidisciplinary university, which boasts the largest number of foreign students and offers various academic disciplines.

With heightening of a new geopolitical architecture, the rapidly changing multilateral relations which guarantees an emerging multipolar world, Russia has been exploring attractive mechanisms and instruments to influence public perceptions and to establish foothold across Africa.

Lumumba has indeed become a Russian brand. African students in any part of Russia, it could be in a shopping mall, cultural park or even in a street, are referred to as Lumumba. Early October 2024, after serious negotiations Russia Today (RT) decided to hired a Kenyan Professor Lumumba to boost its media among African and global audience. It has launched an African TV........

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