Eurasia Review published on 18 September 2019 an article titled "Russia Eyes African Students to Boost Influence" by Kester Kenn Klomegah, an independent researcher.
There are currently 15,000 Africans studying in Russia and about a third of them are receiving Russian government scholarships. By comparison, there are about 40,000 Africans at American universities, although few of them have government scholarships.