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By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
Russia, 17 November 2025 – In a move to reclaim its historical footprint on the continent, Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS has announced plans to reopen correspondent offices across all African countries.
The initiative, unveiled by TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov, underscores Moscow’s push for direct media ties with Africa amid rising global information battles.
“Expanding direct media cooperation with Africa is key to strengthening trust and avoiding misinformation from “third-party sources”,” Kondrashov said, as quoted by Russian Embassy in Kenya, in a post on X on Monday.
Kondrashov revealed the plan during the press conference dedicated to the launch of international press tour for journalists from African news agencies "TASS - Africa: Path of Friendship" which is held from November 16 to 24 in Moscow, Kazan, and St Petersburg.
TASS revealed that media employees from 10 French-speaking African countries, accompanied by a TASS team, will visit key landmarks, museums and universities, and talk to representatives of universities and the media.
“I find it strange that information about African countries in Russia comes from Western agencies, which are also the source of information about Russia for Africa,” Kondrashov said, adding that very often those media houses refract the picture or skew events through the political attitudes of a particular agency, or a particular country that the agency represents.
The TASS director general recalled that the agency currently has offices in Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
TASS aims to swiftly expand into Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Madagascar, with ambitions to cover the continent’s 54 countries – just like the Soviet times.
The announcement aligns with the Russian Embassy in Kenya’s recent calls for enhanced bilateral collaboration, as Nairobi emerges as a hub for Russia-Africa dialogues.
Tomsk State Pedagogical University, in collaboration with Kenya Institute of Foreign Language and Professional Studies (KIFLAPS), runs a Russian Language programme to Kenyan students, who attend their classes in Gigiri, Nairobi. Beneficiaries get to learn a lot about the Russian language, culture, and history among other key topics.
This media expansion could be seen as part of Russia’s broader “soft power” strategy, especially post-2023 Russia-Africa Summit, where President Vladimir Putin pledged deeper engagement.
The move could diversify news coverage in Africa beyond Eurocentric views especially on international news items.
As digital disinformation surges—exacerbated by conflict in Sudan and the Russian operation in Ukraine, which the Western world and other global actors see as fully blown war, this expansion could reshape information flows.
TASS was founded in 1904 and this ‘strategic development strategy’ is informed by the agency’s recognition that broader African presence, among other areas could position it as a counterweight in the global south.
The move comes at a time when Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Minister for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi on 12 November 2025 revealed that about 200 Kenyans could be taking part in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that recruiting agencies are still actively working to lure more Kenyans into the conflict.
Local media reported that some have been injured in the midst of fighting while others could not be traced, with their families back at home fearing that they could have been killed.
The government has warned recruiting agencies against luring Kenyans to “the adventures and misadventures” in disguise of job opportunities.
