World
Anti-abortion Policy Could Save Russia’s Population
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Russia, the largest country in the world by area, has a population of 147.2 million, according to the population census.
In the 2021 census, it was said that roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and 19% of the population were ethnic minorities. Demographers say Russia has become increasingly reliant on immigration to maintain its population. Russia’s population is increasingly decreasing since the start of its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in late February 2022.
The demographic crisis has deepened primarily due to high military fatalities while simultaneously facing renewed brain drain and human capital flight caused by Western mass sanctions imposed on the country. In March 2023, The Economist reported that “Over the past three years the country has lost around 2 million more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of the war in Ukraine, and streaming exodus.”
Despite amazing potential conditions available in this huge territory, Russia has been experiencing oscillating patterns of population since the collapse of the Soviet era. After the Soviet break up, Russia has witnessed ‘back and forth’ with its demographic situation, even state policies that were adopted could not support an increased population over the years.
Russia is considered a religious country, and yet abortion rates are high. Understandably, abortion is legal and, therefore, it has had a negative impact on population growth. The economic situation has not encouraged families to have beyond a child, thus it is more or less a one-child policy. Now, Russia’s war with Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on the population too. There are claims of hundreds of thousands of male soldiers already killed at the war-front, as a result, has created single families in the country.
Official Russian Statistics
Demography figures could be staggering. But in August 2023, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said the natural population in Russia slowed by 29% in January-June 2023 compared with the same period of 2022, to 272,500 from 383,800.
The number of births fell 3% to 616,200 from 635,200 and the number of deaths 12.8% to 888,700 from 1,019,000. Natural population decrease in 2022 was down 42.5% in comparison with 2021, to 599,616 from 1,042,675.
As a result, by the beginning of 2023 Russia’s population excluding official statistics for the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, had fallen to 146.4 million, from 147 million at the start of 2022.
In addition, Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service said on November 10 that 1,305,513 persons died over nine months of 2023, and concretely 507,131 divorces were registered this year. According to statistics, the total number of unemployed in Russia in September amounted to 2.3 mln people. These figures were also reported by the state media, Tass News Agency.
Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) has its narratives on trends of immigrants, especially young Russians escaping military mobilization, and well-talented specialists and professionals looking for greener pastures abroad. These specialists and professionals are highly dissatisfied with the current political situation in the country, and consistently exiting to Europe and the United States.
What are the pathways out of this dilemma?
Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and All of Russia, in Sept. 2023 signed an open public petition for the adoption of an anti-abortion law in the Russian Federation. The text of the petition has been discussed and agreed with the Patriarchal Commission for Family Matters and the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.
Its authors stand against abortions, which they describe as a legal murder of unborn children. They demand amendments to the legislation and recognition of a conceived embryo to be a human creature whose life, health and well-being should be protected by law.
The petition’s authors come categorically against any surgical or medical-induced termination of pregnancy. They believe that pregnant women and families with children should receive material aid, the size of which should not be below the minimal subsistence level, from the state budget.
By mid-August, the activists from the Pro-Life all-Russia social movement had gathered the one-millionth signature in support of the legal ban on abortion. The Patriarch said that the Church considers abortion to be a sin and its position is to support the growth of the population.
Now in November 2023, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia finally and strictly demanded that induced terminations of pregnancies be removed from services provided by private and public clinics, healthcare institutions and hospitals throughout the Russian Federation. The head of the Russian church also added that a resolute revision of demographic policy is a strong condition for the survival of modern Russia.
Demography and its Implications for Russia’s economy
It is often said that Russia lacks a sufficient number of migrants to fulfil its ambitious development plans. Despite various official efforts, including regular payment of maternal capital to stimulate birth rates and regulating migration policy to boost population, Russia is reportedly experiencing a decreasing population. In the past, government efforts to re-populate the Far East also proved futile, incapable of producing any useful results in the Far East. Seemingly, most economic projects have shifted to Chinese who are actively undertaking production there in the region. The Far East region is a colossal region with a small population but huge untapped economic potential and attracting the Chinese.
According to analysts interviewed for this article pointed out that Moscow has remained unfriendly towards foreign immigrants, especially those from the former Soviet republics. Nevertheless, the analysts suggested that these huge human resources could be used in the vast agricultural fields to boost domestic agricultural production. On the contrary, the Federal Migration Service has deported these illegal migrants from Russia. Due to short-sightedness, Russian authorities simply don’t see the need to legalize them, or facilitate steps to obtain legal documents.
The government can ensure that steady improvements are consistently made with the strategy of legalizing (regulating legal status) and redeploying the available foreign labour, the majority from the former Soviet republics rather than deporting back to their countries of origin. There are an estimated four million undocumented immigrants from the ex-Soviet states in Russia.
Russian analysts told me during several interviews that Russia has encouraged or even forced people in occupied or annexed regions to become Russian citizens, a procedure known as passportization. This includes the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine, and South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. But these would not help Russia’s population to any large degree. Rather, the country needs an immigration policy plus other topmost population support measures.
On the other hand and for the past few years, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has also been credited for transforming the city into a very neat and smart modern one, thanks partly to foreign labour – an invaluable reliable asset – performing excellently in maintaining cleanliness and on the large-scale construction sites, and so also in various micro-regions on the edge or outskirts of Moscow.
It is, however, necessary to recall here that President Vladimir Putin has already approved a list of instructions aimed at reforming the migration requirements and the institution of citizenship in Russia based on the proposals drafted by the working group for implementation of the State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025.
“Within the framework of the working group for implementation of the State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025, the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation shall organize work aimed at reforming the migration requirements and the institution of citizenship of the Russian Federation,” an official statement posted to Kremlin website.
In addition, the president ordered the Government, the Interior and Foreign Ministries, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Justice Ministry alongside the Presidential Executive Office to make amendments to the plan of action for 2019-2021, aimed at implementing the State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
World
Russia to Support Industrial Growth, Technological Advancement and Supply Chain Resilience across Africa
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With the heightening of geopolitical rivalry and competition, a new Russia-Africa working group has emerged as a significant institutional mechanism and plans to focus on facilitating and monitoring strategic investments, industrialisation, and infrastructural development—the Strategic Action Plan 2023-2026—that was outlined during the second Russia-Africa summit, in St.Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.
While substantial progress has, largely, lagged on the multidimensional economic front with Africa primarily due to its internal difficulties and the complexity of relations with its former Soviet neighbours, Russian officials believe there still remains huge untapped potential in strengthening bilateral cooperation. As planned, President Vladimir Putin has already signed an executive order that directs Moscow to host the forthcoming third Russia-Africa summit in October 2026.
On June 30, a regular meeting of the Business Council on Africa was held under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was dedicated to issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation with Africa. The group discussed the current state and prospects for the implementation of policy initiatives with an emphasis on assisting the countries of the continent, strengthening their economic, energy, technological and food sovereignty, as well as training specialists for Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Russia-Africa relations primarily depend on an understanding of the importance of collective action based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and resolving common tasks. In the past few years, Russia-Africa cooperation has been noticeably strengthening. “We are deepening political dialogues, developing bilateral contacts with African countries, promoting cordial cooperation between ministries and departments, and expanding humanitarian exchanges. We are also continuing the structural diversification of trade partnerships and economic dimensions.”
“Next on the agenda is the launch of diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Union of the Comoros,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Business Council under the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov noted that Russian embassies began operating in three other African countries in 2025: Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. A new Department for Partnership with Africa was also established. According to the top diplomat, “expanding Russia’s diplomatic presence on the continent contributes to developing relations.”
There are already 45 Russian embassies operating in Africa. The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow is quickly rebuilding its presence in African countries, which sharply declined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There will be literally four or five countries left where we still need to establish full-fledged embassies, and then, we will have 100 per cent coverage of the entire African continent with our diplomatic presence,” Lavrov emphasised.
After the first summit in October 2019, the Foreign Ministry also created the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Its main tasks include controlling the roadmap to Africa’s multidimensional cooperation and guiding potential Russian investors to the continent. This also underscored the priority and post-Soviet solidarity Russia currently attaches to its policy towards Africa, within the growing framework of the emerging new architecture of multipolarity in the Global South.
In an interview in June 2026, the director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Tatyana Dovgalenko, shared a few insights in the lead-up to the third summit. Furthermore, Dovgalenko explained that Russia would move away from security to concentrate more on economic issues, especially to team up with African colleagues to streamline mechanisms for implementing projects that will ensure food security and agriculture, and help Africa in installing processing facilities to support its self-sufficiency. She also emphasised energy and vital infrastructures, and the third direction was to simultaneously work more coherently with sub-regional organisations.
Over the past few years, bilateral relations have been increasing. There are positive dynamics in trade turnover, estimated at $30 billion. Steps are being taken to build payment systems, preferably in national currencies, while Russia looks to open four more diplomatic offices, bringing the total to 48 across Africa. Russia is currently training 37,000 African students, but only approximately 1/3 on state scholarships in Russia’s educational institutions. “We are ready to share valuable experiences of building a sovereign development model with African partners to achieve self-reliant economic growth based on their own resources and capabilities. Russia aims at creating processing capabilities and localising production, and provides access to advanced technological solutions,” underlined Dovgalenko in her interview with New Eastern Outlook.
For African countries that have endured difficult decades on the path to political independence, it is now important to take full control over the untapped resources, direct income and revenue toward stimulating the national economic sector, rather than paying for the well-being of the Western “golden billion” during this changing geopolitical era, according to Dovgalenko.
According to reports, the forthcoming Russia-Africa summit will have an economic agenda, including the digital economy, technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, investment, and settlements in global trade. Of course, the agenda will also cover Africa’s political aspects. But if African friends bring along any specific ideas, Russia will give them serious attention. In addition, with continuity and consistency, pay increased attention to expanding ties with Africa’s regional integration associations.
Going forward, the focus will be on translating strong trade relations into deeper investment partnerships, fostering technology collaboration, strengthening industrial linkages and contributing towards the shared objectives set by the leadership of both African countries and Russia. At the third summit, the above-mentioned specific initiatives will be further designed. In this regard, the key document, the new action plan for the next three-year period (2027-2029), is intended to reflect dynamic realities in the future relations of Russia and Africa
