Global Powers Using Scholarships for Geopolitical Influence in Africa
Despite major powers framing their educational initiatives in Africa as efforts toward development, analytical reports suggest that academic scholarships have become a powerful tool for extending the geopolitical and cultural influence of these nations, leading to long-term dependency among African nations.
Ostensibly aimed at promoting human development and improving education, these scholarships are, in fact, integral to a soft power strategy designed to secure cultural, economic, and political influence across the continent. Al Jazeera reports that the French Foreign Ministry views educational diplomacy as a cornerstone of its influence policy, aiming to cultivate African elites aligned with French cultural and political values.
Over the past two decades, countries including China, the U.S., France, Russia, and Turkey have massively increased their intake of African students. Data from UNESCO and the Institute of International Education shows the number of these students surged from just a few thousand in the early 2000s to hundreds of thousands by 2024. China alone hosts over 360,000 African students and has promised tens of thousands of new scholarships annually under its “Belt and Road Initiative.”
While poverty and weak domestic education systems drive African youth toward educational migration, a Cambridge University study highlights that student selection is often based on the political and economic interests of the host countries.
Upon returning home, many African graduates become “bridges of influence” for foreign powers, maintaining long-term ties through large alumni networks, such as the French network with over 600,000 members. Experts from the African Capacity Building Foundation warn that the result of this trend is a massive “brain drain” and the debilitating weakening of the continent’s domestic educational systems. They caution that if scholarships do not lead to genuine reform of indigenous education, they will simply perpetuate a cycle of dependency and inequality.
