By Josephine Sesay
Sierra Leone and Russia have signed a new education cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening academic collaboration, promoting knowledge exchange and expanding opportunities for students, lecturers and researchers in both countries.
The agreement was signed on October 28, 2026, by Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and Russia’s Center for Public Diplomacy (CPD) on the sidelines of the Third Russia–Africa Summit.
The partnership will focus on promoting academic exchanges, organising internships and summer schools, and facilitating joint research projects between educational institutions in the two countries.
The agreement builds on ongoing educational cooperation between Sierra Leone and Russia. In October 2026, Russian-language classes were introduced in Sierra Leone with support from the CPD, attracting nearly 100 schoolchildren.
As part of efforts to further strengthen the partnership, the CPD is also collaborating with Novosibirsk State Technical University to establish an international engineering class in Sierra Leone.
The initiative will combine Russian-language instruction with advanced training in specialised subjects, with the aim of preparing students for admission into Russian universities and expanding access to technical and engineering education.
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, welcomed the CPD’s activities in Freetown, expressing optimism about the potential of the partnership to advance engineering education and promote equal access to educational opportunities among different social groups.
She highlighted the importance of initiatives that create opportunities for young people to acquire specialised knowledge and skills needed to contribute to national development.
For his part, CPD Director General Dmitrii Savelev, who also serves as First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, underscored the significance of the agreement in strengthening specialist training for Sierra Leone through targeted educational programmes in Russia.
The cooperation agreement is expected to strengthen institutional relationships between universities, academic staff and research organisations in both countries, while creating opportunities for knowledge sharing and professional development.
Further discussions on the implementation of the agreement are expected to take place in early November during a working visit to Freetown by CPD Executive Director Natalia Krasovskaya.
The partnership represents another step towards expanding Sierra Leone’s international educational cooperation and creating new academic pathways for students seeking higher education and specialised training abroad.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on wednesday, 4th November 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
