‘Soft Power’ Sparking Russian Revival in Africa, Say Analysts

JOHANNESBURG—In June 2023, Steven Gruzd witnessed a sight he now describes as an “anomaly,” while walking a street in Tanzania’s balmy capital, Dar es Salaam. “It was a group of Tanzanian clerics wearing the distinctive robes and headdress of the Russian Orthodox Church,” says the academic, who heads the African Governance Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg. His curiosity piqued, Mr. Gruzd approached the chattering clergymen, covered from head to foot in heavy, black garments despite the searing heat. “I asked politely, ‘What church are you from; what religion?’ One replied, ‘We’re from the Russian Orthodox Church, Tanzania chapter,’” he told The Epoch Times....