Russia turns to Africa: Kenyan workers in high demand amidst war‑induced labour shortage
Russian recruitment agencies are now turning to specialists and unskilled workers from Africa to fill the gap left by those who died in the conflict with Ukraine, were conscripted into the military, or fled mobilization and emigrated abroad. This information comes from data published by the Russian job search platform HH.ru.
According to data published in mid-July by HH.ru, the largest Russian job search platform, as reported by "Ukrainska Pravda," Russian companies have significantly expanded their recruitment activities on the African continent. The number of job offers directed at candidates from countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Algeria, Uganda, and Mauritius has increased several times since the beginning of this year.
Data analysis shows that seven out of ten countries where Russian companies recorded the highest growth in recruitment activities this year are African countries. In the first half of 2024, the most job offers were directed to Kenyans - as many as 6,400, a 39-fold increase compared to the same period in 2023, when only 161 offers were made. During the same period, 1,700 offers were sent to Angola, 224 to Zambia, 165 to Zimbabwe, and 130 to Cameroon.
This year, Russian companies, for the first time, directed job offers to African countries such as Sierra Leone, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. The most sought-after African workers in Russia are Kenyans.
The speaker of the Kenyan Parliament, Hussein Mohammed, announced at the beginning of this year that the Kenyan authorities plan to send 10,000 of their citizens to work in Russia. Kenyans are employed in various sectors such as logistics, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and education as English language teachers.
To attract workers from Kenya, Russia has launched a project that includes recruitment, training in the Russian language, and adaptation courses on an educational platform for migrants. Similar initiatives are soon to be introduced in other African countries.
