The Sputnik Africa logo. Credit: Sputnik Africa

NNA News - Russian international media organisation Sputnik has opened new editorial centres in Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam, expanding its presence in Africa as Moscow seeks closer media and diplomatic cooperation with countries across the continent.

The centres were launched on Tuesday, 20 October, with the opening ceremony in Tanzania featuring a video address by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The launch comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for 28–29 October in Moscow, according to the announcement.

Lavrov said the new offices would widen African audiences’ access to information, presenting the expansion as part of Russia’s broader engagement with the continent.

"The opening of regional offices in Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg will help provide African audiences with greater access to objective, verified information — free from distortion or ideological filters," he noted.

He also criticised Western governments’ approach to international media, arguing that censorship and what he described as double standards were restricting dissenting perspectives in the global information space.

The Johannesburg opening was also welcomed in a statement attributed to South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who said the office could contribute to media diversity and closer relations between the two countries.

“The opening of Sputnik's regional office in Johannesburg represents an important development for the media landscape of South Africa and the African continent,” Mashatile said.

He added that the centre should provide a platform for engagement and journalism, welcoming Sputnik’s stated intention to amplify African voices and tell African stories.

In Tanzania, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Said Shaib Moussa said the new centre was expected to cover developments nationally, regionally and internationally.

“We believe that the Sputnik agency will provide us with news of the country, the region, the continent, and the entire world in all spheres without exception, including the sphere of geopolitics and development,” Moussa said.

Russia’s ambassador to Tanzania, Andrey Avetisyan, described the centre as a channel for communication between the two countries.

“We have launched the Russian media outlet that will bring a message from Russia to Tanzania, and will bring a message from Tanzania to Russia,” he said.

Sputnik’s parent organisation, Rossiya Segodnya, said the centres would operate as full editorial offices staffed by local journalists. Content will be produced in English and Swahili, including podcasts distributed through radio stations across Africa. The organisation said its radio content reaches a combined audience of more than 100 million listeners, a figure that was not independently verified for this report.

Rossiya Segodnya director-general Dmitry Kiselev said working directly from African countries reflected trust between nations and audiences, and argued that the presence of the centres would strengthen what he called information sovereignty.

The expansion also raises questions about media ownership, editorial independence and the role of state-backed international broadcasters in an increasingly contested information environment. Sputnik is part of Russia’s state-backed Rossiya Segodnya media group. In March 2022, the European Union suspended Sputnik’s broadcasting activities within the bloc, citing concerns about Russian state-controlled media and information manipulation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU’s position is its stated rationale for the restrictions, rather than an independent assessment of the new African centres.

The new offices will operate in a different regulatory and media environment in Africa. Their contribution to public debate will depend on the range of perspectives they publish, the transparency of their sourcing and their ability to distinguish reporting from political messaging.

For South Africa and Tanzania, the openings add another international media presence to the continent’s evolving news landscape, where partnerships, local reporting capacity and access to diverse sources remain important questions for audiences and the wider media industry.