Moscow found in Africa a very fertile ground for its Marxist ideology.
African cultures were historically resistant to ideas of private property because they adhered to a communitarian rather than individualist worldview. As Tom Woods points out, the benefits of free market exchange may not seem equally intuitive to everyone
During the colonial period, the communist party trained several charismatic leaders and supported popular rebellion movements that culminated in bloody independence wars, tens of millions of European settlers driven into exile, and the destruction of the economic foundation that had produced an unparalleled wealth on the continent. Cameroon and Algeria are particular examples that come to mind, but also Zimbabwe etc.