With the current rapidly changing geopolitical situation, Russia has been redefining and reassessing its policy parameters while debating strategic approaches within the principle of finding common solutions to Africa’s development expectations. Ultimately, Russia aims at consolidating Africa’s economic sovereignty. The Valdai Club, a policy think tank, has exclusively organized conferences in Africa in Arusha, Tanzania, and in Pretoria, South Africa, during the past few years. President Vladimir Putin, taking part in a plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai Club, titled “Responsibility for the Future: Limits of the Possible, or Limitless Possibilities?” noted that Russia attaches special importance to relations with all African countries while analyzing the current geopolitical situation in the world.
The world is becoming a multipolar, somewhat fragmented architecture, not a new consolidated system. Russia would work with Africa to develop together, rather than “make a profit or steal” like colonizers, Putin emphasized at the Valdai discussion forum. Putin’s remarks on multipolarity resonate deeply across Africa, as that transition from the current geopolitical situation to a more multipolar world is not simply a redistribution of influence, power, and the scramble for Africa’s resources. The idea of building trust is “a complex and fragile process; it is very difficult to establish and very easy to destroy.”
But humanity, although it is experiencing major changes, has not yet truly fully grasped the magnitude of the challenge it is facing. That, however, agreeing on the principles for shaping a new world order capable of ensuring the progress and development of humanity in the coming decades, Putin suggested that countries have to dialogue and negotiate for fairer terms to avoid the most catastrophic scenarios for humanity.
The third Russia–Africa Summit
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The previous Russia-Africa summits in coastal cities Sochi and St. Petersburg were devoted to peace, security, development, and multipolar issues. Now, Russia will hold the 3rd Russia-Africa summit, late October, that provides an opportunity to discuss the entire range of initiatives and comprehensive development of relations with African countries as a whole. Russia is committed to promoting political dialogue and qualitatively strengthening trade-economic interaction with African countries.
The 3rd summit aims to shape up a pivotal milestone for continental economic cooperation. It is wedged between ensuring security in Africa’s ethnic conflicts and investing in economic sectors. A strategic shift Russia considers appropriate in its relations with Africa. It is moving forward to create a stage with a roadmap focused on economic diversification, agro-industrial development, food sovereignty and energy, and sharing technological expertise.
Multipolar Order: Aligning African states against Western hegemony and unilateral sanctions. Thus, Moscow’s primary geopolitical and economic platform is planned to forge deeper strategic ties with Africa, counter Western isolation, and promote a multipolar world order.
Economic & Trade Drivers: Expanding bilateral trade volume toward new highs, surpassing $28 billion. Guaranteeing Russian grain and agricultural exports alongside peaceful nuclear energy cooperation. Implementing non-Western national currency settlement systems to bypass restrictions.
Delivery Gaps: Translating high-level political declarations into fully realized commercial execution.
Geopolitical Friction: Navigating competing Western diplomatic pressures and regional African peace initiatives. It is seriously aiming to establish a new level of mutually beneficial partnership, shifting to broader economic cooperation. Such commitment to expand multifaceted cooperation with Africa is targeted to be a long-term choice.
Organizing committee’s perspectives: The organizing committee is chaired by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov. In an official message, Ushakov maintains Russia continues to position itself as an alternative partner to Western nations in Africa, emphasizing sovereign equality, anti-colonial narratives, and multipolar governance.
Core Theme: “Developing Mutually Beneficial Cooperation and Realizing the Potential of All African Countries Together” alongside the accompanying Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
Action Plan: Approval of a strategic partnership action plan for 2027–2029.
Key Topics: Discussions will focus on trade, investments, food security, alternative currencies, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, and digitalization.
Context: Following the first summit in Sochi (October 2019) and the second in St. Petersburg (July 2023), this event aims to build a new architecture of economic and humanitarian cooperation. Trade between Russia and African nations surpassed $27–$28 billion, which both sides seek to expand further.
Stepping up Trade and Investment Cooperation
The Russian Ministry of Affairs weekly briefing says the third Russia-Africa summit will, expectedly, be a high organizational level and will lend strong impetus to a further development of the Russia-Africa partnership in all areas. A substantial package of intergovernmental documents and commercial contracts is planned to be signed during the Russia-Africa summit, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told an official briefing on August 20. Given the “mutual interest in stepping up trade and investment cooperation, we plan to focus the agenda of the upcoming summit meeting on economic matters,” she said. The program of economic and humanitarian forums on the summit’s sidelines includes topical sessions and an exhibition segment. The attendees can discuss in substance a wide range of matters, including boosting Russian-African ties in agriculture, healthcare, education, and scientific-technical and cultural cooperation.
“We have a huge potential in this sphere, which has not yet been fully realized, as everyone admits. Key priorities have also been determined: to cooperate on peaceful uses of nuclear power, to develop independent payment systems, food security, and digitalization, including the adoption of artificial intelligence,” Zakharova said. Many African capitals have already confirmed their attendance and declared their intention to send representative delegations to Moscow, including heads of state entities and businessmen, of course, according to Zakharova.
Local Russian media headlines say declarations and communiqués have been undertaken, but investments lag behind due to structural barriers and lack of financial mechanisms and bureaucracy. Without credit lines and other investment guarantees, an economic agenda is just a popular slogan. The wider strategic picture explains why Moscow keeps trying. It seeks, however, to sustain friendship and multipority. That is also a kind of leverage, but it is mostly security and diplomatic leverage rather than agro-processing and manufacturing, economic development, and provision of infrastructure. This should not be interpreted as mere skepticism but practical reality.
Several bilateral agreements have been signed during these past years. The more important questions are what concrete financing mechanism Russia has for Africa and why Russia’s market access is difficult for African exporters or agro-processing deals are so hard to deliver instead of exporting Russian grains across Africa. Diversification is a sound principle, but Russia’s partnership strategy is also as valuable as to earn revenue from Africa. Soviet-era solidarity was gone. Russia is not operating charity, as African leaders have pictured it today.
Africa’s preference for Russian grains
More worrying, Russia’s support for ensuring Africa’s food security has taken a new turn, consistently increasing grain, wheat, and fertilizer exports to Africa. On the other hand, lack of access to the Russian market remains a major challenge for African enterprises. Trade imbalance has become a new topic at conferences and summits. The key question is whether Moscow is ready and willing to make concessions on market access as part of the broader normalization. For instance, in May 2026, as part of Africa Day, China announced zero tariffs for Africa. Accordingly, Africa appreciated China walking its talk and honoring bilateral promises. Without geopolitical rhetoric, it has a strong economic presence in Africa.
Russia is ready to supply everything needed to ensure food security in Africa, including animal vaccines and fertilizers, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev told RT following his visit to several African countries. Ensuring food security is, of course, very important for all African countries. Most importantly, promoting new agricultural technologies in Africa. According to Tsivilev, Russia takes a similar approach to mineral extraction, as mining in these countries was often carried out in a “predatory” manner, with almost everything being exported and little left for the state.
“Our task is to transfer technologies and teach people how to work in a way that, first, takes into account natural conditions and meets all environmental requirements and, of course, ultimately ensures that products with the highest possible added value are exported. We are ready to provide our technologies for this purpose and train specialists who will work with them,” he said. Tsivilev also expressed confidence that Africa could become an exporter of agricultural products in many areas if the work were properly organized.
Markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America are promising destinations for Russian biotechnology exports, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov noted on the sidelines of the Bioprom forum in early October 2026. For biotechnology, markets where food production, livestock farming, aquaculture, and pharmaceuticals are growing but domestic technology chains are not yet sufficiently developed are particularly promising. These include Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
According to estimates, more than 40 Russian enterprises expressed readiness to export agricultural products. Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov underscores the fact that Russia is interested in entering African markets, currently the most promising and fastest-growing, and it is crucial to have a presence in this market. Russia’s revenue from agricultural product exports is growing. Russia’s trade in agricultural products with African countries grew by 18% to almost $10 billion in 2024, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said, by a video conference on ensuring African nations’ food sovereignty held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports indicated more than 20 African countries importing grains and wheat from Russia.
Rosatom building Africa’s power
Building nuclear power plants in Africa has been Russia’s priority, primarily to provide energy for domestic and industrial use while focusing on minimizing persistent energy crises. Africa has been a continent suffering from a power deficit; there is huge scope for developing energy business in the sector. “It is essential for African countries to create a viable energy mix, which will guarantee their own energy security and drive industrial development. That’s the reason why more and more African countries are currently studying the opportunities for adopting nuclear power,” Viktor Polikarpov, an official from Rosatom told this author an interview. Rosatom has interacted with and has shown interest in developing nuclear power in countries, including Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa.
Notwithstanding, it is estimated that only a quarter of sub-Saharan Africa’s population have access to electricity. This means that more than 600 million people are living with limited or completely no access to a reliable supply of electricity. In order for Africa to continue and even increase its current growth potential, it needs a more reliable and affordable source of base-load power to stimulate industrial activities and bolster economic growth, and nuclear power could be a better option. Rosatom officials believe nuclear power is an environmentally friendly and safe method of producing base-load power. Another advantage is the unique and large-scale impact on social and economic development.
Egypt’s El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), with four reactors currently under construction, the official reports noted, adding that the construction was possible due to a US$25 billion bank loan through a concessional agreement. Egypt covers the remaining, roughly 15%. The loan is repayable over a 25-year period, starting in 2029, according to the agreement’s financing structure.
Rosatom is going ahead with expanding the El Dabaa project; the initiative is backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin within the framework of Egyptian-Russian bilateral relations. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has constantly expressed gratitude to the Russian nuclear power workers for their job in Egypt. The El Dabaa NPP is located 350 kilometers from Cairo. The plant will comprise four power units with Russian VVER-1200 reactors belonging to the 3+ generation and meet high international requirements for efficiency and safety. Rosatom’s engineering division is the general designer and contractor for the plant. This plant, which started in 2022, is Rosatom’s first project in Africa.
Rosatom is Russia’s national nuclear corporation, bringing together some 400 nuclear companies and research and development institutions that operate in the civilian and defense sectors. With 70 years of expertise in the field, Rosatom claims to be the leader in technologies and competencies offering cutting-edge industry solutions.
External partners developing Africa’s economy
The gap between rhetoric and delivery is where the critical questions lie. Russia is, consistently, strengthening the capacity of investing across Africa and signed several bilateral agreements. From the first summit in 2019 in Sochi, Russia has 92 agreements, and from St. Petersburg in July 2023, records indicate 240 bilateral agreements with African countries. Russia’s financial mechanism is still unknown for Africa, as its financial institutions and banks are under Western sanctions. In the emerging multipolar architecture, Africa has other suitable external alternatives; those foreign investors are ready with adequate funds for investments. As sovereign nations, it is necessary to identify practical measures and strengthen preparedness for collaborating with foreign partners to develop Africa’s economy. Summit communiqués tend to underplay, while China, India, the Gulf States, and Europe make rival development offers if African leaders use these opportunities well and skill their negotiations.
Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International, and Professor of Practice (Public Policy), JCERC University, Jaipur, told this article author in an interview that economic sovereignty in this environment means choosing where to build capability. From CUTS International’s perspective, drawing on long engagement in Africa, five priorities stand out.
(i) Mineral value-addition. Africa holds about 30 per cent of global reserves of critical energy-transition minerals and produces more than 77 per cent of the world’s cobalt and 65 per cent of its manganese, yet most of this leaves the continent unprocessed. Beneficiation, regional battery and component value chains, and transparent, competitive licensing regimes should be the top industrial priority.
(ii) Agro-processing and food systems. Food import dependence was exposed again by this year’s shocks to fuel, fertilizer, and shipping. Agriculture employs the most Africans, and processing is the fastest route to jobs and food security.
(iii) Energy and industrial infrastructure. Reliable, affordable power, especially renewables where Africa has vast potential, is the precondition for any manufacturing strategy.
(iv) Digital public infrastructure and services. Interoperable payments, digital identity, and digital trade under the AfCFTA protocol can lower transaction costs faster than physical infrastructure alone. India’s DPI experience offers a practical South-South model.
(v) Financial and regulatory sovereignty. This means a fair restructuring framework and support for borrowers’ coordination on debt; African institutions such as PAPSS and the proposed African credit rating agency; and, often overlooked, strong competition, consumer protection, and trade-facilitation regimes. Sovereignty is lost as easily to domestic monopolies and non-tariff barriers as to foreign creditors.
Is this a second “reawakening”? We believe it is, with an important qualification. The first awakening, in the 1950s and 60s, was political: independence and the right to self-rule. The second, now underway, is economic and institutional: the right to shape the rules of trade, finance, technology, and resources. But an awakening becomes a renaissance only through execution: ratifications turned into functioning customs posts, mineral policies turned into factories, and debt relief turned into schools and clinics. African leaders themselves acknowledged that demanding a fairer global order and institutional reforms also means putting their own houses in order. If that internal discipline matches the external ambition, the 21st century can indeed be Africa’s.
Russia and Africa advancing shared priorities
Africa aims at consolidating its independence and economic sovereignty. Russia has its own historical foundation. Therefore, Russia urges Africa to pursue an independent foreign policy and overcome its colonial legacy. In recent decades after the sudden collapse of the Soviet era, Russia has been undergoing a major transformation. However, the political dialogue between Moscow and Africa’s capitals has been maintained, creating the foundation for reshaping a new policy agenda. This has genuinely reflected on the current relations with the continent and with regional blocs and the African Union.
It is the long-term policy approach that Russia considers to be the most sensible, while ensuring that expanding trade and business-to-business contacts may yield results in the very near future. This may, consequentially, have different timeframes. Africa is changing very rapidly. African countries are becoming important decision-making centers; their economic and political influence is growing; and African states themselves are actively shaping their own approaches to issues of international security, trade, development, and the reform of the global financial system.
And of course, Russia welcomes this process. It believes unwaveringly that African states must be able to determine for themselves with whom and in which areas they wish to cooperate. That is precisely what is advocated for, a multipolar world and fairer representation of African countries in international institutions, first and foremost in the United Nations.
In this context, the forthcoming Russia–Africa summit, to be held on 28–29 October 2026 in Moscow, is of particular significance—the third summit of this calibre. The first took place in Sochi in 2019, and the second in St. Petersburg in July 2023. Re-summarizing priority areas as follows:
The first is trade and investment. Russia is keen to ensure that trade with African countries grows not only through the supply of specific products but also through joint ventures, industrial cooperation, localization, and investment.
The second is energy. In this area, Russia possesses expertise that may be particularly sought after by African states. This involves not only the construction of power stations but also the training of specialists and the development of a scientific and regulatory framework.
The third is food and energy security. Africa needs stable supplies of food, fertilizers, and energy resources, and Russia has significant capabilities in these areas.
The fourth is education, science, and technology. Russia has traditionally regarded capacity-building as one of the most reliable ways to foster long-term partnership. If an African country receives not only equipment but also specialists capable of independently utilizing and developing the relevant technologies, the benefits of such cooperation will endure for decades.
Fifth—security and the fight against terrorism. African states determine their own needs, whilst Russia stands ready to provide the necessary training, expertise, and technology. This is particularly relevant to the fight against terrorism, transnational crime, and other threats spreading across West Africa and the Sahel.
Finally, the international agenda will be of particular importance. Russia and African countries advocate strengthening the role of the UN, reforming international financial institutions, enhancing the role of developing countries in global decision-making, and opposing unilateral sanctions mechanisms that hinder the development of world trade.
In the ultimate analysis, Russia seeks to develop not only contacts with individual African states but also institutional dialogue with regional associations and the African Union. In July 2026, the African Union Commission and Russia reaffirmed the need to further strengthen cooperation, including the development of sectorial dialogues and expert consultations on priority areas of cooperation. The joint statement explicitly noted that the third Russia-Africa Summit creates conditions for a new impetus to multifaceted relations between Russia and Africa and to the future advancement of shared priorities.
