Algeria, Russia To Cooperate in African Energy Development

The Russian Deputy Energy Minister, Roman Marshavin, has been meeting his Algerian counterpart Mohamed Arkab, in Algiers, and have agreed to step up coordination in the energy sector, pledging closer collaboration within OPEC+ and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) as well as joint projects in electricity and resource development, the Russian Energy Ministry has stated.

Algeria is a member of OPEC, while Russia is a member of OPEC+. Algeria has also taken equity in the BRICS New Development Bank.

The meeting was arranged on the sidelines of the 4th Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) in Algiers, where Marshavin also met energy executives and pointed to opportunities for scientific and technical cooperation with Russian partners. He also congratulated Georges Elombi on his election as Afreximbank President and invited him to participate in Russian Energy Week 2025, which takes place in Moscow on October 15–17.

Russia has strengthened its energy cooperation with African countries in recent years. At the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, President Putin announced that more than 30 energy projects with a combined capacity of about 3.7 gigawatts were ongoing across the continent.

In Algeria, Gazprom International has been developing the El Assel project since 2008. In 2021–22, a development plan for the Rhourde Sayah and Rhourde Sayah Nord fields was approved by the national hydrocarbons agency ALNAFT.

Algeria has invited Russian companies to bid in new tenders to develop oil and gas fields, as well as build power plants and grid infrastructure. The two sides also agreed to begin joint projects in other African countries, including electricity generation and networks, and discussed collaboration in which Russia’s energy companies could work with banking institutions in Africa.