Russia-Africa trade reached US$35 billion in 2025 with Russian exports including grain, dairy, and poultry exports, while African agricultural imports (coffee, fruit) to Russia also surged. Key areas include agricultural goods, military contracts, and nuclear energy, with Russia actively reducing trade barriers and diversifying into the processed foods and high-tech sectors. We cover Russia-Africa trade, investment, and market entry opportunities and provide your guide to navigating the commercial landscape and forging strategic partnerships for growth in Africa’s emerging markets.
Russia’s Rosatom is awaiting approval from the Namibian government for a uranium mining project with a decision expected shortly, according to Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s CEO. Namibia is a very active player in the global natural uranium market, and ranks in the top five uranium-producing countries globally.
Russia’s Rosatom are making a feasibility study for the proposed Bugula lithium production project in Mali commencing in 2027, which if satisfactory will see the start of construction of the mining and processing plant (MPP) scheduled for 2028, the company has stated. Rosatom also expects to attract investors from friendly countries. Mali is also looking to build numerous small NPP reactors, which could turn it into an electricity exporter.
Mozambique is looking to engage with Russia’s energy companies Rosneft, Gazprom and Novatek in the development of its LNG industry. The Mozambique LNG project is a US$20 billion onshore liquefied natural gas development located on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado province, with Russian participants interested in the Rovuma basin area.
The 2026 Africa Aerospace And Defense Exhibition has taken place in South Africa, while Egypt has hosted the El Alamein International Airshow. We examine Russia’s significant participation in both these events and what it means for Russia’s military and defence sector exports.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov has held 50 meetings while attending the United Nations in New York. We examine each of these, including important discussions with the United States, and Germany and look at the significance of Russia’s expanding international diplomacy and what this means in terms of foreign policy developments and potential outcomes.
Subscribe to receive exclusive insights and analysis on Africa.
Roman Chekushov, the Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister, has been meeting with Mohamed Farid, the Egyptian Industry Minister, Khaled Hashem, the Investment and Foreign Trade Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister Wael Hamed and the chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Mohamed El-Sewedy in Cairo to discuss trade developments. Bilateral trade is up 15.6% in 2026.
Russia has resumed the export of wheat to Burundi after administrative difficulties. The country is a major exporter of bulgar wheat, used in numerous Burundian dishes including the popular Boko Boko Harees. Over 815 tonnes of wheat worth around US$600,000 was shipped in 8M 2026.
The Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have agreed a Joint Action Plan to cover the period 2027-2030. This covers important trade development areas including digitalization, information and communication technologies, customs regulation, agro-industry, food security, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, consumer protection, green-economy issues and information exchange. We deep dive the contents to explain exactly what this means and the impact on EAEU and SCO members.
Russia’s trade with the Global South and ‘friendly’ countries now accounts for 85% of its total, reaching about US$299 billion in H1 2026. The West provides just 15% of Russia’s economic trade and continues to decline. We examine the main Global South trade partners in all regions, and provide the latest H1 2026 trade data. There are some surprising results for those who assume Russia only trades oil with China and India. The non-energy sector on a worldwide basis is increasingly dominant as Global South trade volumes continue a Russian growth trajectory.
The WorldFood and Russian Sea Food Expos have been taking place in Moscow and St. Petersburg with significant trade delegations attending from China, India, ASEAN, Brazil, Egypt and the Middle East as well as most of the Global South nations. We discuss in considerable detail how Russia’s agricultural trade is interacting with these international markets in both exports and imports, within an industrial sector whose output is measured in the trillions of dollars.
Africa’s development potential loomed large over both the recent BRICS and SCO summits, with MoU being signed to better integrate economic development, trade and investment. We examine the increasing links between Africa and Eurasia in a detailed and wide-ranging analysis. This report will be of interest to anyone involved in African development.
Русский
