Africa—a continent brimming with opportunity for cooperation across all spheres of interstate relations, from investment to security provision—holds much hope and promise for Russian foreign policy. Oleg Barabanov, Valdai Club Programme Director, explores the present and future of Russia’s engagement with the continent, highlighting the progress made in strengthening ties between Moscow and numerous African states.
The approaching Africa Day on 25 May is an important symbolic date for the entire world—historically and commemoratively, as well as politically. This day once again draws our attention to the memory of the heroic struggle of the peoples of the African continent for their independence and for the right to pursue their own path of development, against Western colonialists and oppressors. Africa Day also recalls the struggle against neocolonialism, which Western powers continue to practise in various forms in relation to African countries today. One manifestation of what is, in essence, neocolonialism is the current heavy-handed pressure exerted by the Trump administration on South Africa, including Trump’s unilateral decision to exclude South Africa from the Group of Twenty during the US presidency in 2026.
In terms of historical memory associated with Africa Day, an integral component is the multifaceted assistance and support that the Soviet Union provided to the young African states. In a number of countries across the continent, the USSR offered substantial—and, as a rule, disinterested—support in building domestic industrial capacity, ensuring energy and food security, modernising agricultural production and fisheries, developing transport infrastructure, and in many other areas. Particularly important was the Soviet Union’s assistance in the establishment and development of education systems in African countries. The training of engineers, agronomists, teachers, and other specialists from African states at Soviet universities became systematic and large-scale over several decades. Alumni communities of Soviet universities in many African countries remain influential organisations to this day.
This unbroken intergenerational link remains significant today. Cooperation with African states is one of the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy. A new stage in relations with the continent began in 2019 with the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi and the establishment of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum as a permanent platform for dialogue and cooperation. In 2023, the second Russia-Africa Summit was held in Saint Petersburg, where a detailed medium-term action plan was adopted. In November 2024, in accordance with this plan, the first Russia-Africa ministerial conference was held under the auspices of the foreign ministries, identifying several thematic sectoral areas of cooperation related to high technology, space exploration, and a range of other industries. In December 2025, the second Russia-Africa ministerial conference took place in Egypt. In January 2025, a dedicated Department for Partnership with Africa was established within the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, complementing the traditional country-based departments. Its work focuses on the further comprehensive development of dialogue and cooperation between Russia and African states.
Preparations are currently under way for the Third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled to take place at the end of the year in Moscow. In the run-up to the Summit, the importance of expert-level work on improving the effectiveness of cooperation and partnership between Russia and African countries is increasing.
Practical experience has shown that Russia and African countries share many converging or similar values and interests. These are linked to the aspiration to build a stable and just world order. An important place is occupied by Russia’s solidarity with African countries in their struggle against the practices of neocolonialism and dependence on external powers, which, unfortunately, persist today. A shared interest lies in the development of mutually beneficial cooperation across various sectors.
Russia seeks to contribute to supporting the economic and infrastructural development of African countries, ensuring the continent’s food and energy security, as well as a just energy transition and digital transformation. A key issue is a mutually beneficial shift from simple export-import operations to full-fledged industrial cooperation between Russian and African companies across various sectors. In this regard, joint projects in vocational education and in the training of engineering and technical personnel are of considerable importance.
This dialogue is accompanied by an intensification of contacts and partnership initiatives from civil society in Russia and African states in the fields of culture, education, and other humanitarian spheres. This creates a much broader foundation for medium-term cooperation, expanding the range of direct contacts between various social groups in our countries, enabling them to get to know and understand one another.
The results of this cooperation—particularly over the past three years following the Saint Petersburg Summit—are tangible and visible. The implementation of major joint projects has been launched across various sectors of industry, energy (including nuclear), and infrastructure development. The number of African students at Russian universities has increased significantly. By some estimates, their number has already exceeded Soviet-era levels. Cultural cooperation and dialogue between the societies of our countries are large-scale and dynamic. Russia is increasingly opening up to African cinema, African music, the African fashion industry, and more. Public figures from African countries are also making a notable contribution to the international Russophile movement—their voices are heard in the struggle for the depoliticisation of humanitarian and cultural ties under the acute conditions of a geopolitically fragmented world.
One of the key conditions for stable and sustainable development is the provision of security. This applies to Africa as it does to any other region of the world. Therefore, the resolution of ongoing armed conflicts on the continent and the prevention of new ones constitute an important shared task.
These conflicts may be interethnic, religious, or purely political in nature. Very often, they are intertwined with struggles over resources and economic spheres of influence. Conflicts in the Sahel, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan, in Somalia, and elsewhere fall into this category. Geopolitical rivalry among leading world powers also affects the course of conflicts in the region.
Russia’s cooperation with numerous African countries is also developing within transregional international formats. In recent years, interest in BRICS among the countries of the global majority—the Global Non-West and the Global South—has grown significantly. At the BRICS summit in South Africa in 2023, a decision was taken to admit, among others, African countries—Egypt and Ethiopia. In 2024, at the BRICS summit in Russia, a circle of BRICS partner countries was formed, which, among others, included Uganda and Nigeria. The African dimension of BRICS has acquired increasing significance and value.
Overall, it can be noted that Russia-Africa cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis has gained steady positive momentum in recent years. All of this serves the interests of the peoples and societies of our countries.
