Russia opens Russia-Africa summit in Moscow as trade trails Putin's $40bn target

Opening in Moscow

Russia opened its third Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Wednesday, 28 October, with a two-day economic and humanitarian forum running alongside it through Thursday, 29 October. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergueï Riabkov told the opening session that Africa is one of the main drivers of BRICS development over the coming decades. Some 48 African delegations are attending, and 22 of them are headed by heads of state. Deutsche Welle reports that the summit has been held every three years since 2019 and that this edition covers economic cooperation, political and security questions, and scientific and cultural exchanges. Putin is due to cochair Thursday's plenary session with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who currently chairs the African Union.

Trade against the promises

Russia's trade with Africa remains well short of the $40bn annual level Putin pledged at the Sochi summit in October 2019. Russian trade statistics put merchandise trade at $27.1bn in 2025. In the first eight months of 2026, Russia exported $14bn in goods to Africa and imported $3.2bn, so the imbalance has persisted into this year. Agricultural shipments drive much of the gap, with Russia sending 10.2 million tonnes of wheat to Africa in the first half of 2026 and Egypt its largest agricultural customer. The 2023-2026 action plan from the St Petersburg summit is nearing its end, and the Moscow programme puts trade and investment at its centre, with a new plan for 2027-2029 expected to move forward.

2025 merchandise trade27.1

2019 pledged target40

2025 merchandise trade

27.1 $bn

2019 pledged target

40 $bn

Data from the article text

Egypt and the wider footprint

Deutsche Welle describes Egypt as Russia's principal partner in Africa. Trade between the two countries more than doubled after 2021 and reached $10.5bn in 2025, with Russia exporting mainly grain and metal products and Egypt sending mostly fruit and vegetables. Russia is also building a nuclear plant at El-Dabaa with a $25bn loan that covers about 85% of the project's cost. Ivan Klyszcz of the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn says trade with South Africa remains modest, well below Moscow's flows with Egypt and Algeria. Nikita Smagin, a Middle East specialist, argues that Egypt could over time become a gateway for Russia into other African markets, while Cairo also pursues its own interests. Moscow is courting Tanzania and Ethiopia as well, though those efforts have produced no significant results so far.

Culture and media

Courrier international, citing an analysis from The Economist, says Moscow has stepped up its influence work in Africa through culture and media. The effort runs through cultural diplomacy, the Orthodox Church, higher education, professional groups and media companies. Putin frames the campaign as defending the 'global majority' against 'neocolonialism'. Lavrov said in February 2026 that 90% of Russian officials expelled from Europe had been reassigned to Africa. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova describes Lavrov's repeated visits to the continent as a return to Africa.

What is at stake

An Al Jazeera commentary argues that Russia's growing influence has done more to advance Moscow's interests and protect allied rulers than to deliver the prosperity and security promised to ordinary Africans. The Moscow agenda covers investment, industrial production, food security, energy, technology and payment systems. Earlier summits produced 92 agreements in Sochi in 2019 and 161 accords in St Petersburg in 2023, so the Moscow outcome will be measured against those pledges and against the $40bn trade target.