As Russia prepares to strengthen its overall corporate economic profile during the African leaders’ summit, policy experts are questioning bilateral agreements that were signed, many of them largely remained unimplemented, at least, for the past decade with various African countries.

Russia has been looking to raise its existing relationship with African countries and Afreximbank is now providing huge support in realising that long term goal. 

Over the years, the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum has become an open platform to exchange best practices and key competences in the interest of providing sustainable development.

Over the years, Russia and the Republic of Congo have had good bilateral relations. Undoubtedly, there are still prospects for strengthening these relations, especially in the economic and security spheres, as underlined during the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Denis Sassou-Nguesso in the Kremlin.ce

Strengthening cooperation in trade, economy and culture, as well as current international and regional matters were top issues in talks between President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President João Lourenço of Angola at the Kremlin on 4 April.

As Russia prepares to host the first ever Africa-Russia summit in October 2019, the author looks at Africans’ expectations of this new relationship between the former Soviet Union and African countries in the face of growing competition for the continent’s resources. 

A number of African countries facing internal politico-economic challenges including Zimbabwe are turning to Russia not only for financial help in terms of investments and loans, but also for political support. 

In this essay, the author talks about the current limited involvement of Russia on the African continent and the need to increase it to the level of the former Soviet Union’s ties with Africa.  

Experts and researchers have observed that, since the collapse of the Soviet-era politics, an appreciable level of media cooperation has never been on the side of Russia’s public diplomacy with Africa.

In 1991, the globally recognised anti-West Soviet propaganda machine collapsed and disappeared. Nonetheless, Russia and Southern African Development Community member states have had long-standing and time-tested bilateral partnerships for nearly 30 years after the Soviet collapse. In this long-ranging interview, the Executive Secretary of the Community, Stergomena Lawrence Tax, discusses various aspects of economic cooperation with Russia, some strategies, challenges and future perspectives with Kester Kenn Klomegah from Moscow.

The Russia-Africa Trade and Investment Forum is one of the platforms that seek to promote business opportunities on the African continent and serves as a bridge between Russian and African business. It primarily seeks to deepen understanding of the business climate, accelerate investment and partnership possibilities in Africa.

After several years of high-level consultations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally hinted that Russia would organise its first Russia-Africa summit of African leaders and ministers to roll out a comprehensive strategic road map outlining concrete economic sectors for investment, issues relating to trade and culture for Africa.

On 14 July 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly received two African leaders, Gabonese Ali Bongo Ondimba and Sudanese Omar al-Bashir, within the framework of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 

Faced with persistent criticisms, Russia has finally announced it will most likely host the first high-level Russia-African Union forum next year, a replica or a carbon copy of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation or European Union–African Union summit, signalling its readiness to work towards deepening and strengthening multifaceted engagement with Africa.

There is need for Russian and African business partners to know more about each other’s capacities and needs so that the significant potential of economic cooperation between these two parties can be utilised. 

For more than two decades, Russia has been struggling to regain its Soviet-era economic influence, but such efforts have hit stumbling blocks which policy experts and Russian authorities themselves attribute to inadequate knowledge of investment and economic possibilities in Africa.

Over the past two decades, Russia's efforts to regain its Soviet-era influence in Africa have achieved little success because "times have changed significantly, for example, a new economic and political environment, new emerging challenges, new competitive conditions and new bases for cooperation," according to Nataliya Zaiser, a Public Policy Advisor at Squire Patton Boggs Moscow office covering Russia, the Eurasian Union and Africa, and also the Chair of the Africa Business Initiative.

Russia is implementing a number of large-scale projects in Africa. At the same time Russian companies are interested in projects focusing on mineral extraction, the energy sector, construction of large manufacturing facilities, human resources training, healthcare development, agriculture and food security, cooperation in digital technology and communications.

Over the past few years, Russian authorities have been prioritizing media cooperation and the use of soft power to address the falling image of Russia among the political and business elites in Africa.

While Russia's interest in sub-Saharan Africa is nothing new, Russian authorities have realized that it’s time to move back primarily to reclaim its economic footprints and to find old Soviet-era allies, but that step comes with new challenges especially from other foreign players and the changing internal political and economic conditions in Africa.