Delegations from 48 African countries are in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit, a two-day meeting running October 28–29 that is expected to focus on trade and security. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union chair, are leading the forum, according to Al Jazeera.
The Kremlin's presidential aide, Yury Ushakov, said 22 heads of state are taking part, Al Jazeera reports. The official theme is "Developing Mutually Beneficial Cooperation," with organisers framing the agenda around unlocking the potential of every African country.
More than 40 sessions and roughly 100 speakers are scheduled to cover trade, investment, technology transfer, food and energy security, healthcare, education and youth exchange.
Why it matters
This is the first summit since 2023, and analysts cited by Al Jazeera describe it as a gauge of how far the relationship has developed and where it is heading. Moscow has expanded security and trade cooperation with African governments while facing Western sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine.
The attendance figures tell part of the story. Seventeen heads of state came to the 2023 summit, down from 43 at the first gathering in Sochi in 2019. Moscow has attributed the decline to Western pressure. This year's 22 is an increase on 2023 but still well below the inaugural meeting.
Security ties outpace trade
Russia's influence on the continent has grown faster through security than through commerce, according to a report by the African Security Analysis group, a security consultancy cited by Al Jazeera. In 2023, Russian forces — mostly from the Wagner Group — were operating in only a handful of African countries. The consultancy now counts Russian missions or troops in at least nine.
Trade has also risen. Commercial exchange between African countries and Russia has passed $28bn, up from an estimated $16.8bn in 2019. Al Jazeera notes that this trade remains concentrated in a few countries and is overshadowed by the volumes China and the European Union handle with the continent.
Russia's strongest links are in energy, fertilisers, defence and nuclear power, where the state-owned firm Rosatom has signed a series of agreements. Moscow has also been a key supplier of wheat and fertiliser to many countries in the region. In 2023, it exported 200,000 tonnes of grain to Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Zimbabwe.
The guest list reflects where Moscow's security relationships are deepest. Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traore and Niger's Abdourahamane Tchiani are among those expected, along with Kenya's William Ruto, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Namibia's Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Sudan's Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed al-Menfi, who chairs Libya's Presidential Council. Putin is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Recruitment concerns raised before talks
Amnesty International has used the summit's run-up to press the issue of Africans being recruited to fight in Ukraine. In an open letter, directors of the group's African section urged attending leaders to demand that Moscow halt what Amnesty describes as deceptive and coercive recruitment. The practice has already caused diplomatic concern in countries including Kenya, Al Jazeera reports.
Analysts told Al Jazeera that conversations on the sidelines may matter more than the main programme, since talks between African delegations and Russian defence officials could signal where Moscow intends to widen its military ties.
A final declaration and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum plan covering 2027–2029 are expected to be adopted by the close of the summit.
What to watch: whether the closing documents carry concrete commitments, and which defence meetings take place away from the main hall.
