By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

With geopolitical developments shaping the world, Africa is expectedly changing with the times. It has gone far, particularly with Russia, opened new directions in bilateral economic cooperation after their joint historic summits.

It is also time to make critical appraisals of Russia’s policy towards Africa. By next year 2026, Russia’s strategic plan to ensure and support food security may fade away its its policy mainstream.

First and second summits witnessed agreements and declarations signed to tectonic applause with an unwavering decision characterized by increasing food and agricultural products, including grains and chicken meat across Africa.

There was also an underlined promised to ferry unspecified huge amount of fertilizer to Africa. Africa leaders expressed an excitement to the announcement of this partnership with the Russian Federation. But now these aspects of Russian-African partnership on food security would likely change, primarily due to Africa adopting import substitution policy and redirecting focus on radical measures to improve domestic agricultural production.

On May 13, the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation, during the meeting in St. Petersburg, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, who co-chaired the meeting with Planning and Investment Minister Kitila Mkumbo, noted Tanzania’s geographical location as a single window for Russian products entering the East African market.

More than 40 Russian companies are currently interested in exporting animal products and a few others to Tanzania and to East Africa region. The participants emphasized the country could be a conduit and entry-gate through which to reach East African region with Russia’s agricultural exports, and that would generate an estimated US$15 billion in revenue for Russian government.

What is important, and the most interesting fact here, Tanzanian economy is heavily based on agriculture. It has a vast arable land for farming. But Tanzania, like many other African leaders, are readily addicted to spend huge budget importing goods that they can locally.

According to the Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov many potential state buyers expressed interest in such imports, reiterated Russia’s preparedness to ensure food security.

In a similar direction, earlier on as reported by Interfax Information Agency, the Agroexport Center of the Ministry of Agriculture listed 25 African countries.

In an interview, Russian Union of Grain Exporters and Producers Chairman, Dmitry Sergeyev, at the 4th Russian Grain Forum in Sochi, emphasized that  the potential export destinations for Russian grain crops in the current season included Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Tanzania and Sudan in Africa.

In recent seasons, shipments to Algeria, Israel, Kenya, China, Libya and Morocco have increased manifold or even by an order of magnitude. The first shipments were made to Djibouti, Gambia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea.

“Russia is a reliable exporter of wheat to countries in Africa. We currently occupy a third of the entire African wheat market, exporting to 40 African countries overall. The most notable success of recent years was the sharp increase or start of exports to Algeria, Libya, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Tanzania,” Dmitry Sergeyev told Interfax News Agency.

The African grain market held many prospects in light of fast population growth, the growing middle class and increasing purchasing power. Although, it would be a mistake to refer to Africa as a monolith, as it has five sub-regions, which differ significantly from each other. Therefore, Russia is developing its relationship with different African countries in different ways.

“On the other hand, there are some other countries in central and southern parts of the continent, which often lack sufficient infrastructure and are logistically hard to reach – we have to interact with them via international traders. Increasing grain exports to Africa require a comprehensive approach encompassing logistics, storage and processing. We are already taking certain steps in this direction,” explained Dmitry Sergeyev.

Given it’s keenness not only in supplying but increasing agricultural products and fertilizers, Russia’s remote aim was to raise revenue from these importing African countries. These African countries are blessed with huge expanse of agricultural lands, the human resources are enormous just need support and encouragement from the government institutions and agencies.

Local African agriculturists have complained bitterly of gross lack of state support, and yet governments allocated huge large part of national budget to import on bilateral agreements, goods and service that could be made and obtained at home.

African leaders are solidarizing their interests by sacrificing local production, and under-utilizing available resources. Russia consistently challenges American and European hegemony, asked Africa to transact deals using their local currencies.

Resultantly, Africa has to abandon the importance of American dollar, and still pursue corporate agreements to review and possibly extend AGOA for the next 10 years.

In 2024, financial remittances amounted to $58 billion from United States to Africa. Meanwhile, Kremlin and Russian companies rarely announce financial figures for investment in various sectors. The stark reality is that Russia, at best and based on its rising ‘soft power’ and political influence, could further balance strategic powers with building comprehensive investment partnerships in Africa.

Local Russian media reported series of Russia’s exports to Africa, praised Kremlin’s efforts to feed Africa but further warned against growing Africa’s growing dependence on imports. Policy experts have set more alternative tones, at both Russia-Africa summits and several similar conferences, for rather focusing on stronger agricultural initiatives inside Africa.

Generally, the proposed suggestion was to push for greater collaboration on Africa’s greater self-reliance on domestic agricultural production. These have, since then, remained a top-scale challenge featuring in Russia-Africa economic cooperation.

As PhosAgro’s First Deputy CEO, Siroj Loikov, noted during the briefing in early July 2025, PhosAgro not only continues to strengthen its position as the leader in terms of total supply of all mineral fertilizers to the priority Russian market, but also remains a key supplier of phosphate-based fertilizers to the countries of the Global South, including African countries.

Over the past decade, PhosAgro’s exports have nearly doubled and achieved 8.6 million tonnes in 2024. Today, Africa is a key focus for the Company’s international growth strategy. PhosAgro supplies its products to 21 African countries. The top five African importers of the company’s agrochemical products include South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Mozambique.

With its extensive product line, PhosAgro is well positioned to address the specific needs of African regions, offering customers the best solutions while also making a significant contribution to the continent’s food security.

Over the next five years, PhosAgro expects to double deliveries to the continent. There were some praises, but on other side also raised significant concerns over extremely high cost of logistics and the resultant effects on prices for importing African governments.

In addition, leading agronomy researchers and practitioners say Russian chemical fertilizers and its agrochemistry have had negative effects on crop production and livestock farming, simply not compactible with the local soil conditions.

Therefore, the practical solution would be to settle for suitable alternatives. It would be line to adopt import substitution, to largely cut importation cost and preserve the environment. Moreso, local production invariably creates some employment for the youth.

Speaking at the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meeting, Entrepreneur Aliko Dangote, believes Africa could be a ‘Heaven’ within five years (until 2030)—if Africans think boldly and act with purpose. His position was that Africans can shape their own future, urging leaders to prioritize long-term development over reliance on foreign industrial sources.

Dangote has already exemplified this ‘local self-reliance’ through his $20 billion refinery in Lagos—the largest single-train facility in the world—which is already reshaping Africa’s energy landscape and challenging Europe’s $17 billion gasoline export market.

Furthermore, Dangote plans to generate $30 billion in revenue next year and become the top global urea exporter—bringing his vision of African industrial might closer to reality.

Reports indicated that Nigeria first-class entrepreneur, Aliko Dangote would establish under a major agreement to engage in large-scale production of fertilizer for the Eastern Africa. The estimated $3 billion aims at stabilizing supply and enhance agricultural productivity. Ethiopia and neighbouring countries have faced shortages and worse, spent much importing from abroad. The shortages have also worsened due to foreign currency constraints, logistical delays and geopolitical instability.

Located near the Ethiopia-Djibouti logistics corridor, the Dangote Fertilizer, the largest granulated urea fertilizer complex in Africa, has played a vital role in in reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported fertilizers and supporting the country’s agricultural sector. The expansion in interpreted as part of measures to solidify Dangote Fertilizer’s presence in the African fertilizer market, ensuring regular supply, and support regional agricultural growth.

Several policy experts have, over the past few years, suggested to African leaders and their governments to drastically halt importation of agricultural items that can be produce locally, redirect funds in supporting local farmers. The most prominent reasons are obviously to increase local productivity, create employment while addressing multiple obstacles confronting African agricultural production.

Quite recently, the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and African Development Banks have also told African leaders to halt imports, and further announced financial allocation for the African agricultural sector. Shareholders in both banks have also advised to accelerate efforts in boosting intra-African agriculture.

Under an agreement, Afreximbank is financing the construction works related to the fertilizer plant based in Soyo, Angola. This transformative $2 billion fertilizer plant project reflects the commitment of OPAIA Group to the Southern African country’s industrial and agricultural development in partnership with globally renowned technical companies such as KBR, TOYO Engineering Corporation, WeDO, and Wuhan Engineering Company.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on behalf of the President of the Bank, Ms Oluranti Doherty, Managing Director, Export Development at Afreximbank said: “Afreximbank is pleased to lead the mobilization of capital for this project, recognizing the importance of Amufert SA’s ammonia and urea production plant to regional and national food sovereignty, via the localization of fertilizer production in Angola. When commissioned, the fertilizer plant will  facilitate higher agriculture yields, higher production, and an increase in export volumes of agriculture products from Angola.”

Agostinho Kapaia, Chairman of OPAIA Group, said: “This project represents much more than the construction of a factory. It is a key element in the economic development of Angola and Africa, a driving force for the growth of industry and a concrete solution to the urgent need to increase agricultural production and guarantee food security for future generations.”

With a production capacity of 4,000 metric tons per day, the Amufert S.A. plant is expected to revolutionize Angola’s agricultural sector, significantly reducing the country’s reliance on imported fertilizers.

The project will generate significant benefits, including the creation of 4,700 jobs — 3,500 during the construction phase and 1,200 permanent positions once completed. It will also contribute to Angola’s economic diversification by leveraging natural gas resources, thereby reducing reliance on oil revenues.

Additionally, the initiative will support farmers by ensuring a consistent supply of affordable, high-quality fertilizers, boosting agricultural productivity and enhancing food security.

This will not only enhance Angola’s agricultural resilience but also position the country as a leader in fertilizer production across Africa. Surplus production will enable Angola to become a key fertilizer exporter within Africa, fostering regional economic integration and promoting intra-African trade.

In a short policy summary, the challenges of Russia’s increased agricultural exports instead of focusing on investment in local production in Africa may ultimately be reviewed taking into serious consideration import substitution measures being adopted by African States.

For championing environmental urgency and import substitution policy, Africa must lead a bold policy shift, not for geopolitical solidarity but for attaining an economic sovereignty.

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

Journalists from leading African media visited PhosAgro’s Volkhov production complex. They took part in an extensive tour of the production and infrastructure facilities, including the plant’s upgraded phosphoric acid and mineral fertilizer production facilities, as well as the new SK-800 sulphuric acid plant and new energy facilities, which recycle process steam into electricity for the plant. During their meeting with Phosagro’s executives, the journalists learned more about the significant role that the Company plays in ensuring global food security and supporting humanitarian projects in Africa.

As PhosAgro’s First Deputy CEO, Siroj Loikov, noted during the briefing, PhosAgro not only continues to strengthen its position as the leader in terms of total supply of all mineral fertilizers to the priority Russian market, but also remains a key supplier of phosphate-based fertilizers to the countries of the Global South, including African countries. Over the past decade, PhosAgro’s exports have nearly doubled and achieved 8.6 million tonnes in 2024. Today, Africa is a key focus for the Company’s international growth strategy. PhosAgro supplies its products to 21 African countries. The top five African importers of the Company’s agrochemical products include South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Mozambique. With its extensive product line, PhosAgro is well positioned to address the specific needs of African regions, offering customers the best solutions while also making a significant contribution to the continent’s food security.

“Over the past year, PhosAgro has increased its supplies to Africa by a third to a total of 740 thousand tonnes. Since 2018, there has been a more than sixfold increase. I am also pleased to inform you that the exports to Africa have continued to expand in the first half of 2025 and have increased by a third compared to the first half of 2024. Over the next five years, we expect to double our deliveries to the continent. The launch of our state-of-the-art production facilities in Volkhov enhances the Company’s capacity to export our products to Africa. The plant, with a production capacity of one million tonnes, is located near Baltic ports, which are focused on exporting products to friendly countries,” Siroj Loikov said.

PhosAgro’s partnership with Africa is not restricted to the supply of agrochemical products. PhosAgro is working closely with international organizations to implement humanitarian initiatives in Africa. As part of the Green Chemistry for Life programme, in partnership with UNESCO and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Company provides grants to young scientists studying the application of advanced chemical technologies in areas such as environmental protection, natural resource management and waste recycling. Over eight rounds of the programme, the international jury has reviewed over 1000 applications and awarded grants to 55 young researchers, including 15 talented African scientists from South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, over 200 young African scientists have received stipends as part of the PhosAgro–IUPAC Summer Schools on Green Chemistry.

PhosAgro also became an official partner for the launch of the African Soil Laboratory Network (AFRILAB) as part of a joint project in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). AFRILAB currently has 220 laboratories across 54 countries, assessing the quality and safety of fertilizers and monitoring soil conditions. To date, more than 11,000 farmers from developing countries have already taken part in the project, including approximately 4,500 farmers from over 20 African countries. This year, the programme will be expanded.

Last year, PhosAgro also launched Pro Agro Lectorium, an international educational platform with learning resources available in English and Portuguese. Nearly 170 leading academicians and practitioners from around the world, including 9 speakers from African countries, have recorded more than 420 lectures on agricultural science and agrochemistry, crop production and livestock farming, innovation and digitalization in agriculture, economics and responsible agriculture. In collaboration with its African partners, PhosAgro is integrating its online platform into the educational process for African students. The platform is constantly expanding: nine cooperation agreements have already been signed with African universities. Nowadays, thousands of African farmers and students access new knowledge and information on this platform.

“We will continue working in close cooperation with scientists, businesses, government authorities, and international organizations, to create a strong foundation for Africa’s food and technological sovereignty,” Siroj Loikov concluded.

During their visit, the journalists toured the Fifteenth Element corporate museum and exhibition centre, visited classes of PhosAgro’s key social project — DROZD (Educated and Healthy Children of Russia) — which is aimed at providing children with free access to additional education, sports activities, spiritual and patriotic upbringing, learned about the plant’s history, and explored St Andrew’s Cathedral, which the Company built as part of its Spiritual Revival programme to promote cultural and spiritual values. The journalists thanked senior executives of PhosAgro and its Volkhov plant for inviting them.

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

The BRICS group—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has uniquely emerged as a geopolitical player. Since its establishment, it has transformed into an informal association, struggling to re-shape the global architecture. Noticeably the world is rapidly changing from rules-based unipolar to multipolar, which can be attributed to BRICS leadership. Under Russia’s chairmanship, it had seen several activities throughout 2024, and currently Brazil, despite escalating challenges rooted at home, still managed through with innovative strategies and with robust multilateral collaborations. Brazil hands over its presidency in July (from Jan. 2025 to July 2025) after taking the baton during the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Tatarstan. Comparatively Kazan witnessed more engaging BRICS programmes and activities, both from the public and private sectors, than under Brazil’s half-a-year (six-months) leadership. The was, historically,  the first time in terms of leadership duration.

At the request of Brazil, Russia headed BRICS in 2024. Brazil had proposed and Russia assumed this role in 2024. In turn, Brazil  leads, but only half-way into the chairmanship in 2025. “Brazil has formally asked Russia to change the order of the BRICS presidency as an exception to Brazil’s plans to lead the G20 in 2024. Of course, we have responded positively to the Brazilian partners’ request. The agreement was supported by other members of the bloc and secured through an exchange of diplomatic notes,” the Russian ministry explained at that time.

Under Russia in 2024, significant developments, in the first place, was the expansion of BRICS, with the inclusion of Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, and United Arab Emirates. And the re-titling BRICS+ (BRICS Plus). Reports indicated that over 30 countries were interested in joining BRICS. Russia’s chairmanship emphasized advancing multifaceted cooperation, promoting the idea of a unified BRICS financial system and a new digital currency to rival the US dollar. Despite a few controversies, the group adopted the final declaration.

In an entirely different geopolitical context, Brazil’s presidency of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) abruptly ends in July due to multitude of internal economic and political hurdles that need to smart attention. After making unique headlines these past months, Brazil indicated the necessity to undertake explicit blend of economic reforms to preserve its political status and adopt grassroots innovation to save further nation-wide depreciation. The negative economic narratives combined with an increasing social discontent among the population also show the growing political complexities on its landscape. The assertive, and at the same time, contradictory message relates to disillusionment over unexpected handing over of BRICS chairmanship midway of the scheduled one-year period and the scaling back of admirable tasks including development priorities and future policies for BRICS set at the end of its historic administration by Russia in December 2024.

With tectonic symbolism, Brazil took over, for the fourth time, the baton of BRICS chairmanship from January 2025, pledged to assertively work towards a broader equitable economic cooperation. The leadership rotates annually among member countries. It is done in a set order, promoting equal representation and participation. The leadership transition is significant for shaping the agenda and priorities of the group. Brazil, like other BRICS members, repetitively spoken to end dollar dominance, create a single BRICS currency, express passion for dealing with critical challenges and build a multipolar world. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, both in tone and policy approach, have made a few changes, rolled back the association’s aggressive promotion of its laid down posture in building strategic common objectives.

For the past six months, Brazil at the helm of BRICS, has observed the ‘status quo’ – leveraged on the traditional main stream of operations including pushing for reforms in global governance and made attempts, mostly with official rhetoric, promoting sustainable development. Right from the initial stage, this ambitious agenda raised a fundamental question: whether the alliance would advance its alternative global governance vision, or would it remain primarily a forum for economic cooperation Recollecting the facts in the documents, one particular focus was set at strengthening cooperation among Global South countries. Under the theme is “Strengthening Cooperation in the Global South for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance”, Brazilian leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has pursued various activities within the existing constraints. In the latest, and most possibly, the last activity, as part of steps toward July’s handover, Brazil hosted from June 30 to July 7 one key event BRICS+ Open Science Week, — the Decade of Science and Technology declared by President Vladimir Putin in Russia. It was within the framework of the federal project Popularization of Science and Technology of the Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation State Programme. The project aimed at promoting scientific and technical knowledge among the general public and helping people discover the wonderful world of science and establish a community of science popularizers. The main themes relate to the priority spheres of BRICS activities, namely, food security and agriculture, energy security and sovereignty, healthcare, sustainable development, AI technologies, and space exploration.

As stipulated in its documents, BRICS has set one more of the primary goals as counteracting rules-based order and western hegemony, dismantle the political and economic architecture of the United States and Europe. The group’s remarkable growing attraction and unwavering commitment to reshaping the global economic landscape offer the basis for south-south alliance. At, least, majority of the developing countries in the south are, more or less, rattles that rhetoric in theory, but in practical terms are seemingly ready to strengthen cooperation with United States and Europe.

The Global South have devoted extensive attention to food security issues, underlined cooperation with non-Western countries as a guarantors of food stability. Experts however emphasized this goal of ensuring food security is rather distinctively marked by food imports, especially developing countries including Africa. Sustainable alliances and new principles of cooperation are emerging, but developing countries are trapped in the multilateral financial networks such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Reading further through media reports in June, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has outlined comprehensive future vision for BRICS, sounded consistently optimistic over collective collaboration based on mutual interests and equality, contrasting it with Western organizations lacking fair rules and genuine consensus. Then also the establishment of a BRICS Pay system for settlements in national currencies between the group’s members represented one more step in its economic architecture. This includes the possibility of creating a cross-border payment system and an electronic depository and clearance system (BRICS Clear), and a unified mechanism for exchanging trade and economic information.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has his own interpretation to BRICS expansion. He advocated for a little pause in further expansion, in order to accommodate the work and the new composition of BRICS − so that the group can smoothly get into the new situation with increased membership. According to Lavrov this was the common opinion. “The aspirations of many countries were taken into account when the category of partner countries was established and it is understood that the partner countries would be priority candidates for full membership,” explained Lavrov, summing up the outcomes of the BRICS Foreign Ministers Council meeting, Rio de Janeiro, April 29, 2025.

At the Kazan summit, BRICS leaders emphasized the possibility of expanding the membership of the New Development Bank (NDB). They also proposed bank’s operational portfolio. The NDB has transformed into an institution for mobilization of resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in its member countries and other emerging economies. The NDB has made some impact, but there is much room for improvement and for strengthening its model of operations.

The latest developments concerning the NDB’s operations were discussed on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working discussion with Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank (NDB). That discussion pointed out a few challenges and, at the same, underlined the pathways into the future. According to official reports made available by the Kremlin, Putin urged the bank to consider seriously the adoption of new financial payment systems and the possibility of settlements in national currencies. Putin further underlined the state of operations, stated that the NDB has, so far, financed approximately 120 projects worth US$39 billion.

Established in 2015 by the BRICS leaders, the New Development Bank (NDB) has since faced multitude of challenges, especially now with geopolitical changes and emerging economic hurdles. “Of course, we face a number of challenges,” Dilma Rousseff replied in her brief response. Rousseff, in addition, referred to the second very important issue, that is the expansion of membership and stakeholders, partners of the bank. As at June 2025, two countries were selected as new members: Uzbekistan and Colombia. And two more countries are still under consideration: Ethiopia and Indonesia.

According to media reports, other multilateral development institutions, including the World Bank, have expressed an intention to work together with the NDB. In May 2023, Saudi Arabia expressed its intention to join the NDB. The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the bank was opened in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2016. Subsequently, regional offices were established in São Paulo in Brazil, Ahmedabad in India and Moscow in the Russian Federation.

Its historical records show that Brazil, Russia, India, and China held their first leaders’ summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009 under the name BRIC. Then South Africa joined the group in 2010. That however, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were invited to the 2024 summit in Russia. With the second expansion in Kazan, the acronym BRICS+ (in its expanded form BRICS Plus) is currently used reflecting newly transformed membership. In addition, it has 13 countries in the ‘partner state’ category, boosting its numerical strength and collective power.

Unbelievably the potential of BRICS has benefited greatly from expansion. The BRICS countries represent nearly half of the world’s population, and their aggregate GDP makes up about 40 percent of global GDP in terms of purchasing power parity, more than that of the G7, which means that the Global South is becoming a new pillar of support for growth. On the other side, and it must be noted that more than 60% of the population of these BRICS members have unimagineable levels of poverty, despite the enormous resources both human capital and natural resources. Considering this, it stands to reason that BRICS continues to attract the Global South and Global East countries that seek mutually beneficial partnerships and jointly raised the level of development and standard of living. Hopes are still rising high that after the 17th BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7, the Global South and Global East countries continue steadfastly to contribute to the collective efforts of BRICS association in the coming years ahead, and new leadership (with its three key strategic partnership areas: politics and security, the economy and finances, culture and the humanitarian ties) would broadly create new prospects, uphold the tenets of multilateralism and open new horizons for BRICS+ group—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Kestér Kenn Klomegâh has a diverse work experience in the field of business intelligence and consultancy. His focused research interest includes geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development related questions in Africa with external countries. Klomegâh has media publications, policy monographs and e-handbooks