World
Noel Anderson Joins State Duma’s Expert Council on Russian-African Relations
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Russia’s State Duma, the lower Chamber of Legislators, has reconstituted its Expert Council on the development and support of comprehensive partnership with African countries under Alexander M. Babakov, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
By creating this Expert Council on Russia’s relations with Africa, it underscores the leadership’s strategic policy diversity that aims at advancing a powerful leverage into the African continent, grappling with the tremendous emerging opportunities and the challenges in pursuing socio-economic cooperation, sustaining the political dialogue as well as parliamentary relations.
As part of practical steps toward strengthening economic partnership, African countries grappling with rapidly geopolitical changes, the Expert Council pledges to take unique pragmatic measures toward implementation of the various decisions adopted at both first and second Russia-Africa summits held respectively at southern coastal city of Sochi (October 2019) and in St. Petersburg (July 2023).
In a brief interview after the announcement in late August 2025, Noel Anderson explained that his role together with other members includes designing a long term policy strategy, undertaking innovation initiatives, and especially forging economic expansions into the African continent which is now attracting foreign players. By this appointment, Noel Anderson brings extensive sports and entrepreneurial expertise in contributing to the full-fledged operations of the Council.
The Expert Council draws its members from different spheres including the Russia’s educational institutions, ministries and departments, NGOs and the State Duma. The list made publicly available included Noel Anderson, Russian-Ghanaian entrepreneur and sports amateur. In the historical and professional career context, Noel Anderson became ultimately the first Ghanaian citizen to serve at this top-level position, on the State Duma’s Expert Council, in the Russian Federation.
“Without much doubt, the newly created State Duma Council is, apparently, a powerful engine with multitude of significant tasks to support Kremlin’s and Russian government’s efforts in building relations with Africa. This, therefore, means not only leveraging our existing strategic partnerships with African leaders, but also actively forging new alliances, and strengthening our competitive position across Africa. We will be dealing with aspects of the policy strategies as outlined and proposed by President Vladimir Putin during the first and second Russia-Africa Summits,” Anderson emphasized in the media interview.
According to the official documents made available, Noel Anderson is currently the Head of the Sports Committee of the Union of African Diaspora, Chairman of the Sports Committee of the International Association GATINGO. He is business consultant and also an avid researcher on foreign policy, particularly on Russian-African affairs. He graduated with a PhD from the People’s Friendship University named after Patrice Lumumba.
The State Duma Council members include Professor Irina Abramova, as the Deputy Chairperson of the Expert Council, and Director of the Institute for African Studies (IAS), Nikolay Novichkov, State Duma deputy and Deputy of the Expert Council, Larisa Efremova, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of the People’s Friendship University named after Patrice Lumumba, Alexey Maslov, Acting Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Igor Morozov, Chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with Africa (AfroCom) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dmitry IIyich Suchkov, Senior Advisor to the Department of Pan-Africa Problems and Regional Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Economic Forum of the Russian Federation.
In today’s rapidly changing geopolitical environment, Russia has reiterated the importance of creating a new architecture based on a shared aspiration, on peaceful and harmonious coexistence with others. Russia works to lay the foundations for a fairer multipolar world – one built on the principles of sovereign equality of states, constructive cooperation, and a balance of interests in the emerging new world.
The State Duma’s and Alexander Babakov’s website show the full list of members, all the members with their employment backgrounds. The website says the Expert Council will be responsible for optimizing Russia’s policy within the framework of parliamentary relations, and provide support for multifaceted policy dynamics with Africa. The State Duma is the lower chamber of legislators of the Russian Federation.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
World
Russia to Support Industrial Growth, Technological Advancement and Supply Chain Resilience across Africa
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With the heightening of geopolitical rivalry and competition, a new Russia-Africa working group has emerged as a significant institutional mechanism and plans to focus on facilitating and monitoring strategic investments, industrialisation, and infrastructural development—the Strategic Action Plan 2023-2026—that was outlined during the second Russia-Africa summit, in St.Petersburg, the second largest city in the Russian Federation.
While substantial progress has, largely, lagged on the multidimensional economic front with Africa primarily due to its internal difficulties and the complexity of relations with its former Soviet neighbours, Russian officials believe there still remains huge untapped potential in strengthening bilateral cooperation. As planned, President Vladimir Putin has already signed an executive order that directs Moscow to host the forthcoming third Russia-Africa summit in October 2026.
On June 30, a regular meeting of the Business Council on Africa was held under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was dedicated to issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation with Africa. The group discussed the current state and prospects for the implementation of policy initiatives with an emphasis on assisting the countries of the continent, strengthening their economic, energy, technological and food sovereignty, as well as training specialists for Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Russia-Africa relations primarily depend on an understanding of the importance of collective action based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and resolving common tasks. In the past few years, Russia-Africa cooperation has been noticeably strengthening. “We are deepening political dialogues, developing bilateral contacts with African countries, promoting cordial cooperation between ministries and departments, and expanding humanitarian exchanges. We are also continuing the structural diversification of trade partnerships and economic dimensions.”
“Next on the agenda is the launch of diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Union of the Comoros,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Business Council under the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov noted that Russian embassies began operating in three other African countries in 2025: Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. A new Department for Partnership with Africa was also established. According to the top diplomat, “expanding Russia’s diplomatic presence on the continent contributes to developing relations.”
There are already 45 Russian embassies operating in Africa. The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow is quickly rebuilding its presence in African countries, which sharply declined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There will be literally four or five countries left where we still need to establish full-fledged embassies, and then, we will have 100 per cent coverage of the entire African continent with our diplomatic presence,” Lavrov emphasised.
After the first summit in October 2019, the Foreign Ministry also created the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. Its main tasks include controlling the roadmap to Africa’s multidimensional cooperation and guiding potential Russian investors to the continent. This also underscored the priority and post-Soviet solidarity Russia currently attaches to its policy towards Africa, within the growing framework of the emerging new architecture of multipolarity in the Global South.
In an interview in June 2026, the director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Tatyana Dovgalenko, shared a few insights in the lead-up to the third summit. Furthermore, Dovgalenko explained that Russia would move away from security to concentrate more on economic issues, especially to team up with African colleagues to streamline mechanisms for implementing projects that will ensure food security and agriculture, and help Africa in installing processing facilities to support its self-sufficiency. She also emphasised energy and vital infrastructures, and the third direction was to simultaneously work more coherently with sub-regional organisations.
Over the past few years, bilateral relations have been increasing. There are positive dynamics in trade turnover, estimated at $30 billion. Steps are being taken to build payment systems, preferably in national currencies, while Russia looks to open four more diplomatic offices, bringing the total to 48 across Africa. Russia is currently training 37,000 African students, but only approximately 1/3 on state scholarships in Russia’s educational institutions. “We are ready to share valuable experiences of building a sovereign development model with African partners to achieve self-reliant economic growth based on their own resources and capabilities. Russia aims at creating processing capabilities and localising production, and provides access to advanced technological solutions,” underlined Dovgalenko in her interview with New Eastern Outlook.
For African countries that have endured difficult decades on the path to political independence, it is now important to take full control over the untapped resources, direct income and revenue toward stimulating the national economic sector, rather than paying for the well-being of the Western “golden billion” during this changing geopolitical era, according to Dovgalenko.
According to reports, the forthcoming Russia-Africa summit will have an economic agenda, including the digital economy, technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, investment, and settlements in global trade. Of course, the agenda will also cover Africa’s political aspects. But if African friends bring along any specific ideas, Russia will give them serious attention. In addition, with continuity and consistency, pay increased attention to expanding ties with Africa’s regional integration associations.
Going forward, the focus will be on translating strong trade relations into deeper investment partnerships, fostering technology collaboration, strengthening industrial linkages and contributing towards the shared objectives set by the leadership of both African countries and Russia. At the third summit, the above-mentioned specific initiatives will be further designed. In this regard, the key document, the new action plan for the next three-year period (2027-2029), is intended to reflect dynamic realities in the future relations of Russia and Africa
