World
Reassessing Russia’s Engagement with Zimbabwe
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
As often reiterated, Russia and Zimbabwe have had excellent bilateral relations, dating from the time of Zimbabwe’s struggle for political independence. The Soviet Union supported with military equipment, and training specialists and offered humanitarian supplies, and until today Zimbabwe is still looking for such bilateral relations. A comprehensive analysis indicates that not much is visible on the landscape of Zimbabwe, except frequent shuttling visits of government officials between Harare and Moscow.
The list of those official visits can be found on government websites. Of course, not all have been documented there such as those dealing with military-technical cooperation and intelligence services. But it can also be recalled here in 2022, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Zimbabwe Jacob Mudenda and his delegation paid a reciprocal working visit late September to Moscow, held separate meetings with Russian Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko and Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, and finally addressed the plenary session of the State Duma.
Upper Chamber Senator Matviyenko and Lower Chamber Legislator Volodin, both have similar unique declaratory statements emphasizing the fact that Russia considers cooperation with African countries to be a foreign policy priority. And that Zimbabwe is Russia’s priority in the southern African region.
Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko visited and donated, as Zimbabweans expected from Moscow, huge gifts in June 2022. During her conversation with the head of the charitable foundation and First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe Auxilia Mnangagwa Matviyenko noted mutual understanding that has developed in Russian-Zimbabwean relations. She, in addition, drew attention to the fact that the Angels of Hope charity fund coordinates the selection of candidates from low-income families for higher education in Russia under the quota of the Government of the Russian Federation.
“We highly appreciate it that the Zimbabwean leadership remains committed to the development of bilateral relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia. And that Zimbabwe is resolutely resisting the unprecedented pressure of the collective West led by the United States, their open attempts to dictate their will,” Matviyenko said.
Besides the above charity, the Russia-Zimbabwe Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation has held a series of meetings in Harare and Moscow. Several agreements have been signed over the years to engage seriously in economic sectors, including, infrastructure development, transport, agriculture, industry nuclear technology et cetera. An increasing interest points to the Russian business community in building a beneficial partnership with Zimbabwe. For these to materialize, frequent interactions have been made possible, based on decades of strong ties of friendship and cooperation since the days of Zimbabwean Robert Mugabe.
One major landmark was Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, among African countries, have signed agreements with Russia to cooperate on the peaceful use of nuclear technology on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St Petersburg, in July 2023. Rosatom has offices in Cairo and Pretoria with the responsibility of managing the nuclear projects in Africa.
For decades, Rosatom has signed (and resigned) agreements with African countries for the construction of nuclear plants for civilian purposes. Today, African countries face major challenges in ensuring energy security. Experts believe that nuclear technologies can become a driver for socio-economic development and a comprehensive solution to systemic continent-wide problems. In addition, nuclear, of course, offers long-term sustainability and diversity away from solar and hydro.
These unique steps seemingly suggest a pragmatic approach prioritizing Africa’s energy security, on one hand. It is interesting to note, on the other hand, that Russia’s nuclear agreements with 28 African countries have been fully undertaken and completed primarily due to a lack of finance. The key hindrance is the cost of producing nuclear energy how best to deal with nuclear waste to maintain a safe environment, and the risk that it poses from poor handling and management. After the first Russia-Africa summit held in 2019, Russia has, as an exceptional case, granted a $29 billion loan for the nuclear plant construction in Egypt based on its strategic bilateral relations. The nuclear agreement was signed as far back as 2015.
President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the ‘special military operation’ aims at denazifying and demilitarizing Ukraine, has utterly rejected the United States’ appeal to support sanctions against Russia. It has, therefore, won Russia’s sympathy as a ‘friendly’ African ally. In return, Zimbabwe was given in late 2023 what was termed ‘delivery at no-cost’ grains and fertilizers, these were in addition to supplies of military equipment and training of Zimbabwean citizens on state budget at educational institutions in the Russian Federation. According to the official statistics, there are currently 400 Zimbabweans studying in the Russian Federation.
Mnangagwa, while visiting as a guest speaker at the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and his special meeting with President Vladimir Putin in June 2024, was excited at winning favours by explaining, at length, how the United States has been supporting neighbouring southern African countries. Ultimately, Mnangagwa was to get better treatment for a broader supply of arms and weaponry, and food to feed the impoverished population. He did not negotiate for investment in agriculture, he did not suggest the construction of, at least, a kilometre road or a local school in any of the rural regions in Zimbabwe.
What was important for Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa asked for the chance to enhance bilateral cooperation, and that Zimbabwe is “one of the few countries in southern Africa that is regarded as anti-West” so there is a concrete basis for pursuing more consolidated relations to escape being further isolated in southern Africa. “And there is a lot more that we can open for the Russian Federation to participate in our economy, especially in the mining sector and agriculture,” he stressed in his discussion.
Russia’s perspectives on the struggle against growing neo-colonialism and Western-style tendencies, most probably, have to do with pushing for large-scale development programmes, and support for attaining economic sovereignty. If that is the case, then Russia needs to borrow a single page from China. Zimbabwe has the full-fledged confidence to opt for hosting the third Russia-Africa Summit in Harare simply because China has given that country a new parliamentary village with modern facilities for large conferences. Compared, Russia has not constructed a single one-kilometre road in the transport sector in Zimbabwe consistently claims to have under its umbrella excellent relations from the Soviet times.
The new parliament building is located in Mount Hampden, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Harare. The parliamentary chambers can accommodate up to 650 legislators, their offices, conference rooms and meeting spaces. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to Shanghai Construction Group, which erected the building between December 2018 and April 2022. A Chinese government delegation officially handed over the building complex to the government of Zimbabwe on 26 October 2023. The construction was fully funded at the cost of nearly $200 million by the Government of China, according to reports by Zimbabwean media.
Perhaps generally, Russia aspires to position itself as a leader in Africa, it thus far remains with its aspirations in the media headlines. Uprooting neo-colonialism requires investment in building economic sectors designed to improve the living standards of the impoverished population, creating employment for the youth. Russia’s footprints, such as providing infrastructure in agriculture, industry, transport and other sectors, are invisible in the continent. The fundamental conservative assessment indicates that Africa is largely at the bottom position in terms of overall development in the southern hemisphere, what is now called the Global South.
Russia is gathering the Global South as a force against the United States and Western Europe. Africa has been given all kinds of descriptions, one being having “unparalleled natural wealth and boundless potentials,” and by this definition, Russia has to determine its proposed commitment to driving economic diversification, transformation and development across the African continent. That, however, its rhetoric has reached the highest peak of the African mountains.
Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest platinum reserves after South Africa. Russia declared interest in the development of a platinum deposit in Darwendale. Several reports later confirmed that Russians had abandoned their lucrative platinum project contract that was signed for $3 billion in September 2014, the platinum mine in the sun-scorched location about 50 km northwest of Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. With great pomp and pageantry, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov launched the $3 billion Russian project back in 2014, after years of negotiations, with the hope of raising its economic profile in Zimbabwe.
Reports also indicated that the project was expected to involve a consortium consisting of the Rostekhnologii State Corporation, Vneshekonombank and Vi Holding in a joint venture with some private Zimbabwe investors as well as the Zimbabwean government.
Mnangagwa has been committed to opening up Zimbabwe’s economy to the rest of the world to attract the much-needed foreign direct investment to revive the ailing economy and make maximum use of the opportunities for bolstering and implementing some large projects in the country. That Zimbabwe would undergo a “painful” reform process to achieve transformation and modernization of the economy.
Zimbabwe has various potential investment sectors besides mining. There is a possibility of greater participation of Russian economic operators in the development processes in Zimbabwe, and southern Africa. But Russians need to move away from too much rhetoric and make concrete economic engagement over the forthcoming years.
Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa, shares a 200-kilometre border on the south with South Africa, bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia and the northeast and east by Mozambique. Zimbabwe is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
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
