World
Russia-Africa Collaboration: Time to Act on Multidimensional Economic Initiatives
By Professor Maurice
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited African leaders and ‘non-Western friends’ to his hometown, St. Petersburg, which hosted the second Russia-Africa summit from July 27-28. In the past three years, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has visited several African countries. Lavrov has used shuttle diplomacy in African capitals to build support and strengthen further political contacts in preparation for the Russia-Africa summit.
According to the Kremlin report, the current geopolitical period is “extremely difficult”, and consequently, only 17 heads of state out of 55 African countries were at the summit. There were, of course, a total of 49 African delegations noted in the report on the official website. That compared to the first held in October 2019, representatives from all 54 African states, including 43 heads of state, attended the summit. Kremlin said the United States, France and other Western countries had exerted unprecedented pressure on African leaders ahead of the Russia-Africa summit to keep them from participating.
Putin delivered a keynote speech at the summit, talking about a “new world order” founded on “multipolarity and equality” among all nations. Ahead of that, Putin’s article on Russia-African relations was possibly an effort to mitigate the damage to both Russia’s standing and its reputation in Africa caused by Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed the export of Ukrainian grains to alleviate food security risks in a number of African countries.
Understandably speaking of the two-day Russia-Africa gathering, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov also explained that the United States, France and other European countries, through their diplomatic missions in African countries, attempted to put pressure on the leadership of these countries. Peskov branded this meddling as “a completely outrageous fact” but stressed that it “in no way hinders the successful holding of the summit.”
In fact, experts have been discussing and interpreting this particular geopolitical, political situation and its implications. “Russia has turned sharply towards Africa to circumvent Western isolation following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The St. Petersburg gathering presented another chance to show that Moscow has not been isolated and has alternative partners willing to deepen their cooperation with the Kremlin,” said Priyal Singh, a senior researcher at the Institute of Security Studies.
Nevertheless, it has already become a historical landmark in this new chapter of Russia-African relations, especially in this period of global political tensions and fierce economic competition, with Africa being the centre of focus. Today, Africa is the most promising and, at the same time, the fastest-growing region in the world. Investing in Africa is a popular trend and offers obvious advantages. Investing in Africa is a popular trend and offers obvious advantages as leading global powers seek diverse cooperation across the continent, considered the last frontier. In practical terms, African leaders are also setting comprehensive targets for improving performance and making strategic choices based on their development paradigms.
Of course, there are many distinctive problems – ranging from governance system through economic to socio-cultural – in the region. The major difficulties are seemingly connected with deficiencies in infrastructure, logistics, and energy. But economic growth continues, which indicates the possibility of pushing further economic development from its current levels. The attractiveness of Africa as a place for business is expected to grow, for instance, with the introduction of the African Union’s project: African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
It is home to over 1.3 billion inhabitants, comprising 55 states, 37 cities with over a million residents, over 30 million square kilometres of territory, and 60% of its land is fertile. Africa is the highest concentration of natural and human resources. According to various estimates, 12% of the world’s oil and 18% of its gas reserves are concentrated there.
Scanning through official reports, we can underscore the significance of the late July summit as joining collective efforts for maintaining sustainable peace, development progress and working towards a successful and prosperous future. The ‘Africa We Want’ is to create and prepare better living conditions for the next generations. Based on the past, Russia had consistently supported African peoples in their struggle for liberation from colonial oppression. After half a century, Russia has to show its support for Africa’s development and for its 1.3 billion population.
It is increasingly becoming visible that most African countries are showing signs of pragmatism and forward-looking for economic collaboration and partnership from external players. Africa is working to find its worthy place and assert its influence in the new multipolar world. In supporting this argument, we can quote President Vladimir Putin, who wrote in his pre-summit article, “The strategic areas of interaction are set by the decisions of the first Russia-Africa summit held in Sochi in late October 2019.”
In stark reality, there were brilliant speeches and unique deliberations which underline multi-dimensional initiatives. As it is well-known, Russia aims to foster long-term and deeper multi-dimensional collaboration between African countries and to accelerate and support the continent’s development. Russia is building on its Soviet-era legacy, using the huge reservoir of goodwill with Africa. Its primary position is based on respect for sovereignty and raising Africa to the global stage, for instance, at G-20 and the United Nations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has severally noted that the states of Africa are constantly increasing their weight and their role in world affairs, asserting themselves more and more confidently in politics and the economy. “We are convinced that Africa will become one of the leaders of the emerging new multipolar world order,” according to Putin.
In terms of strategic economic directions, during the pre-summit sessions at Valdal Discussion Club, many questions were hypothetically raised. Valdai was established in 2004, with a goal is to promote dialogue between Russian and international intellectual elite and to make an independent, unbiased scientific analysis of political, economic and social events in Russia and the rest of the world.
More than 60 people from 12 countries were invited to participate in the preliminary discussions, to make the final synchronisation of watches at the expert level in the run-up to the summit. In the new geopolitical conditions, Africa is becoming one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy.
Significant to note that both Russian and African experts concluded that in the near future, Russian initiatives will always be a priority. One session focused on Economic Relations: Three Years’ Audit After the First Russia-Africa Summit. Possible questions raised were: So what should Russia’s strategy be in Africa today? What are the results of the implementation of the agreements achieved at the first Russia-Africa summit, including at the bilateral level? What are the reasons for the shortcomings? What needs to be done to improve the effectiveness of Russian-African economic cooperation? What makes economic cooperation with Russia attractive for African countries? What are Russia’s comparative advantages in the context of parallel tracks of cooperation, such as China-Africa, Turkey-Africa, USA-Africa, and others?
We should be passionate about the new stage of development. This is why I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the history of cooperation between Russia and Africa has deep historical roots. We are on the verge of a new economic miracle – the African miracle. Therefore, Africa is the best environment for building long-term partnerships.
We always make a long list, including renewable energy, infrastructure and logistics, industry and high technology production, innovative technologies and communications, security and cybersecurity, the digital economy, ecology and agriculture, education and training, and tourism and recreational resources.
The struggle of foreign powers in Africa is not only for the control of raw materials but also for political influence over the continent. The arrival of new players in Africa provides an opportunity for the continent to choose the best partners while taking their own interests into account.
There should be some shifts in narratives. And so for Russia, popular opinions are that it establishes equal conditions for cooperation, mutually beneficial cooperation. That it makes the game on the African continent fair and open so as to balance the presence of other powers.
After deliberations in St. Petersburg, both Russia and Africa adopted a comprehensive Declaration, a number of Joint Statements and approved the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan 2023 to 2026. Reports said an impressive package of intergovernmental and inter‑agency agreements and memoranda with individual states as well as regional associations of the continent were also signed.
In total, five documents are planned for signing: this is a general political declaration, a joint action plan for 2023-2026, and three sectoral documents that relate to the fight against terrorism, non-deployment of weapons in outer space and international information security. It is however hoped that these documents would become a serious platform for joint actions to create a new configuration of international relations based on equal cooperation, the idea of a multipolar world.
Acknowledging the fundamental fact that the multipolar world has practically evolved and gained momentum. Western countries are noticeably losing their ground across Africa. The point is to change the global balance of power on the world stage. The West is no longer a unique technological, political and military centre that has the ability to exert a decisive influence on other centres of influence, but these are Russia, China, India, the BRICS countries in general, which many states, including African ones, are striving to get into.
African countries are looking to strike a balance. In building up relations with Russia, they do not make a choice: Russia or the West. They develop relations with us in the same way as with China, India, Turkey, the European Union. Their main task is to meet their national interests and development needs. Regardless of whether unipolar, bipolar or multipolar, the most relevant factor needed is to have a common platform and strengthen each other in terms of economic development and in all other respects, thereby move forward towards solving the problems of an integrated continental development.
In conclusion, Russia is ready to help strengthen African countries’ sovereignty and contribute to Africa becoming a key partner in the new system of the multipolar world order. It signals practical decisions on building up cooperation. We are reminded that Africa has adopted a plan of action until 2063. Key points: integration, prosperity and peace. Despite security and economic challenges, there are good opportunities for future mutual cooperation, and a lot more substantial challenges and tasks were refixed and renewed at the second Russia-Africa Summit.
Professor Maurice Okoli is a fellow at the Institute for African Studies and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences. He is also a fellow at the North-Eastern Federal University of Russia
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
One year after launching a continental initiative designed to make excellence in public governance the foundation of a new drive to transform Africa, LEAD, the Africa CEO Forum’s pan-African leadership programme, takes stock of its first cohort and announces the launch of its second class. Built around a community of senior public decision-makers committed to modernising the state and to the continent’s digital transformation, this new cohort gathers for three days, from 28 to 30 August 2026, on the campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco.
A second cohort that confirms the programme’s durability
For its second class, LEAD brings together 50 fellows, senior public decision-makers engaged in the design and implementation of the continent’s economic and social policies. Over three days, participants take part in collective and collaborative working sessions, peer exchanges and meetings with figures from the public, business and academic spheres, in order to compare their practices and build shared responses to the major challenges of governance.
Speakers include Mehdi Jomaa, former Head of Government of Tunisia, Donald Kaberuka, Managing Partner & Founder, SouthBridge Group, and former President of the African Development Bank, Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Sanjay Jain, co-creator of India Stack and Director of Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation, and Mauricio Cardenas, Professor of Professional Practice in Global Leadership, Columbia SIPA, and former Finance Minister of Colombia (2012-2018).
They share their reform experience, their public policy trade-offs and their view of continental priorities. Throughout the programme, the cohort benefits from the dedicated support of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Asafo & Co, BOAD, BCG and the African Development Bank, LEAD partners that have chosen to invest in the transformation of African public action.
LEAD, a pan-African community serving public action
Created by the AFRICA CEO FORUM, LEAD is a leadership programme whose ambition is to reposition Africa’s administrative elite as a driver of reform, of performance and of dialogue with all the continent’s stakeholders.
Designed for senior African public decision-makers, LEAD sets out to build a lasting community of public officials able to share their experience, compare their practices and build common solutions to the major economic, technological and institutional transformations under way in Africa. That community is structured around three pillars: modernizing the state, improving public services, and strengthening cooperation between governments, development institutions and private-sector players.
From fellows to alumni: a long-term initiative
Made up of 36 fellows drawn from a range of administrations and institutions and representing 24 countries across the continent, LEAD’s first cohort demonstrated the quality and the potential of this community from its very first year. In less than twelve months, six of its members have taken a significant step forward: two have been appointed ministers, two have moved into strategic positions at the highest level of the state and two have been promoted to chief executive roles. These moves, which account for 16.7% of the first class, show the role LEAD plays as an accelerator of impact within African administrations.
By bringing together a new cohort of fellows every year, each of them joining the LEAD alumni community, the initiative follows a long-term trajectory: in time, to unite several hundred African public decision-makers around a shared culture of transparency, performance and regional cooperation.
A first year devoted to public service and digital public infrastructure
Throughout the year, the fellows devoted their work to strengthening African public action, to make excellence in public governance a central lever of transformation. An awareness campaign, run as part of Africa Public Service Day, brought to light those who, within the continent’s administrations and institutions, are concretely transforming public policy and improving the services offered to citizens.
Members of the cohort also took part in a special round table held in Kigali during the ACF 2026, in order to carry their thinking to a wider community of public and private leaders. That forum reinforced LEAD’s role as a platform for dialogue between the administrative elite and the continent’s economic players. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) formed the main thread of this first year of work.
Discussions covered issues at the heart of the digital sovereignty of African states: digital identity, payments, secure data exchange, interoperability, governance and the protection of citizens. This work examined the conditions under which African states are developing, in some cases, and can develop, in others, shared, open infrastructure robust enough to improve the quality of public services while supporting local innovation and preserving the capacity of public authorities to set the rules of the game.
A white paper to move from consuming technology to creating value
This year of work concludes with the publication, in collaboration with BCG, LEAD’s Knowledge Partner, of a white paper on Africa’s place in the digital economy and in artificial intelligence. With the digital economy still accounting for around 5% of African GDP, against close to 15% worldwide, the paper calls on the continent to shift from a logic of technology consumption to one of value creation.
The white paper identifies three structuring priorities for African public actors:
- Building shared digital infrastructure that serves as the backbone of public services and private innovation.
- Pooling investment in order to reach critical mass and avoid the fragmentation of efforts across the continent.
- Favouring open and interoperable architectures, with trust and governance built in by design, so as to protect citizens while stimulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The white paper is available here to all public decision-makers, technical partners and institutions concerned.
“LEAD’s first cohort confirms a simple conviction: Africa already has the women and men capable of profoundly transforming public action. Our responsibility, either with our partners, is to give them, at pan-African level, a space in which to compare experience, build common solutions and bring forward a new generation of public policy. With this second cohort, we want to accelerate the move from ambition to execution, in particular on digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence, two decisive issues for sovereignty, for the effectiveness of the state and for value creation across the continent,” says Amir Ben Yahmed, President of the Africa CEO Forum.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Africa is set to make history as it hosts the World Public Summit for the first time, with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, welcoming global leaders and changemakers from July 29–30, 2026, for the landmark gathering under the theme “New World: Africa in Shaping a Shared Future.”
The inaugural African edition of the World Public Summit marks a significant milestone in the continent’s growing role in shaping international dialogue on governance, sustainable development, human-centred leadership and global cooperation.
Hosted by the World Peoples Assembly in partnership with African and international organisations, the summit will convene government officials, diplomats, business leaders, academics, journalists, youth representatives, civil society organisations and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world.
According to Andrey Belyaninov, General Secretary of the World Peoples Assembly, “the Summit is not just a meeting—it is a space for unity. A space where the ‘values that unite us’ come to life: respect for people, openness to the world, responsibility for the future, and a commitment to creation.
“Today, we understand more clearly than ever: the future cannot be built alone. It is born in dialogue, in trust, in the ability to listen to one another and to act together.”
The programme begins on July 29 with a series of high-level roundtables and expert discussions covering Pan-African economic integration, civil society, education, scientific cooperation, cultural diplomacy and humanitarian partnerships.
The opening plenary, “Values, Development and Partnership as the Basis of a Sustainable and Just World,” will explore how African values—including Ubuntu—can help shape a more inclusive and sustainable global future. Discussions will also focus on youth leadership, innovation, civil society, ethical AI, public initiatives and international partnerships.
The summit will also showcase Africa’s creativity and innovation through the “Innovations for the Future” exhibition, the contemporary African art exhibition “Unity,” and the international exhibition “The World Paints Happiness.”
Another featured initiative is “The Zambezi River: Economy, Society, Soul,” an international interdisciplinary project exploring the river’s socioeconomic importance across Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, highlighting the shared heritage and development potential of one of Africa’s most important waterways.
The event will conclude with the adoption of the African Communiqué, reflecting the summit’s shared vision for stronger international cooperation, sustainable development and people-centred leadership.
Tsegaye Chama, General Secretary of the Global Black Centre, promised that, “The Summit will be delivered with exceptional distinction, reflecting the magnitude and spirit of the World Peoples Assembly. It embodies a unity that is not transactional, but purposeful and conscious, a unity that shapes new contours for a world that works for all peoples of the World.”
As delegates prepare to arrive in Addis Ababa, anticipation continues to build for what promises to be one of Africa’s most significant international gatherings of 2026—one that will place the continent firmly at the centre of global conversations about the future.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for equity startup investment in the first half of 2026, raising $214 million in equity financing and a total of $254 million across equity and debt, according to the latest Africa: The Big Deal report.
The report, titled H1 2026: Mapping the Money, showed that Nigeria ranked second on the continent in total funding, behind Egypt, which attracted $327 million, while Kenya and South Africa followed with $126 million and $83 million, respectively.
However, the report noted that Egypt’s top position was largely driven by a single fundraising by electric mobility company Spiro, which secured $327 million, including $270 million in equity and $57 million in debt. Excluding debt financing, Nigeria emerged as Africa’s largest equity funding market in the first six months of the year.
According to the breakdown by Africa: The Big Deal, Nigeria’s equity funding of $214 million was higher than Egypt’s $183 million, while South Africa and Kenya attracted $66 million and $46 million, respectively.
Beyond funding value, Nigeria also led the continent in the number of startups that raised at least $100,000 during the review period, reclaiming the top spot after what the report described as an “underwhelming” second half of 2025.
The publication observed that Nigeria’s fundraising performance has remained relatively stable over the past few years and exceeded the $250 million mark for the first time since 2022, pointing to renewed investor confidence in the country’s startup ecosystem.
It also found that while the Big Four startup markets—Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa—continued to dominate Africa’s investment landscape, their combined share of total funding stood at 58 per cent in the first half of 2026.
“Zooming back on the Big Four (110 out of 190 $100k+ deals, i.e. 58%), Nigeria is head and shoulders above its peers, with Egypt and Kenya almost tying, and South Africa in fourth position again,” the report noted.
The report highlighted contrasting performances among the continent’s largest startup ecosystems. While Nigeria and Egypt maintained strong funding momentum, Kenya recorded its weakest funding performance since early 2021 after a strong second half of 2025, and South Africa failed to attract $100 million in funding during the period despite leading the continent a year earlier.
Africa: The Big Deal also noted a broader shift in investor behaviour, with funding increasingly concentrated in larger transactions while early-stage investments continued to decline. According to the publication, the drop in smaller funding rounds reflects growing concerns about limited capital available for early-stage startups across Africa.
