World
Russia Recruiting African Specialists
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
With thousands conscripted into the army to fight in neighbouring Ukraine, several more thousands escaping military mobilization and migrating abroad, Russia currently lacks highly skilled labor for offices and unskilled labour for its industries, agriculture and construction. Reports indicated Russian employment agencies are seriously recruiting all kinds of employees, both skilled and unskilled, from Africa.
HeadHunters, a recruitment agency’s report announced in mid-July that a boom in attracting workers from Africa against the backdrop of a shortage of personnel across Russia. According to the report, in the first half of 2024, Russian companies significantly increased their activity in searching for employees in Africa.
In particular, countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon became the leaders in terms of the growth rate of vacancies in annual terms, while the number of advertisements in a number of European countries and the United States, on the contrary, decreased. Together with experts, RBC looked into the reasons for the growing popularity of employees from Africa and the main difficulties in hiring workers from abroad.
African hiring boom
According to HeadHunters’ data for the first half of 2024, seven out of ten foreign countries with the largest increase in vacancies from Russian organizations are African countries. If in the first half of 2023 in each of them one could find no more than 500 vacancies from Russian employers, then in the first six months of this year the number of job offers has increased multiple times, in some cases tens of times, analysts noted in the report.
Thus, the number of vacancies increased the most in Kenya – 39 times (from 161 vacancies in the first half of 2023 to 6.4 thousand vacancies in the first half of 2024). A number of other African countries have also seen a significant increase in the number of places offered, although more modest in absolute terms. Thus, in Zimbabwe the number of vacancies increased 15 times (to 165), in Cameroon – nine times (to 130), in Zambia – eight times (to 224). In addition, a sharp increase in the number of vacancies was recorded in Algeria (seven times, up to 1.7 thousand).
Among non-African countries, the leaders in terms of growth in the number of vacancies were Albania, Pakistan and Belgium. In addition, in 2024, Russian companies posted vacancies for the first time in countries such as Nepal, the Bahamas, Barbados, Malawi, Iceland, Sierra Leone, Gabon and the Central African Republic (CAR). The total number of vacancies in the listed countries in the first half of the year reached almost 300, analysts indicated.
The fact that the geography of migration to Russia could expand at the expense of African states was previously predicted in an interview with RBC by the director of the Institute of Demographic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Marina Khramova. She also admitted that in future, migrants from Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand or the Philippines, could be attracted to the domestic labor market.
Categories of workers for recruitment abroad
The composition of the most in-demand categories of employees when hiring from foreign countries among Russian employers has not changed over the year – these are customer service managers, IT specialists and marketers, as follows from the data on invitations to vacancies. The top ten also included specialists in the field of art and mass media, administrative personnel, workers and builders.
At the same time, the greatest increase in demand was shown by vacancies for workers in science and education – in the first half of the year, the number of invitations for employees in this field from abroad doubled. The number of invitations for foreign workers increased by 68%, agricultural specialists – by 63%, employees in the field of raw materials extraction and construction – by 53 and 51%, respectively.
It is necessary to understand that the search and invitations to employees for vacancies do not fully reflect the typical portrait of a migrant, since their hiring in general varies quite a lot depending on the specialty and region, noted Danina. “We can say with confidence that attracting migrants to positions as workers and construction workers (in general, low-skilled positions) is traditionally typical for Central Asian countries and this year for a number of African countries,” she explained.
At the same time, highly qualified specialists with knowledge of the specifics of local markets and business for the positions of marketers and account managers are sought all over the world, and the search for top managers this year was concentrated in the UAE, Serbia, Turkey, Thailand.
The number of African specialists who enter Russia is growing every year, noted Vsevolod Sviridov, an expert at the Center for African Studies at the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “African labor migrants occupy completely different niches in the labor market: some are actually employed in fairly low-skilled professions, for example in construction, work in warehouses, in agriculture, while others occupy high management positions in large Russian companies, the expert on Africa pointed out to local Russian media.
A recent example is Timothy Musa Kabba, a graduate of the Mining University in St. Petersburg, who worked as a geologist for Russian oil and gas companies for almost ten years, and he is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone, recalled Sviridov.
Difficulties in hiring foreigners
Employment of foreigners is associated with a number of complicating issues, notes Danina. For example, if we are talking about hiring workers or construction workers with relocation to Russia, then the main burden lies in organizing logistics (due to the lack of direct or regular flights with Russia), obtaining quotas, and the presence of language and cultural barriers in work teams. When working with highly qualified specialists from non-CIS countries, who are often hired without relocation, there may be problems with organizing financial payments, added Danina.
Migration regulation in Russia also has its own specifics, notes Sofia Luneva, a lawyer in the labor law practice at BGP Litigation. Thus, for foreigners who enter on visas, the registration procedure is the most complex, as it requires obtaining a permit to attract foreign labor for the company, an invitation from the employer to enter and a work permit for the foreigner (in a number of areas, their number may be limited by quotas).
An alternative could be the status of a highly qualified specialist – if it is available, the employee is not subject to quotas. The downside of this simplified procedure is increased costs for the employee. Registration of visa-free foreign citizens is much simpler in terms of documents.
At the same time, all migrants are required to have documents confirming that they have undergone fingerprinting, photography and medical examination. And in any case, regardless of the status of a foreign worker, the employer is obliged to notify the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs about the conclusion/termination of an employment contract within no more than three working days. In conclusion, workers and employees are required in the Russian Federation. (Report made with addition materials from Russian media).
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
At the end of an extensive consultation with African foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has emphasized that Moscow would advance its economic engagement across Africa, admittedly outlining obstacles delaying the prompt implementation of several initiatives set forth in Strategic Action Plan (2023-2026) approved in St. Petersburg during the Russia-Africa Summit.
The second Ministerial Conference, by the Russian Foreign Ministry with support from Roscongress Foundation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation.
In Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Lavrov read out the final resolution script, in a full-packed conference hall, and voiced strong confidence that Moscow would achieve its strategic economic goals with Africa, with support from the African Union (AU) and other Regional Economic blocs in the subsequent years. Despite the complexities posed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, combined with geopolitical conditions inside the African continent, Moscow however reiterated its position to take serious steps in finding pragmatic prospects for mutual cooperation and improve multifaceted relations with Africa, distinctively in the different sectors: in trade, economic and investment spheres, education and culture, humanitarian and other promising areas.
The main event was the plenary session co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptians Abroad Bashar Abdelathi. Welcome messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdelhak Sisi were read.
And broadly, the meeting participants compared notes on the most pressing issues on the international and Russian-African agendas, with a focus on the full implementation of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2023-2026, approved at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.
In addition, on the sidelines of the conference, Lavrov held talks with his African counterparts, and a number of bilateral documents were signed. A thematic event was held with the participation of Russian and African relevant agencies and organizations, aimed at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in trade, economic, and educational spheres.
With changing times, Africa is rapidly becoming one of the key centers of a multipolar world order. It is experiencing a second awakening. Following their long-ago political independence, African countries are increasingly insisting on respect for their sovereignty and their right to independently manage their resources and destiny. Based on these conditions, it was concluded that Moscow begins an effective and comprehensive work on preparing a new three-year Cooperation and Joint Action Plan between Russia and Africa.
Moreover, these important areas of joint practical work are already detailed in the Joint Statement, which was unanimously approved and will serve as an important guideline for future work. According to reports, the Joint Statement reflects the progress of discussions on international and regional issues, as well as matters of global significance.
Following the conference, the Joint Statement adopted reflects shared approaches to addressing challenges and a mutual commitment to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with a view to ensuring high-quality preparation for the third Russia-Africa Summit in 2026.
On December 19-20, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was held for the first time on the African continent, attended by heads and representatives of the foreign policy ministries of 52 African states and the executive bodies of eight regional integration associations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with United States and global investors to operate its business in America.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive, Mr Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on January 22, 2026 would end years of efforts by the US government to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15 per cent each.
Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by President Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
Business Post reported in April 2024 that the administration of President Joe Biden passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on January 20, 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by President Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
President Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Despite the complexities posed by Russia-Ukraine crisis, United States has been taking conscious steps to improve commercial relations with Russia. Unsurprisingly, Russia, on the other hand, is also moving to restore and normalise its diplomacy, negotiating for direct connections of air-routes and passionate permission to return its diplomats back to Washington and New York.
In the latest developments, Kirill Dmitriev, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has been appointed as Russian President’s Special Envoy to United States. This marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin tasked him to exclusively promote business dialogue between the two countries, and further to negotiate for the return of U.S. business enterprises. According to authentic reports, United States businesses lost $300+ bn during this Russia-Ukraine crisis, while Russia’s estimated 1,500 diplomats were asked to return to Moscow.
Strategically in late November 2025, the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham) has awarded Kirill Dmitriev, praised him for calculated efforts in promoting positive dialogue between the United States and Russia within the framework decreed by President Vladimir Putin. Chief Executive Officer of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev is the Special Representative of the Russian President for Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries. Since his appointment, his primary focus has been on United States.
“Received an American Chamber of Commerce award ‘For leadership in fostering the US-Russia dialogue,’” Dmitriev wrote on his X page, in late November, 2025. According to Dmitriev, more than 150 US companies are currently operating in Russia, with more than 70% of them being present on the Russian market for over 25 years.
In addition, Chamber President Sergey Katyrin and American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham) President Robert Agee have also been discussing alternatives pathways to raise bilateral business cooperation. Both have held series of meetings throughout this year, indicating the the importance of sustaining relations as previously. Expectedly, the Roscongress Foundation has been offered its platforms during St. Petersburg International Economic (SPIEF) for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).
On December 9, Sergey Katyrin and Robert Agee noted that, despite existing problems and non-economic obstacles, the business communities of Russia and the United States proceed from the necessity of maintaining professional dialogue. Despite the worsening geopolitical conditions, Sergey Katyrin and Robert Agee noted the importance of preserving stable channels of trade and pragmatic prospects for economic cooperation. These will further serve as a stabilizing factor and an instrument for building mutual trust at the level of business circles, industry associations, and the expert community.
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) will be working in the system of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in the Russian Federation, which currently comprises 57,000 legal entities, 130 regional chambers and a combined network of representative offices covering more than 350 points of presence.
According to reports obtained by this article author from the AmCham, promising sectors for Russian-American economic cooperation include healthcare and the medical industry, civil aviation, communications/telecom, natural resource extraction, and energy/energy equipment. The United States and Russia have, more or less, agreed to continue coordinating their work to facilitate the formation of a more favorable environment for Russian and American businesses, reduce risks, and strengthen business ties. Following the American-Russian Dialogue, a joint statement and working documents were adopted.
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