World
Russian Investors Express Difficulties Accessing African Markets
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
Russian business lobbying groups together with about 40 business and industry heads have shown interest in exporting Russian products to African markets but said they were faced with difficulties in accessing market facilitation procedures with a number of African countries.
Under the auspices of Delovaya Rossia (Business Russia), the group, in an effort to understand some of the processes and procedures, held a special seminar moderated by Delovaya Rossia Vice President, Nonna Kagramanya.
In her opening remarks, she noted the important role of “Business Russia” as a single platform where representatives of government, development institutions and private business can constructively discuss emerging issues and possible solutions on various foreign economic tracks.
In particular, despite the relatively small trade turnover with African countries, Russian companies are very interested in establishing stable long-term contacts with African partners.
“We clearly understand that this potential needs to be properly structured, the infrastructure of interaction between all players, including representatives of embassies, and the map of the interests of Russian business and the needs of African markets should be built,” she told the seminar gathering.
To this end and as a first step, Kagramanyan proposed to create a permanent discussion-line for all interested participants of the seminar in order to discuss a set of priority problems and barriers when working with Africa.
Contributing to the discussion, General Director of Intelnexus, Anatoly Yakimenko, introduced the seminar participants to the opportunities for the development of Russian-African business cooperation, noting the favourable and hindering factors in the African market.
He stressed the request for potential exporters of Russian high-tech production and solutions, the need to expand initiatives for more effective positioning of high-tech companies in Africa.
On his part, Deputy Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Alexander Dianov, spoke about the non-financial support measures for Russian companies operating within the department, informed that “currently, there are 10 intergovernmental commissions between the Russian Federation and African countries.”
At the same time, he said that “there are trade missions only in four African countries, and if you take sub-Saharan Africa countries, the trade mission operates effectively only in South Africa. It is obvious that there is something to work on in terms of developing the infrastructure to support Russian business. If there is a serious request from the business community, we are ready to expand the geography of our presence.”
Official Representative of the Russian Export Center (REC) in Africa, Dmitry Suchkov, drew the attention of companies to the need for in-depth analysis of national programs of economic and investment development of African countries.
He pointed out to the work of the REC in the analysis of existing barriers through a special navigator. Suchkov also spoke about the initiatives of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa.
Chairperson of the Board of the African Business Initiative (ABI), Natalia Zaiser pointed to the problems of ensuring security and stable “rules of the game”, as well as the need to identify five priority areas of business cooperation on the medium-term and long-term perspectives for individual African countries.
Mostly Southern and Eastern African diplomats attended the event. Representatives of the Embassies of Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa spoke about the integration processes on the African continent, the potential of regional markets and national development initiatives.
Members of diplomatic missions also noted the great unrealized potential of cooperation between Russia and African countries, interest in attracting investments in infrastructure, education and many other sectors, and called for the willingness of wider interaction between African business circles and Russian business.
During the discussion, the participants noted barriers to Russian-African trade and economic cooperation as high import duties, complicated certification procedure, high cost of products, expensive logistics, security and guarantees issues, and information vacuum. However, the participants agreed on the need to develop a comprehensive strategy for Russia to work with Africa. Kester Kenn Klomegah reports from Moscow, Russia.
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.
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.
