Delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 leaders, gathered in Moscow this week for the third Russia-Africa Summit under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development.” The gathering concluded on Thursday with the final declaration, a new cooperation plan and more than 60 agreements signed across the summit and its accompanying Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
Organizers reported over 3,500 participants from 74 countries, including more than 1,200 business representatives from around 630 companies. The signing total excludes confidential commercial documents, Russian presidential adviser Anton Kobyakov said. The forum hosted more than 40 sessions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already held at least nine bilateral meetings with African leaders, including the presidents of Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Kenya, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Libya’s Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed Al-Menfi.
Bilateral talks continued on Friday, with the day’s lineup including the leaders of Sudan, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, and Eritrea, as well as Togo’s prime minister.
The October 28-29 summit capped four days of events, beginning with Monday’s media forum and including Tuesday’s separate gas exporters’ summit. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told RT that Western governments had tried to discourage African leaders from attending.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack also prompted temporary restrictions at three Moscow airports before Thursday’s proceedings. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported 231 drones destroyed on the approaches to the capital. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned the timing during an international gathering and praised air defenses.
Here are the main outcomes and key moments.
Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the African Union chair, co-chaired Wednesday's and Thursday’s proceedings. Leaders addressed a plenary session in Kremlin before continuing over a working breakfast.
They adopted the Moscow Declaration, a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum action plan for 2027-2029 and a declaration on civilian applications of artificial intelligence.
The political declaration backed greater African representation in international institutions, opposed unlawful unilateral sanctions, and supported efforts to address colonial-era damage. It also called for South Africa’s full G20 participation to be restored, following its exclusion from meetings under the US presidency. Pretoria remains a member.
At their closing press conference, Putin emphasized the potential for further cooperation, while Ndayishimiye pressed for measurable benefits. Another summit will follow, with its date and location to be agreed.
Russia and Africa are “natural allies in building a multipolar, genuinely democratic world order,” Putin told the plenary. He backed stronger African representation in global decision-making and described Russian businesses as partners investing in host countries rather than pursuing colonial exploitation.
African leaders also stressed that cooperation should strengthen their ability to make independent decisions and develop their economies.
“Contrary to what malevolent forces might think, Africa has not come to ask for aid,” Ndayishimiye told the Kremlin plenary. He called for commitments to become concrete investment programs and for international cooperation to follow African priorities.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi made a similar distinction. “Diversifying our partnerships is not about choosing sides: it is about strengthening our freedom of decision-making in the service of our populations,” he said.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa highlighted the need to turn agreements into action while processing more minerals domestically. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi presented his country’s cooperation with Russia, including the El Dabaa nuclear plant and planned Suez Canal industrial zone, as a model for wider partnerships.
Russia also signed several documents to deepen cooperation with African regional organizations. These included memorandums with the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, alongside an action plan with the African Union Commission.
Sergey Lavrov met counterparts from 41 African states.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said Lavrov pledged support for Accra’s application for BRICS partner status and would seek consensus among founding members.
Peskov said Putin presented country-specific cooperation roadmaps during bilateral meetings. Putin also highlighted expanding diplomatic representation: eight Russian embassies have opened in Africa since 2023, bringing the total to 48. Six trade missions cover 16 countries, while Botswana, Seychelles, and Togo plan embassies in Moscow.
Signings included a Wednesday memorandum between Russia’s development institution VEB.RF and BCID-AES, the joint investment bank serving Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, to identify and assess development and integration projects.
Rosatom also signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation memorandum with Togo, establishing working groups to examine potential projects and training. Floating nuclear power units are among the possibilities.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought priority for nuclear cooperation, including financing, engineering training and medical isotopes. A roadmap for Ethiopia’s first nuclear plant was signed in March, Rosatom chief Aleksey Likhachev said in an interview published Friday. Site-selection preparations are underway. Burundi expressed interest in small modular reactors. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi highlighted El Dabaa and the planned Russian industrial zone near the Suez Canal as examples of bilateral cooperation.
Wednesday’s Economic and Humanitarian Forum at Gostiny Dvor in the Russian capital set much of the practical agenda. Putin proposed at least doubling Russia-Africa trade to more than $50 billion. On Thursday, he reported that the ruble accounted for up to 85% of commercial transactions between the two sides.
Putin and African leaders toured the “Platform for Sovereign Development” exhibition, showcasing energy, healthcare, agricultural, and digital technologies.
Elsewhere, Kenyan President William Ruto visited Sberbank’s smart city development and highlighted potential AI cooperation in healthcare and education.
Tuesday’s eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit adopted its own Moscow Declaration, separate from the Russia-Africa documents. It reaffirmed sovereign rights over gas resources and supported supply security, investment, and a balanced transition toward lower-carbon energy.
At Monday’s ministerial meeting, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev promoted a proposed gas bank for long-term infrastructure financing, including in Africa. The initiative remained under discussion.
The Russia-Africa Media Forum ran from Monday to Thursday, organized by RT alongside Sputnik and TASS. Organizers welcomed more than 200 participants from 46 African countries for discussions on reporting, professional cooperation, and media sovereignty.
The forum also produced several media partnerships. These included Ethiopia’s Fana renewing its agreement with RT and Libya’s national news agency signing with RT Arabic. Rossiya Segodnya concluded partnerships with outlets in Algeria, Chad, Morocco, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, as well as Ethiopia’s Debre Markos University and Niger’s Higher School of Journalism and Communication.
RT’s Thursday session, “Forging Independence: Lessons from the Founders of African Nations,” featured descendants of African liberation leaders. Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah, credited Russian support during Africa’s independence struggles, saying, “We are all here in Russia for a reason.” Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, recalled first meeting him through a prison window on Robben Island in 1981, aged 16: “I touched the window on one side and he touched on the other.”
Putin extended Russia’s epidemic-control assistance program for Africa through 2029.
Eight countries have received 15 mobile laboratories, and around 450 African specialists have been trained under the program, he said.
Among the healthcare agreements was a five-year memorandum with DR Congo covering training, research, maternal and child health, nuclear medicine, and digital healthcare.
Nearly 40,000 Africans study at Russian universities, up 50% since 2020, according to Putin. Government-funded scholarship places have nearly tripled over that period, reaching 5,500 for 2026-2027. Announced initiatives include ten centers helping African applicants enter Russian universities and vocational training programs.
Andrey Maslov, director of HSE University’s Center for African Studies, told RT that extended visits by African leaders and their separate business programs showed political ties with Moscow are gaining practical substance.
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