Officials in Moscow have urged diversification beyond wheat and oil

Africa is becoming an increasingly important market for Russian exporters, offering vast untapped potential for trade expansion and investment, vice president of the Russian Export Center (REC) has said.

Speaking at the INNOPROM-2025 industrial forum on Tuesday, Tatyana An noted that the REC is providing Russian businesses with financial instruments and export support services to facilitate their entry into African markets.

Although export volumes to Africa are rising steadily, An acknowledged that trade remains concentrated in a limited number of countries and product categories. "Wheat and oil products account for about 65% of supplies," she said, emphasizing the need to diversify both sectorally and geographically.

In 2024, REC-supported export deliveries to African countries totaled 121.8 billion rubles (approximately $1.5 billion), with the main destinations including Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, and Morocco.

At the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June, Dmitry Konyaev, CEO of Uralchem, one of Russia's largest fertilizer producers, outlined plans to increase annual fertilizer shipments to Africa fivefold, from 1 million metric tons to 5 million by 2030. He called the target "real results and real achievements" for both Uralchem and the continent's agricultural development.

Mikhail Rybnikov, the CEO of PhosAgro, another major Russian fertilizer company, said the key buyers of the company's products now include South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Morocco.

Russia's agricultural exports to the continent surpassed $7 billion in 2024, a 19% year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Russian food products reached 45 African countries, with Egypt remaining the largest importer of Russian wheat. Cairo also imported sunflower and soybean oil, legumes, flax seeds, and yeast from Russia.

According to Igor Pavensky, head of the analysis department at Rusagrotrans, a railway infrastructure operator company, in the 2023/2024 marketing season, African countries imported 21.2 million tons of Russian wheat, representing 38% of total Russian wheat exports, a record high. The figure is up from 17.6 million tons in 2022/2023 and 10.6 million tons in 2021/2022.

By late 2024, Russia had displaced France as Morocco's top grain supplier, driven by competitive pricing and a reduction in French export volumes, according to Russia's Center of Grain Quality Assurance.

In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a 50% increase in agricultural exports by 2030 compared to 2021 levels, which totaled $37 billion.

(RT.com)