Economic Priorities of Russia and Sub-Saharan Africa Relations

The article examines economic relations and the renewal of cooperation between Russia and Sub- Saharan Africa. The previous partnerships were abandoned in the early 1990s after the disintegration of the USSR. The authors analyze the record of the Soviet economic presence in the region and highlight Russia’s modern advantages and disadvantages in the markets of Sub-Saharan countries. High emphasis is placed on the main factors of commercial and investment attractiveness of Sub-Saharan Africa for Russia. Development of energy cooperation against the depletion of hydrocarbon reserves in Russia is an issue of high relevance for Russian business. Similarly, the expansion of deliveries of agricultural products from Tropical Africa to Russia could become a useful instrument for diversification of Russian food imports in the context of the current economic sanctions. However, the current levels of trade between Russia and regional economies remain marginal, even despite recent trade preferences adopted by Moscow. Furthermore, the authors describe such relatively new phenomenon in Russian-African economic relations as the penetration of Russian banks and IT companies in Sub-Saharan region. The article contains assessments of investment attractiveness of the regional countries, as well as achievements of traditional and new competitors of Russian business in the region. It also examines the main trends in flows of FDI to Sub-Saharan Africa including from Russia. The authors describe the most important investment projects with participation of Russian companies and determine countries that are the key partners for Russia in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the last part of the article, the authors study the current state and prospects of cooperation in military supplies between Russia and Sub- Saharan Africa.

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