Russian researchers create roadmap of Africa's investment regions for entrepreneurs

Kester by Ken Clomagh

The Center for Transition Economy Studies of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences has organized a two-day scientific conference under the theme “Industrial Development Strategies of African Countries”, aimed at road-mapping priority investment areas for Russian investors and entrepreneurs. The conference was inaugurated by Professor Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute of African Studies. More than 40 researchers and experts from Russia, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and North Macedonia participated in the business event.

The conference focused on a wide range of important issues related to the industrial development of Africa, the modernization of the African production base, and the prospect of Russian-African cooperation.

The individual part of the conference focused on the development of manufacturing and extractive industries, special economic zones, energy and transport infrastructure, digitalization and the agro-industrial complex. The second day of the conference was held as an online discussion in English, engaging African colleagues on the localization of production chains in Africa, covering both agriculture and mineral processing.

The key investment areas reviewed include:

1. Continental, regional and national programs and plans of industrial development in Africa. Possibilities of continental and regional production chains.

2. Study of the manufacturing market in African countries: manufacturing and agro-industrial complex

3. Energy, transport and digitalisation: essential infrastructure for industrial growth.

4. Interests of multinational corporations in Africa: conditions, forms of activities and geographical distribution. Role of free economic zones.

5. Government policy regarding multinational corporations and control over export-import flows.

6. The role of international organizations and the activities of external actors.

7. Potential areas and prospects for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation for Russian companies in Africa.

Experts in African studies from Russia, as well as representatives of the Russian government and business circles involved in trade and economic cooperation with African countries actively participated. One of the important outputs presented at the plenary session of the conference was the full text on the African Development Strategy Database, created by Professors DA Degtyarev and AD Novikov together with the staff of the IAS. The database contains more than 400 official strategic planning documents in 53 countries on the continent for the period 1997–2025. It organizes them under six thematic areas: long- and medium-term development strategies, industrial policy, ICT, agriculture and water sectors.

The plenary session presented nine reports covering key dimensions of Africa's industrial development. The continent's trade and industrial potential issues were highlighted in the report on the export specificity of African machine-building industries: based on ITC Trade Map data (2019-2024) which shows the duties of South Africa, Tunisia industrial production, including to intercontinental markets.

The report on the activities of Intergovernmental Commissions reviewed the institutional mechanisms of Russian-African economic cooperation: the number of these ICCs increased from four (4) in 2023 to nine (9) in 2025, and it is planned to increase the volume of investment funds to support African projects for 2026-2027 to at least $65 million (equivalent to 5 billion rubles).

The ideological dimension of financing industrialization was presented through a critique of universal Western narratives and a justification of the need for an “application finance strategy” – a country model that takes into account Africa's economy. The practical aspects of Russia's investment presence in Africa are illustrated on the example of projects in the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with an emphasis on the specific risks of the subregion (DM Sinitsyn, VEB.RF). Digitalization and artificial intelligence developments in sub-Saharan African countries were also analyzed and presented at the conference.

Russian-African cooperation in the field of technologies and education was included in the report on the transfer of agrobiotechnology through the Afro-Russian Technology Development Center in Kampala, within which in 2025/2026, over this period, 467 citizens of African countries were trained in Russian universities (NA Goncharova, FGBU “Agroexport”).

The report on the competitive struggle of foreign players for African markets and the prospects for Russian participation considered the continent's position in the world energy markets, the supply of ground vehicles and the activities of pharmaceuticals to Africa. The digital dimension of industrialization was covered by reports on West Africa's cyber capacity, the formation of data processing centers in South Africa's industrial strategy, and the digitalization strategies of Algeria and Morocco.

The aim of most of the speeches at the conference became a reflection on the 'disconnection' between the stated goals of industrialization and the actual structure of African economies: the continent's total GDP has not exceeded 10-12% for more than two decades, despite the widespread proliferation of pre-national strategic document industries, and exports still consist mainly of unprocessed raw materials.

In this regard, a number of reports justify the need to transition from external financial models formed by international organizations to sovereign country strategies based on the political, industrial and industrial resources of the state. Global South – which includes deepening Russian-African cooperation in the fields of technology, education and investment.

However, a collective monograph is planned for publication after the conference. The event included the presentation of a full-text database on African development strategies prepared by the team of the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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